ESPNDallas.com columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor and MavsOutsider.com editor-in-chief Bryan Gutierrez will join me each week to run a three-man weave on a few questions on the minds of Mavericks fans.

1. Do the Mavs have any All-Stars?

Gutierrez: I don’t see it, but Rick Carlisle will likely say any of their guys is an All-Star to their team. To have a chance, Dallas would likely have to emerge into the top three in the West by the time the coaches make their vote, thus granting a representative based off their body of work. That’s not a knock on Dallas. It just believes in the strength-in-numbers approach, avoiding putting the emphasis on one man.

Taylor: Monta Ellis is playing like an All-Star. He's scoring and playing efficiently, at least most of the time, and he's hitting big shots and the Mavs are winning. All of those are ingredients to being an All-Star. Perhaps he'll get that nod this year. I don't think Dirk Nowitzki cares about being an All-Star anymore, but he's still one of the top 15 players in the Western Conference. He's averaging nearly 20 points and doing a solid job rebounding for his age, and the dude had 10 assists against Chicago.

MacMahon: The Mavs have three players who might make legitimate cases for an All-Star bid -- Nowitzki, Ellis and Tyson Chandler -- but will be fortunate to get one guy to Brooklyn. The West is just so deep and talented. Ellis, who has never been an All-Star, is the guy the Mavs will lobby for. He’ll be competing with guards such as Stephen Curry, James Harden, Klay Thompson, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Tony Parker and maybe Russell Westbrook. Good luck.

2. Nowitzki got his first two DNP-OLDs of the season during this road trip. How often should that happen?

The Mavs are deep enough offensively to rest 36-year-old Dirk Nowitzki periodically throughout the season. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Gutierrez: Dallas’ big picture places an emphasis on having everyone healthy and fresh when it comes to the playoff push and the playoffs. With that in mind, resting Dirk when the schedule presents opportunity should happen. He hates playing back-to-backs, so opportunities for rest are there. It wouldn’t have to be every set of them, but singling out games or one-off nights that involve inferior opponents is a shrewd move.

Taylor: I don't think there's a set number of games he needs to miss or a regular pattern of missing games. But if the Mavs have a tough stretch of back-to-backs or four games in five days, it's OK to give him a day off. This is a team of veterans that can score, so the Mavs should be able to win most nights when he doesn't play. And if they lose a few of them, so what? This season is about the playoffs. It would be better if the Mavs could get the fourth seed, but it's more important to be healthy in April than it is to win a couple more games in the regular season.

MacMahon: The simple answer is, as often as his body says he should. This is a constant conversation topic between Nowitzki, head athletic trainer Casey Smith and coach Rick Carlisle. “I think the communication is there,” Nowitzki said. “There’s nothing planned for now. Just roll with the flow, and whenever we see another opportunity, I’m sure we’re going to do it.” At 36, it’d make sense for the Mavs to cut Nowitzki’s regular-season appearances to somewhere in the mid-70s, as the San Antonio Spurs did with Tim Duncan last season.

3. Has Ellis surpassed Dirk as the Mavs' most valuable player?

Gutierrez: No, but someone else has. Chandler is the most valuable member of this squad. Yes, Ellis has stepped up offensively and takes defensive charges, but Chandler fills dire needs for the Mavs. Their numbers aren’t great in terms of defense and rebounding, but they would be even worse without Chandler. That said, the fact that you can name three guys as team MVPs suggests that Dallas is in a very good spot in terms of depth.

Taylor: Not yet. It's getting closer, but Nowitzki is still "the man" on this team. But it's great for the Mavs that Ellis is so comfortable taking shots at the end of games that it gives Carlisle a lot of options at the end of games.

MacMahon: Dirk has made a point to refer to Ellis as the go-to guy, but the big German is still the face of the franchise. And Nowitzki is still the focal point for opponents’ defensive game plan, making the game so much easier for his teammates. He’s still the Mavs’ MVP, but Ellis and Chandler are legitimate co-stars.