Peja Stojakovic finally signs with Dallas Mavericks

Peja Stojakovic was once one of the most feared perimeter shooters in the history of the NBA.

During a Nov. 14, 2006 game against Charlotte while he was playing for the New Orleans Hornets, Stojakovic became the first player in NBA history to open the game by scoring his team’s first 20 points.

The Dallas Mavericks are hoping the 6-10 small forward can recapture some of that amazing magic after they signed the former Toronto Raptor to a contract Monday for the remainder of the season.

Mavs center Tyson Chandler was a teammate of Stojakovic when he defied all odds and torched the Bobcats.

“That was unbelievable,’’ Chandler said after Monday’s practice. “It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my life.’’

Now 33, Stojakovic has career averages of 17.3 points and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. He is, the Mavs hope, the shooter they’ve been searching for ever since Caron Butler suffered season-ending knee surgery after he was injured in a Jan. 1 game at Milwaukee.

“He might be our best foreign shooter on this team,’’ point guard Jason Kidd said, jokingly. “But we have a lot of foreign players, also.

“Dirk [Nowitzki] might not agree with that, but he might also agree with it. But it’s good to have a guy who’s been in this league and has been in some battles.’’

“I think we’ve all got to be patient,’’ said Donnie Nelson, the Mavs’ president of basketball operations. “He hasn’t played in a while, and so we’ve got to get him back into midseason game form and kind of take it from there.

“I know he can shoot that basketball and he’s got to be guarded when he enters the building, and that’s a good thing. It will be a welcomed addition.’’