For all the supposed amenities in this $420 million palace, variety has suddenly vanished from the menu at the tony American Airlines Center.

	Nick Van Exel had eight points and eight assists in his Dallas debut.

Step inside, to watch hockey or hoops, and you get the same thing.

The Dallas Stars.

You either see Mike Modano's team, or a much more starry collection assembled by Modano's buddy Mark Cuban. The latter now fields at least four stars, by most standards, with Raef LaFrentz thought to possess the potential to eventually join Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel at platinum level. Which is why you hesitate to simply call them Mavericks any more. Thursday's annual Cuban/Don Nelson blockbuster was aggressive even for them.

Out: Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, Donnell Harvey, a first-round draft choice in June and $1 million of Cuban's tip money.

In: Van Exel, LaFrentz, Avery Johnson, Tariq Abdul-Wahad ... for a total of $80-plus million in salary commitments beyond this season ... largely for the privilege of seeing how good LaFrentz is ... and with Raef himself eligible for a zillion-dollar contract extension this summer.

"It scares the hell out of me," Cuban said. "But it's a commitment I made. I've been blessed financially. I just look and say, 'That's money I've got gone. What do I have left? OK, I can live with that.' "

The issue, from here, is how the rest of the West copes. Whether the Mavericks have scared anyone else.

The Lakers, we're guessing, aren't fretting yet. They've already employed Van Exel, don't think very highly of him and take further comfort from what can safely be described as a mental edge over Club Cuban. LA has won 40 of the past 43 meetings between the teams, and that's no misprint. Nelson, as Mavericks coach, is 1-15 against Shaq and Kobe.

"A lot of people think the trade was made in order to match up with the Lakers," Finley says. "There's other teams we have to get through before we can even get to the Lakers."

The solace for Dallas: The trade, at the very least, should keep the Mavericks ahead of those other teams. Almost all of them, anyway. And even Sacramento has to be a bit concerned, after a long and unopposed run as Deepest Team In The League. The Kings visited the AAC on Saturday, in the newcomers' debut, and Dallas rolled to a 111-97 triumph.

It should be noted that the Kings arrived in their first funk all season, playing defense more porous than the Dallas D lately. The Mavericks were nonetheless thrilled to seize a 2-1 edge in the season series, becoming only the second team (along with Seattle) to beat Sacramento twice this season, seeing as though the five stars only played as a unit for roughly eight minutes.

They'll play more together as the season unfolds, and what's behind those five isn't bad, either. Johnny Newman, the Mavericks' 38-year-old marvel, just helped hold Paul Pierce and Predrag Stojakovic to a combined 33 points. Eduardo Najera, though plagued recently by some sore joints, is one of the league's most reliable energy sources when 100 percent. Adrian Griffin, Danny Manning and Greg Buckner (when healthy) are three more handy helpers. In short, there might be a new deepest team in the league.

"I was worried about them before the trade," said Sacramento center Vlade Divac.

	“	It's true. You have to have star players who are willing to do the dirty work, or it doesn't work. ”
		— Don Nelson, Mavericks coach

Now?

"You can't sleep on anyone they have on the floor," Divac said.

Of course, the deal is not without risks for Dallas -- big risks. Van Exel has clashed with coaches or management or referees since he showed up in 1993. He wanted to play for a winner again and got his wish, but realizes that the skeptics will be loud every day, until the Mavericks actually make the conference finals.

"I know that's the baggage I have to live with," Van Exel says.

There is also still only one ball for the five stars, and Nelson doesn't just shrug that off as a media myth.

"It's true," Nelson said of the one-ball theory. "You have to have star players who are willing to do the dirty work, or it doesn't work."

But maybe that's why he isn't too worried. Nash, he of the unkempt tresses, sets picks and defends bigger guards and generally frolics in dirt. Nowitzki, since the trade was announced, is averaging 22 rebounds per game, as the first NBA player with back-to-back 20/20 efforts since Divac in 1995. Finley has always been a selfless captain, too, and the Mavericks are hoping all that will rub off on Van Exel.

"It works because we have unselfish guys," Nash said. "You look at me, Nick, Fin -- all of us -- we can all pass, handle and shoot."

Indeed, from an X-and-O standpoint, it's hard to find fault with the Dallas logic. Adding Van Exel and LaFrentz gives Nelson the option of playing five 3-pointer shooters at once, spreading the floor and theoretically forcing behemoths like O'Neal and Tim Duncan away from the rim. In the Mavericks' camp, there is also -- for now -- little concern about playing Van Exel alongside Nash because both can play either guard spot. Nelson is more than happy to let either one run the team, and both points comfortably play off the ball as 3-point bombers.

Clearly neither is big enough to defend big shooting guards, like a certain Mr. Bryant, but remember that the Mavericks don't play so much man defense when it matters. They increasingly prefer zones that rely on a mobile big man in the middle who can shuffle out quickly to contest 3-pointers if necessary. Shawn Bradley and Evan Eschmeyer can't do that, but Nowitzki and LaFrentz can.

Against the Lakers, the Mavericks' preferred strategy is fronting O'Neal with a tall guy (Nowitzki) and then chasing from behind with a shot-blocker (LaFrentz). The other guys can swarm Bryant and force Shaq's Superfriends -- Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Robert Horry, etc. -- to win the game.

	“	Plan A was to get another Shaq. But when one of those couldn't be located, Plan B was to get people who make it hard for the Shaqs of the world to (play defense). ”
		— Del Harris, Mavericks assistant coach

The other Lakers usually do win them, but how much worse can the Mavericks get? In the teams' last six meetings, all losses, Dallas hasn't even reached the 100-point plateau four times.

That shouldn't be a problem any more.

"Plan A was to get another Shaq," said Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris. "But when one of those couldn't be located, Plan B was to get people who make it hard for the Shaqs of the world to (play defense)."

And even little Avery will play a role in the overhaul, with the Mavericks privately growing disenchanted with Tim Hardaway (all 3s, little penetration). Valuable not only for his vocal leadership, or the fact he knows all of San Antonio's plays, Johnson will serve as Van Exel's chaperone (they're buddies) and also help lessen Nash's load. Nelson knows he's been running Nash into the dirt, asking him to log 40 minutes every night with so much responsibility at both ends.

Nelson now has the flexibility to keep Nash in the 30-minute area, or rest him entirely if needed here and there. Getting Johnson today also addresses one of Dallas' summer projects, because management was secretly prepared to buy out Hardaway -- with only $1 million of his salary guaranteed next season. Instead, in March, Nelson finds himself with three quality QBs.

"I've never had that before," Nelson says.

We'll get a better idea if it's working next month, when the Mavericks meet the Lakers twice in a span of three nights in a home-and-home. But the initial motivation, Cuban and Nelson say, is simply staying where they are. Dallas has only won the Midwest Division once and wants to finish ahead of Minnesota and San Antonio -- and even Sacramento -- before worrying about slaying LA.

And if they're worried about Van Exel's volatility, you certainly can't tell yet. Harris pushed for the deal when given the chance to voice his objections, and was seen knocking knuckles and trading laughs with Nick on the bench in Saturday's opener.

Then on Sunday, Nelson excused Nash from practice to fly to Salt Lake City for the gold-medal hockey game won by Hair Canada's countrymen. The rest of the team, meanwhile, was on the floor getting a zone seminar from Delmer.

"My hat's off to them," said Boston general manager Chris Wallace. "In this day and age, as hard as it is to do trades, and with all of us crying about the luxury tax, Mark and Nellie make it happen."

It's a sentiment that should clarify the biggest reason why the Mavericks were willing to make such a pricey gamble. Knowing Cuban, Dallas will just do something else if this trade doesn't work out.

Finley, the senior Maverick, has seen enough to know his bosses will "keep shuffling the deck until we get the perfect hand."

Said Chris Webber, star for the kings of continuity: "I'm not sure you can say we're better because we've been together longer. They're deep and we're deep, but until one of us wins the championship, we're both just versatile."

Marc Stein, who covers the NBA for The Dallas Morning News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.