After the Kidd trade, the team was not built to win anything.
They had something last year, but Don Nelson is the last coach the Mavs want to face in a series. That same team was also a miraculous Dwayne Wade performance from being the NBA champs. They may have needed some minor changes, but made all the wrong ones. Avery Johnson is a fine coach and the Mavs had talent they could work with at the beginning of this season. I put the failure of this team primarily on the front office and their poor personnel decisions.