Mavericks forward Chris Mills may need surgery on his left ankle, pending an examination he is expected to have this week in Los Angeles.

"He called us about 10 days ago and said he's still having trouble with the ankle and wanted to have his doctor in LA look at it," Mavericks assistant general manager Keith Grant said Monday. "Our doctor looked at him over the weekend, and now Chris will consult back with his doctor. The ankle has not responded and surgery is an option."

Surgery could keep the injury-prone veteran out of action for up to four months, although his agent said there was no way to be sure what the recovery time would be.

"Whatever his doctor says, that's probably the determining factor for what course of action we'll take," said Bob Myers of SFX Sports Group. "The Mavericks wanted to look at him, and if their diagnosis and Chris' doctor's diagnosis are similar, we'll proceed."

The Mavericks have 15 players under contract for the opening of training camp and may bring in a few free agents to ensure there are enough bodies for each workout session. Derek Hood, who went through camp last fall, is a possibility. "We're not going to have a lot of guys coming to camp, so we're trying to get the best quality we can," said president of basketball operations/assistant coach Donnie Nelson.

The Mavericks have had one of the NBA's most crowded benches for the last few seasons, with almost as many coaches as players. Having that surplus means coach Don Nelson has not had to look far to fill spots on his staff.

With the departure of assistant coach Sidney Moncrief, who entered private business after last season, the Mavericks have moved some members of their coaching staff into new positions. Charlie Parker has been promoted to Moncrief's role, and Larry Riley has moved from advance scout to a full-time assistant coach. Rolando Blackman has been promoted from the player development staff to director of player development.

In addition, Paul Mokeski has added the duties of advance scouting to his work as a member of the player development staff. Morlon Wiley, Greg Dreiling and Brad Davis will make up the player development staff.

Donnie Nelson and Del Harris will continue as the top assistants to Don Nelson.

"We've got a strong staff, and I'm glad to have them all," Don Nelson said. "You can never have too many good basketball minds."

Raja Bell said Thursday that he plans to sign early next week with Atlanta, Utah or San Antonio.

Bell, a free agent who was a defensive specialist at shooting guard and small forward for the Mavericks last season, said the Mavs offered him a two-year contract at the league minimum early in the off-season, which he rejected. "After that," Bell said, "I never received another offer from them."

Utah has a spot for Bell because Atlanta decided Thursday to match the Jazz's three-year, $22.5 million offer sheet to guard Jason Terry. But Bell said the Spurs and Hawks are also in the picture for his services.

"I would have loved to have been back with the Mavericks," Bell said. "I waited all summer for them, but I guess we just saw things different."

The Mavericks already have 15 players, the NBA maximum, under contract. One of those contracts, for rookie Jon Stefansson, is not guaranteed, but he is expected to make the team.

Training camp is still nine days away, but that hasn't stopped Mavericks old and new from dropping in at American Airlines Center.

Unlike off-seasons past, when a smattering of players would make their way through the team's facilities, not a day goes by without the sound of sneakers squeaking and balls bouncing on the practice court. And it's not just the youngsters stopping by.

Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki, Raef LaFrentz, Shawn Bradley and Eduardo Najera have each put in some extra work in the weeks leading up to camp. Newcomers such as Antawn Jamison, Travis Best, Danny Fortson and Jiri Welsch are getting acclimated to their new surroundings. The rookie crew -- Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels and Jon Stefansson -- practically lives in the gym.

"Never seen this before," said president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, set to begin his seventh season with the Mavs. "The young guys are eager and excited. A lot of guys we traded for have something to prove. It's going to be a special training camp."

On Monday, player development assistants Rolando Blackman and Paul Mokeski were leading Jamison, LaFrentz, Bradley, Best, Fortson and Welsch through drills. Strength and conditioning coach Robert Hackett was also on hand for the daily session in the weight room.

"We're all refreshed," LaFrentz said. "This isn't like a lot of other summers, where you're not exactly excited to start the season. We have a lot of new guys. The rookies have been out here working out. The veterans ... have all come through.

"Hack has been awesome. He's put our [tails] to work, but it hasn't felt like work."

Don't look now, but the Utah Jazz might be the first team in NBA history with a backcourt made up of two players from Florida International University.
   
The Jazz plan to sign veteran shooting guard Raja Bell to a two-year contract before the start of training camp next week, The Salt Lake Tribune learned Monday.
   
Just as Jazz point guard Carlos Arroyo did, Bell played collegiately at Florida International before reaching the NBA. He spent part of the 2000-01 season and the entire 2001-02 season with the Philadelphia 76ers.
   
Bell played last season in Dallas, where he averaged 5.7 points in 15.6 minutes for the Mavericks. He made 46.2 percent on his three-point shots with the Mavs and helped them reach the Western Conference finals.
   
A native of the Virgin Islands who turned 27 last Friday, Bell played extremely well in Dallas' second-round series against Sacramento. In seven games, he averaged 7.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 23.6 minutes.
   
Bell is an unrestricted free agent.
   
He became expendable to Dallas over the summer, when the Mavericks used their first-round draft pick on Wake Forest guard Josh Howard and acquired swing-types Chris Mills and Jiri Welsch in a trade with Golden State. The Mavs also netted forward Antawn Jamison in the roster-shaking deal.
   
The only way Bell won't sign with the Jazz is if he unexpectedly gets a better offer from another NBA team in the next couple of days or if Atlanta does not match Utah's on-the-table offer sheet to restricted free agent Jason Terry by the end of this week. But the Hawks have announced they plan to match.

Way back in Mavericks' history, back in nineteen hundred eighty-nine, a key starter entered the season in the last year of his contract. He played all of it despite not getting a new deal. Then the off-season came and he got an offer from the Lakers.

Sam Perkins signed with LA. The Mavericks got nothing for him in return. That helped accelerate their horrible '90s. It was one of the worst moves, or lack of one, that any team can make ? allowing a key player to go unsigned, only to lose him without getting anything but an empty locker in return.

Are the Mavericks about to repeat that history?

"Not a topic I'm even going to talk about," Mark Cuban e-mailed the other day. "You guys [the press] will write about the same stuff over and over again, and hopefully it will be as big a distraction as Nellie's contract was, and we win 60 games, and go to the Western Conference finals, and come within two games and an injury of the Finals."

Cuban was responding to what could become The Steve Nash Situation, which is eerily similar to what became The Sam Perkins Situation. As was with Perkins way back when, Nash is about to enter the final season of his contract.

As Raja Bell contemplates offers from a "couple" of teams, the free agent remains hopeful a contract can be worked out with the Mavericks.

Bell, a third-year defensive specialist who started 32 games and averaged 3.1 points for the Mavs last season, set a deadline of early next week to decide his course, according to agent Herb Rudoy. Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations, and Rudoy spoke Wednesday and plan to continue talks today.

"We're waiting to hear what they have to say," Rudoy said. "We have offers on the table from a couple teams. I suspect we have to do something in the next few days and make a decision."

Rudoy declined comment on Bell's suitors. Atlanta, Utah and San Antonio were believed to have interest in the swingman earlier this summer. Bell spent the first two years of his NBA career in Philadelphia.

With 14 guaranteed contracts on the roster, plus rookie Jon Stefansson's nonguaranteed deal, at least one player would have to be moved to make room for Bell. Teams can only carry 15 players, with a limit of 12 on the active roster. Stefansson, a 6-foot-5 guard from Iceland, is expected to make the team.

In addition to the packed roster, the Mavs have a glut of shooting guards and small forwards. Chris Mills continues to be a trade possibility, but Nelson said the interest in the injured forward has quieted in the past few weeks.

Except for that little matter of Internet photos showing him in a late-night, bleary-eyed state, Steve Nash's summer went pretty routinely. The Mavericks' point guard toured South America with his girlfriend and later played for an undermanned Canada team that failed to qualify for the 2004 Olympics.

Standard stuff, especially compared to what is awaiting Nash next summer, which figures to be a bit more stressful.

Nash, who has established himself as one of the top five point guards in the NBA with his play and his leadership the last three seasons, can opt out of his contract with the Mavericks after this season, in which he will earn $5.75 million.

Barring something unusual, he will surrender the final year of the deal, and the Mavericks will have to sign Nash to a new contract ? likely at a substantial raise ? or lose him to free agency.

To his credit, Nash, 29, is approaching this year sensibly. He is making no rash demands. Rather, he is confident the Mavericks will handle the situation well.

"If it's an easy thing, great," Nash said while lounging in a cold-plunge pool in the Mavericks' locker room at American Airlines Center. "If it becomes a difficult thing, I'll leave it all to Bill [Duffy, his agent].

Pistons President Joe Dumars said Monday a proposed trade with the Dallas Mavericks had been pulled off the table.

"We aren't doing anything," Dumars said, via e-mail.

The Pistons and Mavericks had discussed a trade that would have sent guards Lindsey Hunter and Hubert Davis to Dallas for veteran small forward Chris Mills. The Mavericks, trying to reduce their payroll, decided against taking on two more players, although all three were in the final year of their contracts and Hunter and Davis' salaries combined would have essentially equaled Mills' $6.6 million.

"We are going to stand pat for now," Dumars said.