The Dallas Mavericks Have Taken the Fork in the Road

With all the changes the Dallas Mavericks have gone through over the last few years, they have remained in the playoff picture without making it past the first round. Are they setting themselves up for failure?

The Dallas Mavericks have forever believed in an aggressive, fast-paced philosophy. Mark Cuban and the Mavs’ front office frequently seem in a hurry, trying desperately to not waste any time towards making themselves title contenders overnight.

Virtually everyone who follows the Mavs has seen their revolving door usher in various new faces each year, only to shove them right back out the door the following year. O.J. Mayo, Darren Collison, Chris Kaman, Elton Brand, and Yi Jianlian were all let go by the Mavs after their first year with the team, the 2012 season.

In 2013, Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, DeJuan Blair and Shane Larkin were sent packing after a surprisingly competitive performance against the eventual champion Spurs. The following year, Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, and Jameer Nelson were shipped to Boston for…you know who.

It didn’t stop there. Al-Farouq Aminu, Monta Ellis, and Tyson Chandler were not resigned either. After the predictable whiff on both Hassan Whiteside and Mike Conley, the Mavs brought in three new faces to supplement their new roster. This offseason, it was as if the Mavs couldn’t make up their minds.

July 1st produced a frustrating, familiar feeling for Mavs fans. The news that both Hassan Whiteside and Mike Conley would not be joining the Mavs combined with Chandler Parsons‘ easy decision to leave was endlessly maddening for a fan base that has seen this kind of free agency failure many times before.

Each year we look for any signs that the Mavs may finally be pulling the plug and choosing to rebuild, but each year we see them bring in the next set of veteran cast-offs. This summer finally seemed to be the one in which the Mavs prioritized younger, more developmental players.

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Refusing to actively pursue the big-name free agents such as Dwyane Wade, Al Horford, and Pau Gasol, the Mavs sat back and retained Dwight Powell on a long term contract. The hard-working Powell has shown impressive development in just under two seasons with Dallas, and the organization is betting a hefty investment that he will improve into a solid role player in the future.

But the same day they brought Powell back, the Mavs threw ten million dollars at Deron Williams, who agreed to return on a one year deal. The next day, the Mavs had a very bizarre 12 hours. After Kevin Durant‘s shockwave producing decision to bolt for the Warriors, Harrison Barnes was set free and poached by Dallas.

The 24-year-old Barnes is known to be a very talented young player, but goes through seemingly eternal slumps at the worst moments. In both the 2015 NBA Finals and this past year’s NBA Finals, Barnes had 0-9 shooting performances. Barnes went 5-32 during games four through six of this past series against the Cavaliers. But, the main attraction with Harrison Barnes is his youth, defensive versatility, and locker room reputation.

The bizarre factor in the Barnes signing however, was the simultaneous acquisition of 11-year- veteran Andrew Bogut. Bogut has had a solid career, the high point of it coming in the 2010 season, when Bogut was named an All-NBA Third Team selection.

The former number one overall pick of the Bucks provides consistent defense and rebounding, and a very impressive passing ability from the high post. But once again, the Mavs find themselves in between the lottery of the draft and the second round of the playoffs. Bogut’s addition is just effective enough to help the Mavs into the playoffs, but no further than the first round.

Dallas did sign Seth Curry (Brother of Steph Curry), a young guard with lots of potential coming from the Kings. The signings of Curry and Barnes, along with the retention of Powell suggests Dallas is interested in planning for the future, but the Bogut and Williams signings suggest a win-now mentality.

The Mavs will argue that they have a plan in place for the future while trying to remain competitive in the brutal western conference. The simple truth is, the Mavs cannot have it both ways.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have stunk for a little while. It has been ten seasons since they appeared in the west playoffs. A frustrating set of terrible draft decisions and constant change at Head Coach have had a lot to do with that, suggesting that a full rebuild does not have to take nearly that long.

But in just the last couple of years, the Timberwolves have assembled Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Tyus Jones, and Kris Dunn. The Utah Jazz have slowly assembled a steady young core of Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert, and Derrick Favors.

Now that they have made several savvy additions that include George Hill, Joe Johnson, and Boris Diaw, they are ready to leap into the West playoffs. Both the Timberwolves and Jazz are on their way to truly competing. The Mavs on the other hand, are well on their way to another first round exit.

This Mavs roster does feature one player to legitimately be excited about for the future. Harrison Barnes is simply the kind of player the Mavs have needed for several seasons. To be clear, the necessity of Barnes is not necessarily about his abilities on the court this year, rather it is about having a young, developmental player who has lots of room to grow and improve.

The Mavs front office can hope that Harrison Barnes, Justin Anderson, Seth Curry and Dwight Powell can lead the Mavs’ youth movement into the future. While Andrew Bogut and Deron Williams are nice to have around, the Mavs need more players like Barnes, and should alter their philosophy some in order to bring in the Mavs of the future.

Next: What Every Team Can Learn From the Golden State Warriors

The past five summers have been extremely disappointing for Mavs fans, and this one was no different. The Mavs made a class move agreeing to pay Dirk Nowitzki $40 million over the next two years, but it doesn’t mean he will be able to defeat father time any better than he did last year. The mavs are still stuck in the mediocrity hamster wheel.