1 Uncontrollable brutal reality will sabotage the Mavericks' lottery odds

The Dallas Mavericks are officially in the final stretch of the season, as they only have 13 more games until their final regular season game on April 13 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Most Mavericks fans are counting down the days until this season is over, as everything has seemed to go wrong ever since trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers at the beginning of February, but some fans are excited for what's to come over the next few weeks even though the overall outlook on the season is bleak.

Anthony Davis is ramping up his activity towards a return from his adductor injury this season, as he practiced with the Texas Legends on Monday. While Davis' return will give Mavericks fans some temporary excitement while helping Dallas potentially win some more games in hopes of securing a better seed in the Play-In Tournament, it may not be the wisest decision.

The idea of the Mavericks tanking for the rest of the season and looking ahead to next season would be completely out the window if Davis returned, as his presence would naturally lead to the team being competitive in most of their games. But even with Davis' return, another factor outside of the Mavericks' control has been working against their lottery odds for weeks, and it's only poised to intensify as the season rages on.

Suns' impossible schedule will doom the Mavericks' lottery hopes

The Phoenix Suns are currently one game behind the Mavs for the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, and when looking at their strength of schedule, they may never end up catching the Mavericks, causing Dallas' draft position not to change much. According to Tankathon, the Suns have the hardest remaining schedule in the NBA, with their 13 remaining opponents having a combined winning percentage of 61.6 percent.

Phoenix's final 13 opponents include the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics (twice), Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors. The Suns aren't on track to win many more games this season considering how badly they've played combined with how many elite teams they have to play against over the next month, and Mavericks fans who want the team to tank are punching the air as Phoenix may not even catch them in the standings to begin with.

Mavericks fans who want the team to secure the best lottery pick possible should be rooting for the Suns to win as many games as possible, but Davis' return combined with Phoenix's dysfunction is a recipe for disaster when it comes to Dallas sliding in the standings.

Even though most Mavericks fans are ready to close this chapter by getting the season over with as quickly as possible and not playing Davis at all in order for their lottery odds to increase while not risking reinjury, that doesn' sound like it is in the cards. Davis is ready to get back on the floor, and while his return isn't guaranteed, all signs are indicating that he will play at some point this season.

Winning games over the next month is only going to hurt Dallas' lottery odds while putting Davis at risk of getting injured again, and both of those outcomes would compromise the Mavs' future. They don't own many of their future first-round picks to begin with, and them tanking at the end of this season could yield similar results to the 2022-23 season when Dallas prioritized tanking for a few games which led to them keeping their first-round pick and ultimately landing Dereck Lively II.

They must take advantage of this golden opportunity to increase their odds of moving up in the draft, as landing another NBA-ready player would be massive in their progression toward becoming a contender again. Regardless of how appealing a nice lottery pick may sound, the chances of Dallas moving up in the lottery are being held back by Phoenix, and time will tell who grabs that No. 10 seed and final spot in the play-in.