If Reggie Miller can entertain playing for the Boston Celtics, why not the Dallas Mavericks?

Since the end of last season, the Mavericks have added Eddie Jones, who turns 36 before the season. They have an interest in P.J. Brown, who turns 38 before the season.

They may or may not be interested in obtaining Chris Webber. At 34, he may be a little young.

So why not Miller, who turns 42 in two weeks?

Celtics president Danny Ainge approached Miller about coming out of retirement last month. Miller retired two years ago after 18 seasons with the Indiana Pacers in which he scored 24,305 points and set the league record for 3-pointers made.

"The call from Danny came completely out of the blue," Miller said. "All I'm doing is thinking about it. I'm working out, and I want to see how my body feels. Obviously, Boston hit the lottery with the KG (Kevin Garnett) trade, but they've been in the bottom half of the league the last couple of years."

Miller said one other team has contacted him since the news of the Celtics' interest became public. He wouldn't say what team but the hints he gave suggest it is Phoenix.

So if one of the Mavericks' main rivals is after Miller — actually, does a team that loses in the first round qualify as a Phoenix rival? — why shouldn't the Mavericks pursue Miller as a part-time player?

I don't see him being an 82-game player, but there's no question he can get into shape to play 12 to 15 minutes a night. He was still averaging 32 minutes per game when he retired.

There's no doubt he can still knock down 3s. His percentage was down in his final year in Indiana, but the season before that, it was higher than his career mark of .395.

There were rumors last season, fueled by owner Mark Cuban in a radio interview, that the Mavericks had an interest in Miller. But they never went beyond the rumor stage.

"Dallas was like 15 games ahead of the entire league when that came out," Miller said. "But no one ever talked to me. Me and Cuban joked about it when I covered one of their games against Golden State, but that was it."

Look, I know there are things the Mavericks need more than Reggie Miller. Their desire to become a more athletic team in the off-season hasn't really been fulfilled. Perhaps that can still happen.

But one thing that Miller could provide that the Mavericks have really lacked throughout their run of near misses the last few seasons is a vocal veteran presence. This team had to turn to Nick Van Exel for leadership in 2003. Avery Johnson could get the locker room's attention when he played here, but now with him as coach, they could use more leadership from within.

It's not going to come from Dirk Nowitzki. We know that. He's a player, but he's not a leader.

When things were falling apart against Golden State, there was no one in the room to calm things down. A player with as much playoff experience as Miller could provide that.

As for his return, Miller said, he is still trying to gauge his interest in returning to the grind because he enjoys his work as a TNT analyst.

"After Danny called, I started calling different people," he said. "I'm still just thinking about whether I want to do it or not."

If he does it in Boston, more power to him.