DALLAS – There is strong mutual interest between veteran guard Mo Williams and the Dallas Mavericks.

Will Williams sign with the Mavs? As is often the case in free agency, it might come down to the money.

The Mavs have had their eye on Mo Williams for years and are hopeful they might finally land him. Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

“Mo is just one of our favorites and certainly the kind of guy that we’d love to have in our locker room,” Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. “[Williams has a] family of five that lives here and would be the perfect fit in a lot of respects.

“It’s just that he’s got some decisions to make in terms of really what he’s willing to take and what we can offer him and that kind of thing, but the discussions have really been ongoing. And we’ve been recruiting Mo for a few years now. Hopefully, this time we can make it happen.”

The Mavs committed all of their remaining space under the salary cap to the offer sheet signed by Chandler Parsons. The Mavs would have only the $2.73 million cap-room exception and minimum-salary slots available if the Houston Rockets do not exercise their right to match the offer to Parsons, a restricted free agent.

In that scenario, the Mavs hope to convince sixth man Vince Carter to re-sign for the cap-room exception, which would be a slight pay cut for the 16-year veteran.

“Vince has got all kinds of options and we’re happy to know we’re still on the list,” Nelson said. “We’ll just have to see how things pan out. He’s obviously not just a terrific basketball player, but a great person, and we’re going to do everything in our power to get him back to the Mavericks.”

If Carter isn’t willing to accept the cap-room exception, the Mavs would seriously consider offering it to Williams, who declined a $2.77 million player option to return to Portland next season.

If the Mavs' plans unfold as they hope, they’ll attempt to convince Williams to take the veteran’s minimum of approximately $1.3 million.

The Mavs consider Raymond Felton and Devin Harris to be a decent one-two punch at point guard. The 31-year-old Williams, who has career averages of 13.3 points and 4.9 assists per game and has shot 38.5 percent from 3-point range, could get playing time at both guard positions and fill Dallas’ need for backcourt shooting.