All told, these changes should have positive effects on may of the players on the roster in terms of their fantasy basketball status. Dirk Nowitzki should see his scoring average rise and should also see more three-pointers. If his numbers would go down anywhere, it might be rebounding because Carlisle doesn’t have him crashing the boards as much as Johnson did.

The player who this new offense should really help is Jason Kidd. Under Johnson, Kidd looked totally uncomfortable playing for Dallas. But now with the offense basically under his guidance, expect Kidd to put up a lot of triple doubles and a lot of nights with a big amount of assists. The only thing that could stop Kidd this season is age or injury.

Josh Howard and Jason Terry should both see their numbers go up a bit. If Howard is used more at power forward, his rebounding and blocked shot numbers could rise. Terry may start at shooting guard for Carlisle, which would be good for his scoring numbers and his overall consistency.

Other than these four players, there doesn’t seem to be much potential for quality fantasy basketball players to emerge from this roster. Erick Dampier might be a surprise if he plays big minutes, but foul trouble usually limits that from happening.

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While Cuban didn’t give Howard a clean pass, he did make it seem like the Mavs weren’t going to punish Howard. It also doesn’t sound like Dallas will look to trade Howard in the offseason.

Howard’s play struggled down the stretch of the season and especially into the playoffs. Some rumors around the team point to ex-coach Avery Johnson partially being at fault. Supposedly Johnson and Howard didn’t see eye to eye at the end of Johnson’s tenure as coach of the Mavs.

Under new coach Rick Carlisle, Howard should be able to regain his All-Star status. His fantasy basketball stock is a bit down due to his poor showing in the playoffs, but expect Howard to make a full fantasy recovery for the 2008-09 season. That is especially true now that Cuban seems to have come to his defense.

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In terms of fantasy basketball, this news doesn’t immediately affect the fantasy value of the Mavs players one way or another. Carlisle has at times in his coaching career gone with a slow-paced offense, which would hurt fantasy value. However, Carlisle has talked about changing that philosophy. Basically, we’ll have to wait and see how Carlisle decides to run Dallas’ offense before making any judgment.

This season, the Mavs finished the regular season with 51-31 record. In the first round of the playoffs, they took on the New Orleans Hornets. After losing the first two games in New Orleans, the Mavs won Game 3 but then lost Game 4 and Game 5. After being eliminated, Cuban was quick to fire Johnson and begin his coaching search.

While some media reports indicated that Mike D’Antoni could get into the mix, Carlisle ended up being the first and last serious candidate.

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However, since that appearance in the Finals, everything has been downhill for Johnson and the Mavs. After getting up 2-0 in the Finals, the Miami Heat came back and won four straight games to claim the NBA championship. Last season, the Mavericks fell to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. Now this season, the Mavs again lost in the first round of the playoffs.

While the decision to fire Johnson is questionable, fantasy basketball owners will actually view this move as a positive for the players on the Mavs. Under Johnson, the Mavericks played a slow paced game that concentrated mostly on defense. If Mark Cuban and the Mavs bring in an offensive coach, players such as Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowtizki and Josh Howard could see their fantasy production skyrocket.

Keep an eye on who the Mavs hire to be their new coach if Johnson is indeed fired. If it’s an offensive coach, such as Mike D’Antoni, fantasy owners should definitely take note.

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While firing Johnson at this point of the season would be surprising, even for Mark Cuban, there’s a chance of that happening. If Nowitzki’s injury causes a major slide, Cuban might make a coaching change to see if that would help.

If Johnson is fired, the player who would most positively been affected is Jason Kidd. Under Johnson, point guards are scrutinized and kept from freelancing too much. Kidd is the ultimate freelancer and has seen his stats take a dip since he went to Dallas. Under a new coach, Kidd could get back to the numbers he was putting up as a member of the Nets.

Under a different coach, Nowtizki might revert back to being more of a three-point shooter. Johnson has harped on Nowitzki taking the ball to the basket. Without that constant harping, Nowitzki might let it fly from deep more often.

Overall, though, firing Johnson would be a bad idea by Cuban and the Mavs. Johnson is one of the best young coaches in the league and has gotten a lot out of his team. If Johnson were to be fired, the current contending version of the Mavs would be over. In turn, the fantasy values of all the players would be lowered somewhat because avoiding end of the season tanking would no longer be a given.

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