Jason Terry's wife and five daughters still live in the Dallas area. Having Jason playing down I-45 for the Rockets allows the family to reconnect on Jason's days off.

Back in July, Terry thought the commute to his family would be much shorter this season.

Terry recounted Friday how Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson offered him a contract on the first day of free agency. Not coincidentally, Terry and free agent center DeAndre Jordan had the same agent, Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports.

"For me it was like a package deal," Terry said. "If he (Jordan) came, I definitely was coming. Because that automatically made us a contender."

It's not surprising that Terry, 38, still sometimes refers to the Mavericks as "us." Eight of his 17 NBA seasons were spent with the Dallas franchise, which he helped reach the 2006 NBA Finals and win the 2011 championship.

Terry said, "I was as shocked as anyone," when Jordan reneged on his agreement to sign with Dallas and re-signed with the Clippers.

"When that happened, I kind of pushed the reset button," Terry said. "Because I didn't want to start over. I don't want to be in a rebuilding phase. I don't know if Dallas, at the time, knew if they were rebuilding or were they retooling. They were trying to see what was out there."

Terry, who made 126 3-pointers for the Rockets last season and stepped in as the starting point guard when Patrick Beverley got hurt, chose to sign a one-year, $1.5 million deal to return to Houston.

"Houston at the time had a better roster in place," Terry said. "Dallas was still trying to figure it out. We did some good things last year. I thought we were closer to winning a championship than Dallas was at the time."

And now? The Mavericks were three games ahead of the Rockets entering Friday night's game at American Airlines Center -- and the Rockets fired coach Kevin McHale on Nov. 18.

"Now, if you look at what they were able to do towards the end of free agency in putting the team together, I mean they are formidable," Terry said of the Mavericks. "They'll be a playoff team, barring injury. They're tough."

Twitter: @townbrad