Mavericks - Erick Dampier-C

		Mavericks     Erick Dampier-C
		Mar 16, 2012  12:20 am EST

Erick Dampier has his eye on the future, but not the way most free agents do. The horizon, meaning the summer when he will sign his next contract, isn't foremost in his mind. Right now, it's getting 10 fully functional fingers for the stretch drive and the playoffs that's more important than for whom he will play next season. It was a bit disconcerting to hear coach Rick Carlisle's evaluation of Dampier's right middle finger, which was dislocated on Feb. 16 and cost him 12 games after surgery. "The finger's not 100 percent," Carlisle said. "I'm not sure when it will be or if it ever will be completely back to normal." Carlisle added that Dampier's willingness to get back when he still doesn't have full range of motion in the finger is a blessing for the Mavericks. He will continue to get Dampier and Brendan Haywood used to splitting playing time at center. Dampier said his range of motion is "almost there," and he believes his hand could be back to normal in a couple more weeks as long as he doesn't do any hard dunking. Right now, it's a matter of fighting through pain. Beyond that, it's more a process of getting acclimated to working with Haywood. "Neither one of us has an ego that you have to play 30 minutes a game," Dampier said. "Brendan's been playing great for us ever since he got here. The biggest thing is we want to win. We don't care about the minutes and all the other stuff. As long as we have a chance to win a championship, I think everybody's happy here." And Dampier wants to emphasize that last point. He'll be a free agent this summer. And he knows his time in Dallas hasn't always been embraced by the fans. But the feeling from his end is far different. "I haven't even thought about it at this point," he said. "I'm sure that's something after the season my representative and the Mavs will talk about. It's a great team and a great group of guys. We're obviously a contending team, and it's closer to home for me. "I've been here the last six years. I've grown to love Dallas. It's an exciting fan base and one of the best owners in the league." Masked man to return It appears Jason Terry will be available Wednesday against Chicago. With a custom-fitted plastic mask to protect his facial-bone fracture, Terry went through practice Monday with no problems. "Jet has a track record of missing very few games," Rick Carlisle said. "He's always come back earlier than expected. The injury was serious, but the fracture was such that it was a lower timetable than it could have been. It could have been several weeks." Instead, Terry could be playing Wednesday, or Saturday against Boston at the latest. Briefly Erick Dampier will be at Academy Sports and Outdoors in North Richland Hills from 6:30-7:30 tonight to encourage donations to the adidas Dallas Mavericks Cap Drive. Dampier will sign autographs for the first 250 people to donate a new cap or purchase an adidas product at the Academy store. Jason Kidd was held out of practice just to keep him as fresh as possible. He turns 37 next Tuesday. The Purple PingPong event hosted by Rick Carlisle surpassed its goal of $50,000, Carlisle said.

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