5 Offseason tasks Dallas Mavericks should already be working on

The Dallas Mavericks have lost four straight games at the worst time to drop to three games below .500 and 11th in the Western Conference. They are in danger of missing the postseason entirely. If Dallas is going to make the playoffs, they will almost certainly have to do it through the Play-In Tournament.

This is not where Dallas expected to be at the beginning of the season or after they traded for Kyrie Irving. The Mavericks reached the conference finals last year, and they were looking to build on that. Dallas has missed Jalen Brunson, and acquiring Kyrie has unbalanced their roster further. They cannot get stops and just need more talent if they want to become title contenders.

There could be just two weeks left in the Dallas Mavericks season. They should already be looking ahead to the offseason, regardless of their playoff status. The front office has a ton of work to do to improve their roster, and here are five tasks they should be working on right now. 

Offseason tasks Dallas Mavericks should already be working on: 5.  Scouting the draft

The Mavs did not plan on having a draft pick this year. Dallas owes their first-round pick to the New York Knicks from the original Kristaps Porzingis trade, but it is top-ten protected. They traded their second-round pick too. The Mavericks had zero plans of being in the lottery, but they must face that reality now.

It will be a franchise-altering lottery night for Dallas if they fail to make the playoffs. If Dallas finishes with the tenth-worst record or below, they will have a strong chance of keeping their pick. If not, the Mavs will have slim odds of moving into the top four and retaining their selection. They could end up missing the playoffs and have no draft pick to show for it in the doomsday scenario here.

The front office has been scouting the draft for months, but they should ramp things up now. The Dallas Mavericks could have a top-ten draft choice and nailing it could be the difference between building a title contender around Luka Doncic and watching him leave in a few years.