Tell me if you've heard this story before: the Dallas Mavericks entered this offseason hoping to land a big-name free agent, but they are probably going to have to settle for something less.

On Friday night, ESPN's Zach Lowe reported that the Mavericks are now focusing on “mid-tier free agents” rather than “big fish,” which means that their pursuit of guys like Kawhi Leonard and Kemba Walker never really got off the ground.

Then, on Saturday morning, Mavericks insider Mike Fisher said that Dallas' decision to turn away from big-name free agents was forced rather than voluntary, stating that this means the “big fish” turned the Mavs down.

This doesn't come as much of a surprise, because for as much success as the Mavericks have had over the last decade-and-a-half, big-name free agents simply don't sign in Dallas.

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It's a bit peculiar, seeing as how the Mavericks were so good for so long and have the potential to be really good again next season if Kristaps Porzingis can get healthy, but, as per usual, it seems that Dallas is getting left out in the cold as far as star players are concerned.

The Mavs are coming off of a 2018-19 campaign in which they won just 33 games and missed the playoffs for the third straight year, marking the Mavericks' longest stretch without a playoff appearance since 2000.

However, with Porzingis and Luka Doncic and enough cap space to at least bring in a couple of decent players, Dallas could be a tough team in what is currently a weaker Western Conference heading into next season.