Oct 15, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Darren Collison (4) and center Chris Kaman (35) before the game against the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Rockets 123-104. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Mavericks are in serious danger of missing the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 1999-00.

Currently with a record 16-23, the Mavericks sit five games out of the eighth and final playoff in the West. They’re fourth in the SouthWest division (12.5 games out of first place) and 12th in the Western Conference.

Owner Mark Cuban is none to happy with the teams performance thus far, and is promising drastic changes in order to improve the roster before the February 21st trade deadline.

“Every day I’m going through rosters trying to come up with ideas for Donnie,” Cuban said. “We want everybody to know that the Bank of Cuban is open and if it’s the right deal, we don’t mind taking back money.

“But we’re not going to just do a trade just to do a trade. It’s got to be really worthwhile.”

After failing to acquire current Nets point guard Deron Williams this past offseason, the Mavericks now find themselves with tremendous financial flexibility. They are under the salary cap and have the ability to take on larger salaries in return, which may be enticing to some teams around the league.

With superstar free-agents Chris Paul and Dwight Howard expected to stay with their respective teams this upcoming summer, Dallas will have to explore the trade market in order to acquire more talent.

As predicted, Mark Cuban will not be trading away franchise cornerstone Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk has a no-trade clause in his four-year, $80 million dollar contract that expires at the end of next season. He’s only played in 12 games (underwent knee surgery this past summer) and is putting up his lowest scoring (13.3) and rebounding (5.0) numbers since his rookie year (1998-99)

“I told Dirk we’re not going to trade him. He was happy. I think,” Cuban said, laughing on Saturday. “I wanted to make it clear to him. I said, ‘We’re in this through thick and thin,’ and so there’s no way I would trade him, no matter what.”

Cuban is certainly no stranger to making big trades, as he helped orchestrate the deals that brought Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler to Dallas.

Two players who could easily find themselves on the first plane out of town are Chris Kaman and Darren Collison.

Kaman is working under a one-year, $8 million dollar deal. Teams that are looking to shed some payroll and add some size down low could look to take a flyer on Chris.

Through 37 games, Kaman is averaging 13.0 points on 50.1% shooting. He’s also grabbing 6.4 rebounds a night.

Collison has struggled to find his niche with the Mavericks to start the year, and could very well be running on borrowed time. Lest we forget, management had to bring in veteran point guard Derek Fisher for a stretch earlier in the season, which was a huge vote of no confidence to Darren.

His season averages of 13.0 points and 5.1 assists aren’t terrible numbers, but his inconsistent play and lack of leadership intangibles at the point guard position are definitely major knocks on his game.

Teams could refuse to offer Collison a qualifying offer at the end of the 2013-14 season, thus making him a free-agent.

Chris Walder is the Editor here at Sir Charles In Charge. You may follow him on Twitter at @WalderSports

Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Have you ever seen ads on television or the kiosks at your local mall that sell specialized bracelets that are full of positive ions to help with energy and what not?

I certainly have.

There was even a time when I personally got suckered in to doing the “Balance Test”, where you wrap the bracelet around your wrist, balance on one foot (which is very difficult to do, makes you fall over), have the salesman apply pressure to your arms (which should for the most part make you fall), yet you remain standing upwards because of the “special ion power” of the bracelet (which costs up to $50).

I’m not Bill Nye the Science Guy, nor will I pretend to be. What I do know is that there has been no scientific evidence to prove that bracelets of this nature improve athletic performance in any way.

Even with all of the scrutiny and false claims behind the product, the NBA has decided to partner with Power Balance (a company that publicly went bankrupt last year after having to pay a $57 million dollar class-action settlement against its consumers for false advertising) to create the bands for all 30 NBA teams.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban despises the idea.

Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com goes into more detail on the situation.

The rubber bracelets have a distinctive hologram that is “based on Eastern philosophies of health and wellness,” according to the company’s website. Power Balance bracelets featuring NBA team logos in the hologram are available for $32.99 on the league’s official website. However, Cuban said via email Monday that he will not allow the product in the Mavs’ locker room. [...]

Cuban hastily dismissed a similar product when watches with holograms were pitched on “Shark Tank,” the ABC entrepreneurial reality show on which he stars.

“No, I’m allergic to scams,” Cuban said on the February episode of “Shark Tank.” “Seriously, this is not new. It’s been disproven. What you saw is the placebo effect. There’s athletes that wear it. It’s a joke. It’s a scam. It’s not real.”

During a recent Youtube rant, Cuban took a bunch of the bracelets designed for the Mavericks and tossed them right into the trash, questioning the reasoning from the higher-ups in the league for making the move.

For those who may be unaware, Mark Cuban is a regular on the ABC hit show “Shark Tank”. The premise of the program is five wealthy investors listen to business owners promote their products or ideas in hopes of landing cash.

A company called “Esso Watches” had hopes of securing a deal on the tank, until Cuban bashed the product and the science behind it.

Mark has come forward and said that these bracelets will not go to his players or be in the teams locker room.

Christopher Walder is a sports blogger and lead editor for Sir Charles in Charge. You may follow him on Twitter @WalderSports