Ultimate 5: The best Mavs lineup since '95

While hoops remain on hiatus, theScore's NBA editors will be compiling ultimate starting lineups for each team in the Association. The catch: Only players who have been in the league since the 1995-96 season can be included.

For a while, it seemed like the Dallas Mavericks would never get over the hump. The Mavs experienced great regular-season success over the past 25 years, yet only had one Finals appearance leading into the 2010-11 campaign.

That year, Dallas registered its 11th straight 50-win campaign and finally broke through in the playoffs. Franchise icon Dirk Nowitzki and a solid cast of veterans took down the Miami Heat's vaunted Big Three for an unlikely first NBA championship.

However, it's hard envisioning that inaugural title run without the contributions of Nowitzki's previous co-stars, who were important to the club's transition into a yearly contender. In true "Nellie Ball" fashion, here's Dallas' best five-man unit over the last two-and-a-half decades.

Guards

Steve Nash

It's not often two future Hall of Famers are adjacent on the depth chart, but that's exactly how Nash's NBA career began. After a pair of seasons with the Phoenix Suns as Jason Kidd's understudy, the Canadian was traded to Dallas, where he established himself as the one of the Association's top point guards.

Nash was an elite outside shooter and playmaking wizard throughout his six seasons in the Lone Star state. The 6-foot-3 floor general shot 41.6% from deep and finished inside the NBA's top 10 in assists per game three times as he formed a deadly pick-and-roll tandem with Nowitzki. Nash's two All-Star campaigns in a Mavs uniform each culminated with All-NBA third-team honors.

Jason Kidd

Although Kidd spent his prime years elsewhere, he provided meaningful contributions during parts of eight seasons in Dallas. In just his second NBA campaign, the Mavs' floor general was voted a starter in the 1996 All-Star Game and finished second in the Association with 9.7 assists per contest.

Dallas traded Kidd partway through the 1996-97 campaign and reacquired him in February 2008. While his overall scoring dropped during his second stint with the Mavs, Kidd recorded his three best outside shooting seasons and finished top-five in assists per game three times.

At the age of 38, Kidd became the NBA's oldest starting point guard on a championship-winning squad. His veteran leadership and stifling perimeter defense on LeBron James was invaluable in Dallas' shocking series victory over the Heat.

Wings

Luka Doncic

When it's all said and done, Doncic could very well surpass Nowitzki as the greatest player to wear a Mavs jersey. At 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds, he has the versatility to play from the one-spot through the three and the unique combination of strength and playmaking smarts.

Like Kidd, the Slovenian wunderkind earned Rookie of the Year honors and started in the All-Star Game the following season. In less than two years, Doncic has also leapfrogged Kidd for the franchise lead in triple-doubles.

The ex-Real Madrid standout is also rewriting the NBA's record books. Doncic already has more triple-doubles than anyone else before the age of 21 and joined Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only NBA players to average a 30-point triple-double over a calendar month. When the 2019-20 campaign was put on hiatus, Doncic had Dallas on pace for the league's most efficient offense of all time, according to Basketball Reference.

Michael Finley

Former head coach Don Nelson employed an entertaining run-and-gun offense centered around the All-Star trio of Finley, Nash, and Nowitzki. The system featured a heavy dose of 3-point shooting, which played right into the skill set of the 6-foot-7 wing.

Finley shot at least 40% from deep three times during his nine-year Mavs tenure and sits third on the club's all-time list in 3-pointers made and attempted. He was also a workhorse throughout his time in Dallas, averaging nearly 40 minutes per contest and leading the Association on three occasions.

From 1997-02, Finley posted five straight 20-plus point seasons and ranks fifth in team history with 12,389 points.

Big

Dirk Nowtizki

For 21 years, Nowitzki was the undisputed face of the Mavs. His success as a seven-foot stretch-four revolutionized the power forward position and changed the perception of international prospects.

Nowitzki's historic 2006-07 regular season just about summed up his trailblazing role. That year, he was the first European-born player to start in an All-Star Game and win MVP honors while also becoming the fifth member of the exclusive 50-40-90 club.

In 2011, Nowitzki was named Finals MVP as he and the franchise finally captured their first NBA title. A championship ring was virtually the only thing missing from a storied career that wound up including 14 All-Star appearances and 12 All-NBA selections. Nowitzki retired in 2019 as Dallas' all-time leader in multiple categories and is sixth on the NBA's career scoring list.

Just missed

Jason Terry

"The Jet" was a dependable scoring option for years, specifically from distance, where he shot 38.8% on nearly five attempts per game. In Dallas' 40-year history, only Nowitzki has drained more 3-pointers. The lethal sharpshooter successfully shifted into a full-time bench role in 2008-09 and took home Sixth Man of the Year honors that same season. During the 2011-12 campaign, Terry was second among his peers with 138 triples.

Josh Howard

An injury to Marquis Daniels opened the door for Howard to become the Mavs' starting small forward in just his second NBA season. The 6-foot-7 swingman was a versatile weapon who embraced the dirty work as much as he did scoring. Howard was a key cog in Dallas' first-ever Finals run in 2005-06 and earned his lone All-Star appearance a year later.