Brandon Bass, who blossomed into a capable backup power forward and center last season, will draw attention from several teams, his agent said Monday.

While Bass falls into the second tier of free agents, losing him would force the Mavericks to rely more heavily on James Singleton - also an unrestricted free agent - and perhaps pursue a big man on the open market or through a trade.

"Brandon likes Dallas and appreciates the Mavericks ," agent Tony Dutt said. "He will certainly look at that, but he will look at other options, too. I'm pretty comfortable in saying he's going to get a ton of interest."

Bass will be seeking the mid-level exception. Because he has been with the Mavericks for two seasons, they can offer him any annual salary up to the exception without actually using their exception.

It is believed the Mavericks will hold their mid-level exception to try to lure a quality free-agent scorer such as Rasheed Wallace.

The mid-level is expected to be between $5 million and $5.5 million.

Bass is not necessarily looking to land with a team where he would start, Dutt said. But it could be a consideration, given that quality teams such as Orlando and San Antonio could be in the market for a starting power forward.

The Mavericks will be walking a fine line. Assuming they offer Bass a multiyear deal, whatever the Mavs pay him would eat into their available funds for the fertile free-agent class of 2010.

Meanwhile, Kidd's situation will be on the front burner from the start. He is expected to get attention from several contenders, as well as the New York Knicks, who are trying to acquire assets that could be enticing to Cleveland's LeBron James in 2010. A high-level point guard such as Kidd would fit that description.

The Mavericks have said they will do whatever they can to re-sign Kidd.