Examining the 2023 doomsday scenario for the Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have won just one of their last six games, and three of 11 to slip to 11th in the Western Conference with five games remaining in the regular season. Nobody expected the Mavs to be here. Not after last year’s run to the conference finals, and certainly not after the blockbuster trade that brought Kyrie Irving to Dallas. The Mavericks may not even make the Play-In Tournament.

Things are bad in Dallas, but they could still get worse. The Mavs have two future Hall of Famers on their roster, and they must build around them if they want to get back into contention. Dallas has to upgrade their defense, rebounding, rim protection, and depth to make a leap this summer.

How much worse could things get for the Mavericks? Here is a look at how their doomsday scenario could unfold and force the team into total and complete chaos before the end of 2023.

Dallas Mavericks miss the Play-In Tournament and finish with 10th worst record in the NBA

The Mavs missing the entire postseason one year after making the conference finals is disastrous. It shows Jalen Brunson's importance, and further underscores the front office’s mistakes last summer. From letting Brunson walk without replacing him to signing JaVale McGee to be the starting center, nothing worked and now Dallas is paying for it.

Missing the postseason is bad, but it could get worse. The Mavericks owe the Knicks their 2023 first-round pick from the original Kristaps Porzingis trade, but it has a top-ten protection on it. Dallas finishing with the tenth-worst record in the NBA gives them an 11.6 percent chance of jumping into the top four and a 77.5 percent chance of keeping their pick. Retaining their selection is no guarantee, and that is where things start racing downhill.