Legendary head coach Rick Carlisle agreed to a five-year, $35 million extension with the Dallas Mavericks that will make him the highest paid head coach in the league without a dual executive role. It brings Carlisle into his second decade with the team he led to a championship in 2010-11. The deal was reported by ESPN.com’s Marc Stein.

Dallas President of Basketball Operations Donnie Nelson gave a huge vote of confidence to Carlisle in April after the team’s unfortunate playoff loss to the Houston Rockets, so this deal is not surprising. Nelson said that he and Mark Cuban considered the coach “their Jerry Sloan” and “he could be in Dallas as long as he wants to be.”

The Mavs are facing a task that they haven’t had to handle since Cuban purchased majority stake in the team back in 2000. They are looking at change. With their loyal superstar, Dirk Nowitzki, possibly in his last season, they need a new face of the franchise. Are Wesley Matthews or Chandler Parsons the answer? Shouldn’t the fact that we are mentioning those two players as potential faces of a franchise worry Mavs fans? Not necessarily.

You see Mavs fans have what all other fans dream about having — an elite coach who gets the most out of his talent.

Carlisle is 56 years old and has won over 600 career games. He could have told Cuban and Nelson that he wasn’t on board for a change in the franchise. Doc Rivers did it to Danny Ainge in Boston. After everything he has done for Dallas, no one would have blamed him.

He’s staying. And thank god for Dallas fans. This is the guy who turned Monta Ellis from perceived malcontent into a free agent the Indiana Pacers had to have. He turned Tyson Chandler from a washed-up big man into a guy who commanded a five-year, $60 million deal from the Phoenix Suns. Either there is something in the water in Dallas or Carlisle just has a gift.

I’m going with the latter. The Mavericks should feel a lot better about their future knowing that they have a head coach like that going forward.