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On August 19, 2005, the Dallas Mavericks had a press conference to introduce the re-signed Darrell Armstrong and the newly signed Doug Christie, DeSagana Diop, Rawle Marshall and Josh Powell. Here's what was said:

Mark Cuban: Welcome everybody to a culmination of what was an interesting long and different summer, but more importantly the start of what we think is incredibly exciting and the foundation for the Mavericks next generation. I'm proud and excited to introduce our new group of Mavericks, and a returnee, Darrell Armstrong.

Avery Johnson: We’re excited to have all of these guys. This is a really big day for us, and it’s also a big day for us because we are also going to have our core group of guys back from last year. Also, we didn’t overhaul this whole team because we are really excited about how our team finished up last year. All of the young men that are up here today, they fit right into where we’re going, they fit right into our system. As you know, DA was a very instrumental part in helping us last year, and especially in helping us win that first round series against the Rockets. Doug Christie has been a tremendous competitor, has a ton of experience and he’s going to really help us on the defensive end, help us get the ball to the basket a little bit more this year. Josh Powell came out of college 2 years ago. Him and Rawle Marshall are like our two rookie first round draft picks that we didn’t have. Losing Shawn Bradley, we had to fill in that hole, so we are excited about getting DeSagana Diop. He’s going to add some shot blocking off the bench. With the mentality of us trying to get better defensively, still get the ball up the court and play offense at a high pace, these guys really fit into our system. I’m a happy man today, and I want to thank Donnie and Mark for working so hard to get these guys on our roster.

Doug Christie: Hello everybody. I don’t know where to start. We’re so excited to be here we couldn’t sleep last night or in the last few days. First of all I obviously want to thank God, my family. This is a class organization., and being a free agent—this is my first time I have been a free agent, I didn’t know the process and how it went but once we got the call from Mark, Avery and Donnie came up and saw us. Right when they came to our home I think we knew that this was a situation that we wanted to be in. They’ve showed class and spoken the truth, and that’s something that when you are a free agent in the NBA that’s difficult to get in this day in age. Looking them in the eyes and talking to them gave me the reassurance, and my wife and my family, that this is the type of place we want to be. We had some other offers, and different places that we could have went, but this is the perfect fit for us. Obviously winning is big, obviously the chance for a championship is big, and when you take all of that into consideration with where I’m at in my career this is a great fit. Mark supports the team like no other owner you see in the NBA and in professional sports for that matter. I have long respected Avery and what he’s done in the NBA. As a coach, I told him the story about the time he came to Seattle and kind of went off on the press last year. I was sitting at home watching and saying “yeah baby, do it, do it!!” When you get behind your players like that it’s something special. He’s the general and we are soldiers, you go out there and want to lay it all on the line…that’s the type of situation I wanted to be in. Obviously we have had battles here in the past. We know that the fans are fantastic. For these fans to be on our side now is going to be an incredible experience. I’m very happy, I’m excited and I’m not usually at a loss for a lot of words, but right now I am a little bit. I want to get started and give these guys everything that I possibly have.

Darrell Armstrong: When I left here, to be honest with you I wasn’t planning to come back. My mindset was to be back home close to my Mom, with my Dad passing and all. She told me to go ahead and position yourself the best you can. As I stepped back and thought over the last week about where I wanted to play, Dallas kept popping into my head because I’m all about trying to win and all about trying to get a championship. I love the fans here, I think they come out and support the team every night, no matter who you are playing. I just want to give these fans something special, and hopefully I can do that this year. I want to thank Avery and Mark Cuban for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to come back and play this year. I’m looking forward to another great year.

DeSagana Diop: Hello everybody. I want to thank God and thank my Mom, because without my Mom I wouldn’t be here right now. I had a tough time in Cleveland, I didn’t play that much even though I worked hard every day. I’m just excited to be here. Texas was the first state I came to when I came to the United States, so I always dreamed about playing for the Mavericks. I’m ready to come to work and do my best to help this team win. It’s a winning organization, I’m ready to come here and do it.

Josh Powell: I just want to thank God and thank my family for their love and their support. I want to thank the organization for giving me the chance to come here and hopefully be a big help. I don’t really have too much to say, but just a thank you to the Mavericks for giving me the opportunity to be in the NBA and hopefully have a chance to play.

Rawle Marshall: I’d like to first thank God for putting me in this position. I’d also like to thank Mark Cuban and Coach Avery for giving me this opportunity and also the organization. Like Doug Christie said, it’s a class organization and I’d just like to do my best to try to fit in and give this team all that I can. I couldn’t ask to be put in a better position. This is a great position and a great opportunity, and I look to take full advantage of it as a rookie.

MEDIA QUESTIONS:

To Mark Cuban: How much does adding Doug to the mix help improve the Mavericks defense, and in what way?

Mark Cuban: The other nice thing about bringing Doug in is that he’s been an all NBA first team defender and until he got injured last year he was a reigning all NBA second team defender. I think that experience is going to help Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels quite a bit. Doug knows what it takes to be the best in the NBA in terms of perimeter defense.

To Avery Johnson: Do you think that this offseason you have gotten done what you wanted to?

Avery Johnson: Last year you guys always heard me talk about system. We have a vision of where we are trying to go, and I think that from where we were at the beginning of this summer we filled in the necessary holes that we felt we had. We are all about winning a championship here. I know that a lot of times coaches really don’t want to talk about that because they are always scared about job security. I’ve experienced it, I want the rest of the organization to experience it, and I want Mark to experience it because he has given me the opportunity to be the head coach. We feel that adding Doug Christie to our team is giving us the best chance to win a championship. We like DeSagana coming off the bench to help our center position alongside Erick Dampier. We have players that fit into a system that we like to play that we feel will help get us over the top.

To Avery Johnson: How much does adding Doug to the mix help improve the Mavericks defense, and in what way?

Avery Johnson: He’s a really good on the ball defender. We really had a lot of problems last year in the playoffs with pick and rolls. Obviously, a lot of the guys we are playing against you are not just going to shut down, but we think that if we can get better with playing perimeter defense, pick and roll defense, and guarding penetration, it will take some pressure off of our big guys which will cut down on points in the paint. Doug is really good at slashing and getting to the basket, he’s a really good passer, so that’s going to help us get Jason Terry off the ball a little bit more. We feel that his skill level really fits where we are trying to go.

To Avery Johnson: What do you think will make Diop a better player here in Dallas than he was in Cleveland?

Avery Johnson: Playing time, consistent playing time. I just think that he’s at a stage right now where he’s been in the league for 4 years, he’s got his body in the best shape I’ve ever seen it in, and I worked him out last week, I liked what I saw. We studied a lot of film and talked to a lot of different people and we figure that this is a time now where he is ready to blossom.

To Avery Johnson: What does adding Powell and Diop to the front court do to the playing time of guys like Mbenga and Pavel?

Avery Johnson: You can't ever have too many big guys. Mbenga and Pavel are still fairly inexperienced, but we hope that they can continue to progress, but right now we feel that Diop stabilizes our whole front court for us.

To Doug Christie: How much do you feel like you have lost from your prime and how much do you have left that you can bring here?

Doug Christie: I train my whole body, something I didn’t do when I was 18, 20, 25 years old. I’m probably in better shape than I used to be, maybe not as athletic as I once was, but as you get older you have to understand how much pain you are willing to go through, and I’m willing to go through whatever type of pain I need to go through to get where I want to go. I’m still something, a championship. Whether or not I ever win one is a story that’s untold, but doing the work to get there, I’m willing to do whatever that’s going to take.

To Doug Christie: In your mind, what makes a good defensive player?

Doug Christie: Team effort. Everybody playing together. People always talk about one person playing defense. I think it’s kind of a misnomer. If everyone trusts each other, everyone automatically becomes a better defender. I know that I can get up on my man and press him while having faith that people are going to be behind me to help me out. You’re not going to get up on Kobe Bryant and stay there, it’s just not possible, but if you know that a big man is behind you, you can do that. If we as a team come together and support each other, I think that we will improve immensely.

To Doug Christie: Does it matter to you if you come in and start or if you come off the bench?

Doug Christie: No, I just want to come here and contribute all that I can. Obviously the coaches are going to dictate what happens with that, but if my play and my hard work dictate that I’m out there then that’s what you will see.

To Doug Christie: You know how long Michael Finley was here, have you thought at all about how what people will think about you filling his shoes?

Doug Christie: I don't look at it that way because I am a professional athlete and I realize that this is a business. You have to make decisions that are best for your organization at that particular time. I'm not trying to fill Fin's shoes because I don't think that anyone can do that. He's a man of his own right who still works hard and who's a heck of a competitor. I loved playing against him and hopefully that by the end of my time here you will be speaking the same about me.

To Josh Powell: You have been with this organization for a couple of years, how does it feel to finally get a shot to play? Has it finally sunk in that you have arrived?

Josh Powell: No, not really. I'm just continuing to work and continuing to get better to learn as much as I can. It's exciting though, I'm just thankful to be here and can't wait to get started.