The Dallas Mavericks built this team to win, not tank

Any question of whether the Dallas Mavericks are planning on competing or not this season should be gone by now. With the addition of DeAndre Jordan and Luka Doncic and the assumption that this is Dirk Nowitzki’s last ride, Dallas is ready to go big this year.

Dallas Mavericks fans already know this, but it should be emphasized that this Mavs team was not assembled to lose a bunch of games this year. The thought of tanking should be dead and gone by now and people need to see that they will once again be watching a competitive Dallas Mavericks team trying to make the playoffs.

In a post from FanSided’s Hoops Habit, one of the “3 big questions” for the Dallas Mavericks was whether or not they would be tanking this year. You can read that post here.

Although I understand exactly where the writer is coming from as far as what options Dallas will have next summer, it is much easier to look at the situation from a Mavs point of view. Here are some of the issues that he brought up and how the Mavericks are likely thinking about those issues.

First is the top 5 protected pick for next year. The Mavs needed to sweeten the deal to get Luka Doncic and a future first rounder was a great way to do so. Although the Mavs agreed to a protection for the pick, that was not forward planning. Dallas went into that trade assuming that they would not be making a selection in the 2019 NBA Draft, but rather doing what was needed to get their guy in 2018 and using the protection as an insurance in case the injury bug hits Dallas.

The other side of the argument that the writer talks about is that a top flight free agent isn’t going to want to join a team that isn’t doing any competing. This is definitely true and the Mavs want to lure a big name guy next year. Yet another reason for Dallas to aim for the stars this year.

Lastly, the writer quotes Mark Cuban talking about keeping the players informed on what is best for the team going forward. Although I think Cuban was right at the time, there is no doubt that he hates losing and wants to see his team compete for another year. This is the start of a new look for Dallas and the team should do well as they look to stay in playoff contention this year.

It is nice to be almost positive that the Mavs rebuild is over. For the time being, Dallas is going to have one of the youngest, most exciting teams out there and the fans are going to get a real treat watching them win a whole lot more games than they did in either of the past two years.