So Dallas is off to a 2-4 start. What’s the main reason for that? Do you think they can turn it around? Why or why not?
Tyler: This is just a poor roster. It’s a guard dominated league and they just don’t
have any. Even with a healthy Kyrie Irving, they’re still probably a guard short. I don’t see that changing, but it’ll be worth tuning in to see Cooper Flagg continue to grow and develop
Sudarshan: Where do you start with this?
Bad roster construction? Check. Injury issues? Check. Inefficient Coaching? Check.
This Mavericks team is a cornucopia of issues that plague bad teams around the league. With the way things are, with no clear direction, this team is lottery-bound. It would be tolerable if this team were at least fun to watch – Loveable losers if you will. This team, though, is frustrating with a nonexistent offense and an overhyped defense. Cooper Flagg’s development is the only reason to tune in for the remaining 76 games. That, and how far up the lottery pole Dallas can reach.
Brent: Against an injury riddled Indiana team, a shot was in the air that would have the Dallas Mavericks sitting at 1-5 right now. Let that sit.
The apologists will say we should wait. Anthony Davis will be back on the floor soon and perhaps Kyrie Irving will be by the end of the year. But deep down even those defenders would have to look at the mirror and know that these flaws we are seeing are systemic and doom the season.
The reason it feels like the Mavericks are in limbo is glaring. Given the debacle of last year’s horrendous organizational decisions, any experienced, a clear-eyed GM would be selling off assets for younger players with potential and draft capital and building around Lively and Flagg. Instead, Mavericks fans are along for the ride as Nico Harrison’s myopic vision and outsized ego will prevent him from doing what needs to be done and committing to a future he has already stated won’t “fit his timeline”.
Bryan: The main reason the Mavsare a losing outfit right now is because this team was built to orbit around two elite ballhandlers that could shift between being on or off ball as playmakers or primary scorers. The team currently has no players in that mold or that can overcome the lack of them with overwhelming talent in any other area. This is a fundamental flaw in roster construction and the team will not recover from this start with Jason “the Tinkerer” Kidd at the helm. The Dallas Mavericks are lottery bound with no overt tanking assistance needed.
David: The biggest contributor to their problems is everything. The roster makes no sense, they’re starting a rookie forward at point guard, the head coach does not consider the first two months real basketball, and the $54 million man is already hurt with a concerning injury. There is no band-aid they can put on to fix things. They can start D’Angelo Russell to help the offense but they are not playing defense. Yes, they are missing key guys. But the guys missing all have injury histories, so to expect them to be healthy would be an assumption based on false pretenses. That being said, they can definitely turn it around to some degree. There is talent hidden beneath the horrible product and sometimes all there is to do is to play better basketball.
Michael: It’s difficult to really pin down a “main” reason, given the team has already experienced a fair share of injuries and coach Kidd is still in full-on tinkering mode, but not starting an actual point guard probably lands at the #1 spot for me. I can’t really think of another time any team ever took this approach (aside from maybe having no choice due to injury or something along those lines). In fact, most teams in the current era start multiple ball handlers (a formula that gave the Mavs their most successful seasons of the last half decade, ironically). The Mavs are basically starting four forwards and a shooting guard and acting as though it’s a common formula for success. Hand-in-hand with this is the total inability to shoot the ball. Not playing enough shooters (or perhaps, even having enough shooters) and not being able to set those shooters up is not helping the cause. At some point, serious thought is going to have to be given to at least swapping Klay Thompson for Max Christie in the starting lineup. Thompson has unfortunately brought virtually nothing offensively or defensively.
As to the question of whether they can turn it around, I do think they can. Just a few days ago, we posted a piece on the website that spoke to the plus/minus of Russell on and off the court. A +36 when he’s on the court vs. a -74 when he’s off the court could be the difference of a couple of wins, and Russell still hasn’t played anywhere near his best! Max Christie hitting more than 50% of his threes needs to be rewarded. He is roughly DOUBLING Klay Thompson’s three-point shooting percentage so far. While both those percentages may yet move more to the mean, Christie is bringing much more right now. Finally, Cooper Flagg is only going to improve, as will chemistry and other adjustments. How good they will be is anyone’s guess, but I do expect the team will at least get better than whatever this is.
Joe: The main reason for the 2-4 start is the same reason why they won’t turn it around and it’s simply how the roster is constructed. The mavericks have a 15-man roster of about 8 wings who all do basically the same thing, be average at best on defense, have no POA skills, can’t dribble or generate offense for themselves, turnover machines who need the ball in the post to operate, inefficient shot checkers, except for Klay is only an inefficient shot chucker. We then get to the guards, which is an arsenal that continues one player who has shown he can be valuable to a good team at an NBA level in D’Angelo Russell. The rest of the guards, while showing flashes, probably should not be on any NBA roster unless it’s the Nets. The 3 centers (not including Davis) are all average rim protectors and only viable offensively in PNR and lobs, they are all average screen setter at best. Then we get to Anthony Davis who ties the whole thing off with simply having no ability to mask any of the weaknesses of the roster. It’s baffling that anyone at all bought into this roster, including me. It’s like a puzzle, but you tried to use the same 3 pieces 15 different places and that’s just not how this works, sadly.
Chris: Oh boy. Where do we even start?
First, Kyrie is out. I expected Dallas to float around .500 until he returns. Until he’s on the floor, it’ll be incredibly hard for Dallas to be in the playoff picture. They’re probably an 8-11 seed until Irving suits up again.
Second, the roster. This roster is still largely designed around Luka Doncic. Even with Irving healthy, the Mavericks lack serious guard depth. Jason Kidd hasn’t made that problem easier on himself to manage by having Cooper Flagg run point guard, but it’s early and he’s seeing what works. Dallas needs facilitators and creators. They have the size inside and athleticism on the wings, but those personnel thrive off drive-and-kicks and lobs. They need more guys to set them up.
Third, the injury bug is biting again. If Dallas can’t stay healthy, all of the grandiose plans they had for the season go out the window. Their two best players are currently injured in Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. Without that firepower, it’ll be a struggle to win games.
Dallas has a 15-or-so game window to turn this around and if they can’t, the t-word will ring once again in Mavs land – tank.
