10 Reasons the Dallas Mavericks will be back in NBA Finals next year

On Monday night, the Dallas Mavericks' season came to a close as they were defeated by the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals. Dallas' spectacular postseason run ended after Game 5, but there's plenty to be excited if you're a Mavs fan.

They proved all of the doubters wrong, and they had an extremely tough path to even get to the NBA Finals.

It all started with a revenge series win against the LA Clippers, a tough series win over the No. 1 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, and a dominant five-game series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.

10 Reasons the Dallas Mavericks will be back in NBA Finals next year

Dallas proved that they are here to stay, and their run through the 2024 NBA Playoffs is evidence of that.

Nico Harrison has built an outstanding roster around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving that is built for the present, but also right now. Their balance of young talent and established players is what makes them built for this moment, and they will be making deep playoff runs for years to come.

Here are 10 reasons that the Dallas Mavericks will be back in the NBA Finals next year.

10. Mavericks have the perfect balance of youth and win-now players

As mentioned before, the Dallas Mavericks are built for the future, but they're also built for right now. The Mavs' core consists of young players, but they are also ready to contribute right now.

Four of Dallas' five starters are 27 or younger, with the only outlier being Kyrie Irving. Luka Doncic, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford are all 25 years old while Derrick Jones Jr. is 27 years old. All four of these players were huge for the Mavs during the playoffs, and they have the potential to continue to develop and become even better.

Josh Green and Dereck Lively II were also crucial role players all season, and Lively II is only 20 years old while Green is 23 years old. The sky is the limit for both of these players, and Lively II has been one of the most important players on the team all season long.

His energy, defense, rebounding, and ability as a lob threat are spectacular for his age, and his basketball IQ is off the charts. Lively II is an excellent off-ball defender, and his ability to move his feet in space and switch on defense is also solid.

The Mavericks aren't going away any time soon, and their mix of youth and win-now players guarantees that. Dallas also has a couple of secret weapons that still need some development such as Jaden Hardy and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and Nico Harrison's management of this team has been second to none.