The acquisition of Fernandez shows the Mavs are trying to repeat as NBA champs

By trading for Portland swingman Rudy Fernandez, the Dallas Mavericks greatly increased their chances of repeating as NBA champs.

"The message is we're just trying to get better at every opportunity, and this [acquisition of Fernandez] presented itself," Mavs general manager Donnie Nelson said. "Again, we were prepared to go, we were prepared to draft.

"But when you can get a guy that's got the experience, that's got the athleticism, is more established, there's less risk involved. And again, we've got some young players that are developing at the end of our roster."

The Mavs already have young players such as Dominique Jones, Rodrigue Beaubois and Corey Brewer at the end of their bench. They didn't want to add another one, which is why they traded their 26th pick [Texas' Jordan Hamilton] and the 57th pick [Qatar's Tanguy Ngombo] to the Blazers for Petteri Koponen and Fernandez.

"With [Brewer's] length he can certainly be a natural [small forward], and again, to swing back and forth is a luxury,'' Nelson said. "We've gone flexible at that position.

"We can go with three point guards, we can go bigger. Corey is probably more of a natural [small forward] and Rudy's more of a natural [shooting guard], probably."

Nelson said he's not sure why Fernandez's career hasn't blossomed just yet.

"I think young guys sometimes take a while to figure things out," Nelson said. "Certainly guys from Europe.

"You've got the American way and the NBA way of doing things, so I think there's maybe some learning curve there. Sometimes it's just opportunity."

Nelson added that a little nugget from owner Mark Cuban really sold him on Fernandez, who will make $2.18 million next season and has a qualifying offer that pays him $3.187 million in the 2012-13 season.

"His plus-minus is one of the top 20 in the NBA, which I didn't know until Mark informed me of that," Nelson said. "He's a guy that we've had our eye on for awhile and it was just kind of the right place, right time.

"He's young and athletic and can score, and I think he's going to fit real well."