The Dallas Mavericks are limping into their 9-10 Play-In Tournament game against the Sacramento Kings. The game allows both teams to keep their season alive, with the Mavericks intent on maximizing it after going from the NBA Finals last season to the No. 10 seed in the standings.
The Mavericks’ misfortune is directly related to their bizarre decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers this season for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick. There has been no satisfactory explanation for the trade outside ‘defense wins championships,’ which is not a motto fans are taking much solace in.
Mavericks GM Nico Harrison held a press conference behind closed doors yesterday, refusing to let invited media members make recordings of the interaction. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon was among the attendees and painted an incredibly dark future picture for the Mavericks based on how Harrison spoke to the media.
MacMahon derided the Mavericks’ lack of a long-term plan, pointing out how GM Harrison explicitly pointed out he has a contract for just three more years. Despite that, the Mavs don’t have any picks between 2027 and 2030, meaning the team will likely be in NBA purgatory to end the decade if the Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving duo can’t win a championship in the next two seasons.
“This is what happens when you let somebody who’s got a very short-term view make long-term decisions. The franchise gets absolutely bleeped in the long term. This thing is dark in Dallas, and it’s going to get worse. This is going to be a ’90s type of disaster of a franchise in Dallas.”
Davis is a 32-year-old big man who refuses to embrace playing center and has a troubling injury history. Kyrie Irving is 33 years old and has a troubling injury history himself, compounded by his tearing his ACL this season.
The decision to move on from a 25-year-old point guard who led you to the NBA Finals for an injury-prone big man like Davis is insane.
Firstly, defense is no longer the barometer for championship success, based on recent champions like the Denver Nuggets. Second, no team wins a title without an elite perimeter option, something the Mavericks don’t have with Kyrie injured and no Luka.
With no future picks and an aging roster, the Mavericks are in an impossible situation. They might never see a player as talented as Doncic on their roster again. The fact that the team’s GM refuses to acknowledge that fact is what’s at the root of the frustrations fans are showing.
