5 Takeaways from Dallas Mavericks Exit Interviews

The Dallas Mavericks concluded their season by conducting their exit interviews on Wednesday. Here are five takeaways from the exit interviews.

The 2017-18 season for the Dallas Mavericks is officially over.

On Wednesday, April 11th, the Dallas Mavericks conducted the final meetings and exit interviews where they each took time to speak to the media before departing for the offseason.

Here are five big takeaways from the exit interviews.

1.) People Thought This Was it for Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk Nowitzki held his exit interview before the last game of the season and made it clear that he was coming back for a 21st season.

But that wasn’t as set in stone as some might think.

J.J. Barea was the first Maverick to speak to the media during the exit interviews and he even admitted that he thought this was it for Dirk.

“I thought this was it. Just like everybody else. I think he thought this was it too. But he played good. He stayed healthy. He helped the team. He still loves it and I think he has fun with us in the locker room and traveling,” Barea said.

Almost every Maverick shared their excitement for Dirk coming back for another year and Donnie Nelson even got emotional talking about Dirk deciding to come back and what he means to the franchise.

Dirk is back and everyone is happy.

2.) Dennis Smith Jr.’s Work Ethic is a Thing

One thing that has gained more steam as the season has went along is the impressive work ethic from Dennis Smith Jr.

At the exit interviews, players took their time to praise the work ethic of Smith Jr. in each of their interviews and it became an overwhelming topic of the day.

“Doing things like working on defensive drills like one-on-zero. It is not something everybody wants to do or will even do. Seeing him in there an hour before practice doing defensive slides. That is something as a rookie is impressive and something you tip your hat on,” Dwight Powell said about Smith Jr.

Dennis himself even talked about the hours he has spent in the gym this year. He said there were times that he would spend time in the gym up until 3:00 am in the morning working on his game.

From Rick Carlisle to Harrison Barnes, the praise for Smith Jr.’s work ethic was a constant and that is always nice to hear about from your new cornerstone moving forward.

3.) Doug McDermott Wants to Be Back

Rick Carlisle made it clear at his exit interview when he said they like Doug a lot and thought he fit in great after coming over in a trade at the trade deadline.

“I really like it here and enjoy playing in this system. It was a lot of fun. I felt like I fit right in from the first game,” McDermott said.

He also noted how well he fits the flowing offense in Dallas and how great it was to finally play under Rick Carlisle after admiring him from his Pacer days.

Last year, McDermott was in Chicago and then went Oklahoma City in a trade. Then, on the eve of training camp, he was traded to New York in the Carmelo Anthony deal. Now, he wants the stability and would love for it to be in Dallas.

On if he thinks he will be back in Dallas, McDermott said “Hopefully, that is the plan.”

McDermott is a restricted free agent heading into the summer.

4.) Mavericks Will Be Active in Free Agency

“We will be very, very active in free agency,” Donnie Nelson said at his exit interview.

The Mavericks will head into the summer being one of the only teams in the league sitting on a lot of cap space. Will they chase a big name free agent or maybe chase a younger guy to fit the timeline?

“Getting Rick ammunition is our number one priority in the offseason,” Nelson said. “Free agency we will be extremely active…I can tell you there will be an emphasis on young players with upside. We are in a phase right now that we want to build with youth and athleticism. It really helps when you have three or more young guys.”

This is about as far as Nelson would go into their free agency plans, but young guys with upside can mean a lot of different things. If you want to try to connect the dots, an active free agency targeting young building blocks could mean chasing some young restricted free agents.

Either way, this summer is huge for Dallas and a lot of hope will be put in who they can bring in through not only the draft, but free agency also.

5.) A New Big Three is Being Formed in Dallas

Make no mistake about it, a new big three is being formed in Dallas.

It was 20 years ago that the Dallas Mavericks put together three young guns in Steve Nash, Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki. Now, it is time for a new big three to be formed.

“We are building this team just like we did 20 years ago when Mark first came in. He had Fin, his leadership piece. He had a young Steve Nash that was just coming into his own. He had Dirk,” Nelson said.

“Those were the three guys that we built the franchise around. We have 2 or 3 of those pieces. Hopefully, in this year’s draft, we can get the third piece.”

This might put some lofty expectations on the incoming draft pick, but I actually love the comparison and it should excite fans.

But Nelson doesn’t want the same nickname, in fact, he challenged the fans and media to think of a new nickname for the new Mavericks big three.

Notes

-Wesley Matthews will be back next season. He has a player option that he says he hasn’t thought about yet, but even he said that he expects to be back next season. Other people like Carlisle and Nelson mentioned him while talking about their plans next season.

-Yogi Ferrell and Salah Mejri recognize it is a business heading into free agency but expressed desire to come back to Dallas

-I was told Seth Curry was in the building, but he did not partake in exit interviews.

-Donnie Nelson made a point to specifically mention how hard of a year it was for Rick Carlisle.

-J.J. Barea said taking last summer off was a huge part of his success this season.

-Dwight Powell expressed more desire to improve on his three-point shot this summer.

Next: Doug McDermott May Have Found a Home in Dallas

The next key date for the Mavericks is April 13th when the draft lottery odds are set in stone for the draft lottery next month.

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