Lil' Whistle pitches Sabonis

[Dooby]

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Dallas Mavericks intend to leave one spot open on their multinational, multitalented roster ... and they know exactly who they want to fill it.

The Mavericks just aren't sure if they'll ever be able to convince Arvydas Sabonis to join them.

They tried again last week, in advance of their Opening Night showdown with Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers. Dallas president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson traveled to Lithuania on Wednesday to receive a special commendation, similar to a medal of honor, from the country's president for his work with the Lithuanian national basketball team. While he was there, Nelson made his second free-agent pitch to Sabonis since the burly center told Portland he was retiring from the NBA.

Nelson made a similar bid in August after the Blazers declined to pick up Sabonis' $7 million option. Sabonis will still receive $3 million from Portland this season whether he plays in the NBA or not.

"The main reason I went over there was to receive this award," Nelson said Monday upon his return. "But obviously when I'm in Lithuania, I see Sarunas (Marciulionis) and Sabonis.

"We would love to have (Sabonis), but he's 39 and he's happy there (in semi-retirement) playing for Zalgiris. Any team in the world would want him, even if you're talking five or 10 minutes a game. I guess you'd have to say it was a swing and a miss. But we told him that if you ever want to give the NBA another shot, we'd love to have him."

Of course, even if Sabonis did elect to return to the States, Dallas would certainly face competition. Portland general manager John Nash remains hopeful that Sabonis will consider a comeback for the playoffs after the Lithuanian season ends in the spring.

Nelson, an assistant coach with the Lithuanian national team since it was formed after the breakup of the Soviet Union, received the Commander Grand Cross from Lithuanian president Rolandas Paksas after helping the tiny nation win the gold medal at the European Championships in Sweden in September. Nelson called it "as big as any honor I've received in basketball."

With Sabonis intent on staying with Zalgiris, and with Raef LaFrentz traded to Boston last week in the Antoine Walker deal, the Mavericks are prepared to start Danny Fortson as their 6-foot-8 center in Tuesday night's opener against the Lakers.

"I'm a physical player, and I'm pretty sure (O'Neal) knows that I can probably give him a little trouble," Fortson told ESPN.com last week. "As a matter of fact, I'm not going to say probably. I know I can. If I can go out there with the right mind frame and watch my fouls, I know I can give him fits. I'm going to work as hard as I can so, October 28th, I can prove it."