MILWAUKEE -- The Mavericks' plane touched down shortly after midnight here, 80 miles east of Wesley Matthews' hometown of Madison, Wis., in the early minutes of a pair of days he mentally has had circled all season.

A gratifying homecoming, yes.

Joyful circumstances, no.

The Mavericks (20-25) have lost three straight and six of their last eight, and we all know how cranky that makes 32-year-old Matthews.

Also, by most measures Matthews is having his best season as a Maverick, but reporters and fans are more fixated on whether he will be dealt before the Feb. 7 NBA trade deadline.

"It's the nature of this business," Matthews said. "We understand that. I'm 10 years into this. I definitely understand that my name's been swirling around for eight years. It's never going to make a difference. I don't care."

Matthews' intense-as-ever play indicates that he doesn't allow the rumors to affect his production. The acerbic manner in which he stresses swirling, as if simultaneously biting into a lemon, indicates that he finds the rumors distasteful.

Consider his current circumstances. He's on the road with the Mavericks, grinding through games with a sprained right wrist, while the other Maverick embroiled in trade rumors, Dennis Smith Jr., was back in Dallas, estranged from the franchise for nearly a week, by his [and his agents'] choice.

Shortly after the Mavericks' Sunday practice at Matthews' alma mater, Marquette, in advance of their Martin Luther King Jr. Day afternoon game against the Bucks, coach Rick Carlisle announced that he and Smith had spoken at length and that Smith will rejoin the team on Tuesday.

Mavericks fans still are wondering whether 21-year-old Smith might be traded and what the franchise might get in return. Matthews, with his expiring $18.6 million contract, has been labeled as a "trade chip" and "sweetener" for any potential Smith deal.

If that sounds callous, well, it is.

"I don't want anybody to feel sorry for me," Matthews said. "No one's supposed to feel sorry for me. I didn't get into this business with people feeling sorry for me. No one felt sorry for me when I wasn't drafted. No one felt sorry for me when I tore my Achilles.

"It's the game. It's life. It's bigger than basketball. It's livelihoods, and people have families to tend for and to worry about and to focus on. This game is great and everything, but it's not the whole world. There's bigger things than trade rumors and hater fans and all that [expletive]. That's never going to affect me."

During his four seasons in Dallas, Matthews consistently has been tasked with guarding opponents' best perimeter player while providing spacing on offense with his perimeter shooting.

Matthews' three-point percentage (38.5) trails only Harrison Barnes' 40.4-percent among Mavericks and is Matthews' highest percentage since he shot 38.9 percent in 2014-15 with Portland.

After Sunday's practice, Carlisle noted Matthews' recent uptick in shooting and defense and smiled when asked about the chip that Matthews is well-known for carrying on his shoulder.

"He's a great competitor," Carlisle said. "The more you tell him he can't do something, the more determined he's going to be to do it."

Safe to say Marquette’s Al McGuire Center holds special memories for @WessyWes23 — and vice versa. pic.twitter.com/LdKcwj8O0C — Brad Townsend (@townbrad) January 20, 2019

Matthews attended the first half of Sunday's Marquette-Providence game at the Bucks' new arena, the Fiserv Forum, and after the Mavericks' practice at Marquette's Al McGuire Center he was greeted by old friends and well-wishers.

While attending Madison's Memorial High School, where he also starred in soccer, Matthews was Wisconsin's Mr. Basketball in 2005 -- as was Mavericks guard Devin Harris in 2001. Even after 10 seasons in the NBA, games in Milwaukee still bring goosebumps for Matthews.

"The crowd and the city and the state has always been tremendous," he said. "I'm beyond humbled and thankful for it."

Matthews' 2017-18 season was limited to 63 games after he suffered a fractured right fibula, but he rehabbed, started strong this season and has played through not only the sprained wrist, but right foot and left shoulder soreness and a left hamstring strain that sidelined him for four games.

Matthews is appreciated throughout the Mavericks organization for his deep commitment the Dallas community, including his involvement in bicycle and coat and blanket giving and, earlier this season, hosting a Hoops for Troops day.

All the while, Matthews has helped raise his toddler daughter, who is a fixture at most Mavericks home games, hugging her father before he takes the court.

"That's not going to change," Matthews said. "She can go wherever I'm at."

Fortunately, she is not old enough to comprehend that her daddy, while grinding through another long season, is being referred to as a potential trade chip.

"Sometimes we don't get looked at as, necessarily, people who have lives and stuff that we care about," Matthews said. "A trade, it's uprooting of situations.

"But you know how the game is. It's like gambling. People don't even realize it's real money because it's chips, until it's gone. Then it's out of your bank account."

Twitter: @townbrad