Should the Dallas Mavericks Overhaul the Roster Again?

The Dallas Mavericks have once again put themselves in a position to either bring back or recreate the team they put together this past season. Should they start from ground zero once again?

The Dallas Mavericks season has come and gone with an unspectacular 42 wins and a 5-game series loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder to show for it. Although this record and finish do not seem like very promising results, it may be even less promising that many players who did well for us this year either hold a player option or are no longer under contract for the 2016-2017 season.

The players for the Dallas Mavericks that hold a player option for the upcoming season are Deron Williams, Chandler Parsons, and Dirk Nowitzki. D-Will and Parsons are both expected to opt out of their contracts while Dirk will most likely be returning for the final year of his current deal and potentially his final season in the NBA.

The other players who become free agents this summer are Raymond Felton, David Lee, Zaza Pachulia, Charlie Villanueva, and Dwight Powell. All of these players aside from Powell will be unrestricted free agents for the 2016-2017 season.

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For this Mavericks team, players like Parsons, Williams, Felton, Lee, and Pachulia all played important roles in the limited success of the team. Upgrades at each position could arguably be available, but is it worth the cost?

I believe that the Mavericks should focus first and foremost on returning the players necessary to keep this team in playoff contention. Parsons, Williams, and Lee being the most notable in my mind. I believe that the Mavs would do just fine allowing Charlie, Powell, and even Pachulia go, as sad as it makes me to say that.

This gives the Mavericks some positional and salary flexibility to entertain other big name free agents even if we do re-sign our other players. Parsons will be earning a max contract in the upcoming months, Lee and Williams should be getting a bit of a raise and, if we so choose, Felton may get a nice little payday as well.

Aside from that, continuity is a big seller for me. Dallas hasn’t had a mostly returning roster in so many years it’s more like the fans are following Dirk than the organization itself. Every player that has ever played the game functions a little differently and does things their own way, so when these players have to learn how to do that with a new group every single year, you lose that team unity that can push a team together in the early season while everyone else is learning a new system and new tendencies from their squad.

But these are not the main reasons I have for wanting to see Dallas return most of the roster.

No, the main reason is much more disappointing and real than what has been previously stated. The Dallas Mavericks do not attract big name players. This has been true since the day the franchise began and will remain true until someone breaks the mold.

There has been no lack of recruiting from the team, the coaches, nor the owner when it comes to offseason and yet we still have never landed a bonafide All-Star free agent. Sadly, that trend will not end this year either as most upcoming free agents already have a few teams in mind on where to go and, not surprisingly, none of them are Dallas.

It’s time for the Mavs and Mark Cuban to swallow our pride, admit to ourselves that we are not in the market for game-changing players, and build up a championship level team a different way. The 2011 title team won it all with one All-star and a handful of role players that did everything they could to improve the team. Why not apply that formula one more time and go on a search for some great role players while bringing back the ones we already have.

Next: Dallas Mavericks: The Biggest Surprise This Season

I may be alone in this opinion but the Mavericks will be better off returning a majority of the roster in hopes of returning to the playoffs and hitting a stride at the right place and the right time to make some magic happen next season.