Mavericks' low expectations will be a massive advantage this season

The Dallas Mavericks are being counted out with less than three weeks to go until the NBA season begins. Major media outlets have doubted the Mavericks all offseason, with Dallas consistently being ranked in the 20s in most power rankings.

Most predictions suggest that the Mavs' roster improvements will be marginal. They were tied for the 23rd-best team last year despite tanking multiple games, and they continue to be ranked in this range ahead of this season.

Dallas is being doubted

ESPN recently released an article titled "Basketball Power Index: NBA projections, playoff chances for 2026-27 season" that includes two strength-based projections. One is based on players available now, while the other is based on players projected to be available once the playoffs roll around.

This system ranked the Mavs as the 22nd-best team in the league and gave them just a 10.1 percent chance of making the playoffs and a 38.6 percent chance of making the Play-In Tournament.

The NBA world clearly doesn't believe that the Mavericks are primed for a bounce-back year after winning 26 games last season, but this will be a big advantage for them.

The Mavericks can use these doubts to their advantage

The team won't have the weight of the world on their shoulders as they enter the first year of the Dusty May era, as they're expected to struggle. Not many people are predicting them to be a playoff team, meaning that missing the playoffs for the third year in a row won't be a huge disappointment.

Instead of feeling pressure to be a playoff team immediately, Dallas can use the outside skepticism as motivation.

May just helped lead Michigan to the National Championship before joining the Mavs this offseason, and their retooled roster is far better than they're getting credit for. Dallas drafted Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio De Larrea and traded for Zaccharie Risacher and Santi Aldama. These additions will help the Mavericks now and in the future, but their biggest addition is Kyrie Irving's return from an ACL tear that kept him out for all of last season.

Kyrie is one of the best point guards in the NBA when healthy, and he is poised to give Dallas' offense a major boost. He makes everyone around him better, and his on-ball gravity will help create countless open looks for his teammates.

The Mavericks have time to figure things out with their young roster and Irving returning to the lineup, rather than fans and media demanding results right away. Dallas can grind in silence and form a new identity.

Low expectations give Dallas room to grow

Entering a season with low expectations is far better than entering a season with high ones, as Dallas can grow at their own pace, endure the ups and downs, and focus on trying to return to the NBA Playoffs. It won't feel like the sky is falling every time that the team loses, putting them in a much better position to bounce back.

They can also use all of the preseason doubt as bulletin board material. No one wants the Mavericks to have a strong year as much as the players in the locker room, and they can work toward proving everyone wrong rather than attempting to live up to lofty expectations.

This will be beneficial for the young players, especially the rookies, as the outside noise about expectations will be more limited compared to if they were predicted to be a contender. For a young team with a new head coach, several rookies, an entirely new front office, and a star point guard returning from injury, a low-pressure environment could be exactly what they need to get back on track.

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