Is preseason performance important for Mavericks?

The Dallas Mavericks are set to tip-off the preseason October 7th against the Houston Rockets. Including the Rockets, the Mavs will have eight exhibition games.

I ask the staff,

How important is it for the Mavs to have a strong preseason?

Brian Gosset (@Gosset41): Not important. Yes, we’d like to see good play and chemistry, but record wise, it’s not important at all. In the last four seasons, the Mavs haven’t had a winning record in preseason play. They’ve gone 4-4 in three of those years, including the 2010-11 season, their title year (Mavs record- 12-14 in that span). I think even for Carlisle and Cuban, they’d like to see how Parsons and Nelson co-exist with the rest of the starters (Monta, Dirk, Tyson).

Kieran Hairell (@khairell): It’s extremely important for the Mavs to have a strong preseason. With all the new additions, the team needs time to gel, establish a defensive identity, and get consistency with the starting rotation.

Winston Zhang (@The_Stepback): If by ‘strong’ you mean ‘win games’, then no, it’s not important. To me, so long as the preseason games help to build chemistry, that’s all that matters. But of course, winning a few will build confidence and camaraderie!

Bailey Rogers (@BRogers789): Not important at all. With so many new pieces, preseason should hopefully be an opportunity for Rick Carlisle to get extra wacky with his rotations and try to figure out which pieces fit well together. Winning would probably be nice for confidence and chemistry, but the most important thing is that a bunch of different Mavs see the floor together and get used to playing in Carlisle’s system.

Sameer Moosa: In terms of chemistry, it is definitely important. With so many new pieces, the Mavs are going to need as much time to gel as possible. However, winning these games won’t really matter, since the starters will likely only play a limited number of minutes, especially the Big German.

Austin Ngaruiya (@garooya): The preseason is a time for Carlisle to tinker with lineups, offensive sets, and defensive schemes. With the Mavs veteran laden roster, I think it’s more important for Carlisle to have a “strong” preseason than any of the players.

Ace Feltman (@MFFeLtman): Preseason, Spring Training, Exhibition Games, it all means absolutely nothing in terms of wins and losses. Just do a few things in this order: Stay healthy, get loose and ready, stay healthy, see what you have from some of your new players, stay healthy, see what you have from some of your young players, stay healthy, see what you have from some of your current players. If they don’t win a game in preseason, sure, i’ll be a little worried, but if everyone’s healthy going into the regular season, I’ll be without a worry.