Updated : Oct . 10 , 2006 , 1 : 23 PM ETMavs camp : Howard stealing the show early onBy Marc SteinESPN . comArchiveDENTON , Texas -- Five observations from Dallas Mavericks camp : 1 . Best player in camp . So far ? It ' s Josh Howard , hands down . He has been sharp and aggressive as ever and looks game - ready already . Those are all promising developments for the Mavs , given that Howard and management remain far apart on a contract extension that has to be completed by Oct . 31 to prevent the 26 - year - old from becoming a restricted free agent in July . If the situation has unsettled Howard , you certainly can ' t tell on the floor , where coach Avery Johnson apparently is planning to put the ball in his hands more . That ' s a role Howard last handled at Wake Forest , mere months before the first major letdown of his career : slipping to No . 29 in the 2003 draft . " Coach wants me to be a point forward , " Howard said . " I ' ve got three plays I keep in my head so I can make sure everybody ' s in the right spot . " As for the contract stalemate , Howard said : " It ' s kind of wishy - washy with me . Some days I don ' t even think about it , and some days I wonder what ' s going on . If it doesn ' t happen this year , hopefully next year . " When asked whether he has abandoned hope that an extension can be hammered out by Halloween , Howard added with a hopeful grin : " You never know . You know how Cubes [ Mark Cuban ] is . Depends on how he feels . " 2 . Dirk doings . In July 2004 , best friend Steve Nash left Dallas for Phoenix less than 24 hours into free agency . In August 2005 , Dallas ' Big Three was formally reduced to a Big one when the Mavericks released the other member of the close - knit trio , Michael Finley , via the league ' s one - time amnesty clause . Summer 2006 wasn ' t any more pleasant for Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki . He had to absorb considerable amounts of blame for the Mavs ' failure to hold a 2 - 0 lead over Miami in the NBA Finals and didn ' t get much rest , either , after playing for Germany in the World Championship . Nowitzki isn ' t complaining , though . " Every summer is going to be a tough one , " he says , " until we win a championship . " Besides … There are at least two happy consolations for the 28 - year - old : ( A ) He recently signed a three - year contract extension worth just under $ 60 million , neutralizing any ideas that there would be any carryover effect from Nowitzki ' s post - Finals critical comments about Cuban learning " how to control himself … and not yell at the officials the whole game . " ( B ) I get the feeling Johnson is going to give Nowitzki as much rest as possible in the exhibition season to guard against injury or fatigue . Asked how hard it was to watch Nowitzki play in a major tournament so soon after the longest playoff run of his career , Johnson said : " I don ' t know if ' sweat ' is the right word . I ' ll just say ' pray . '" 3 . Rotation report . I know Erick Dampier put in the most devoted offseason of his career , and I know Devin Harris shot 600 jumpers a day in an attempt to give sagging defenses something to think about . Yet from what I ' ve seen and heard so far , after a couple of public scrimmages , I ' m really not expecting much of a difference from these two . Dampier will still struggle to live up to his mammoth contract , and Harris will be at his best going to the bucket as opposed to draining J ' s or setting up teammates with his playmaking . DeSagana Diop is still the center I ' d prefer , anyway , although it remains to be seen whether he can justify the increased offensive involvement and freedom he ' s getting in camp . I likewise suspect we ' re going to see an Anthony Johnson - Jason Terry backcourt in plenty of crunch times because Avery Johnson prefers vets and likes a traditional point guard even more . Anthony Johnson , although not quite a pure PG himself , is the closest thing Dallas has there . I also wouldn ' t expect many minutes for rookie swingman Maurice Ager , with Greg Buckner and Devean George arriving in the offseason , but who knows ? Jerry Stackhouse thinks all the depth Dallas has at the swing positions might be used early , potentially paying off for the senior Mav late in the season . " My role , " Stack said , " can gradually peak as the year goes on . " 4 . What ' s missing ? In terms of positions , not much . The Mavs feel as though they ' re pretty well - covered , and justifiably so . But they will miss Darrell Armstrong . Count on it . Little DA , dealt to Indiana in the trade for Johnson and Croshere , had a huge locker - room presence for the Mavs . Avery Johnson is the first to say so : " I wouldn ' t say we ' re tight , but Armstrong kept us loose . " It remains to be seen who can fill that void with this group . Looking at the roster , I struggle to see anyone with a DA - type personality . 5 . Biggest surprise of camp . Cuban appeared on CNBC ' s " The Big Idea " last week and played a round of " burning questions " with host Donnie Deutsch . Cuban was asked to name the most overrated player in the NBA . First , he volunteered Mavs castoff Pavel Podkolzin before eventually submitting Miami ' s Dwyane Wade . Cuban did amend his answer to " biggest actor in the NBA " -- a reference , surely , to Wade ' s , uh , well - chronicled ability to get himself to the free - throw line -- and called himself " a big - time sore loser . " The surprise ? It ' s nothing Cuban said , simply that I haven ' t seen anybody else bring this up yet . Aren ' t all Cuban ' s TV appearances transcribed and circulated throughout the blogosphere ? Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN . com . To e - mail him , click here .