Per YahooSports.com, the Mavericks have agreed to a new 6 year - 55 million dollar deal with Brendan Haywood.
Whether you love or hate the terms of the deal, it's a good deal for the Mavericks. He's a very capable center and provides defense and respectable offense for the team. The free agent market for centers is relatively dry so keeping Haywood was a must. With this news and the news of Dirk Nowitzki negotiating a new deal with the team, the Mavs are now 2-2 on keeping their core together and not losing them to free agency.
Look for the Mavericks to solidify the center position by looking at signing Shaquille O'Neal or looking for a trade with Orlando for Marcin Gortat. The Mavericks and Gortat agreed to an offer sheet last summer, when he was a restricted free agent, but the Orlando Magic decided to keep him on their team. After the new deal was signed with Orlando, based on collective bargaining rules, there was a one year ban for Gortat coming to the Mavericks. That ban is about to expire and there are potential resources on the Mavericks side that would intrigue the Magic.