What, really, is there to be gained for the Dallas Mavericks (23-49) as they prepare to face the Denver Nuggets (44-28) on Wednesday at Ball Arena?
A draft lottery ball or two? A feint glimmer of sunshine in an otherwise dreary season and amidst a stretch of just four wins in the team’s last 27 games? Surely not a rogue win against a quality opponent. Surely not that, right?
Not so fast, my friend.
Just because the Mavericks are actively avoiding the win column these days doesn’t mean a winning result
is out of the question on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. CDT.
Middling in Denver
The Nuggets have gone just 13-13 over the last two months. Dallas has already beaten Denver twice this year. Sure, those two wins came before February’s trade deadline, with a completely different Mavericks roster, but the Nuggets will also be playing on the second night of a back-to-back set on Wednesday, while the Mavs will roll into town after a day off.
Denver had just started Tuesday night’s game at the Phoenix Suns at the time of this writing.
Wednesday’s game will mark one week since the Nuggets blew a 125-118 loss at the Memphis Grizzlies, whose tactics toward avoiding wins has been even more creative than the Mavericks’ have lately. Ty Jerome nearly completed his first-career triple-double in that loss, coming up just one rebound and one assist shy to go along with 21 points for the Grizzlies in the win that snapped Memphis’ eight-game skid.
Despite the mediocre stretch, Denver still sits in fourth in a crowded Western Conference playoff race and still has plenty to play for. The Nuggets just haven’t been firing on all cylinders lately.
Fly the Flagg
Cooper Flagg went off against the Nuggets for 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, leading the Mavericks in all three categories, in a 131-130 win over the Nuggets on Dec. 23. He had 32 points and nine assists again in Monday’s 137-131 overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors.
The NBA Rookie of the Year race is far from a foregone conclusion, with Monday’s NBA broadcast crew going so far as advocating for giving the award to both Flagg and Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Kneuppel, who averages 19.1 points on 43.4% 3-point shooting and five rebounds per game as Charlotte makes a push in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The last time the NBA had co-Rookies of the Year was 1999-2000, when Steve Francis and Elton Brand shared the honors. Dallas head coach Jason Kidd shared the award for the 1994-95 season with Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons.
It will be interesting to see whether Flagg or Knueppel can separate himself from his former roommate as the race goes down to the wire.
Support staff
Which members of the current Mavericks roster should stick around as Flagg’s running mates? Good showings against quality opponents surely hold some weight in the conversation, as does the individual value each player holds in the offseason trade market.
P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford have both rebounded in recent games after underwhelming stretches of play earlier in the season, but is either of them the right fit for the future? Marvin Bagley III worked himself into irrelevance in recent years after being selected second overall in the 2018 NBA Draft but has raised eyebrows at times since being traded to the Mavericks in a deadline day deal six weeks ago.
Klay Thompson’s shooting stroke seems to have returned recently as well, not that any of this has led to more wins for the Mavericks. With the team’s most glaring need at the guard position and a stout draft class awaiting those with their eyes set on the top of the class, it’s easy to see a future where all four of those role players return for the Mavericks next season. Not many teams may be willing to part with decent draft capital for any of them.
We may as well sit back and evaluate their fit as the Cooper Flagg Era takes shape.
How to watch
The Mavericks and the Nuggets tip off at 9 p.m. CDT on Wednesday from Ball Arena in Denver. The game will be televised locally on KFAA Channel 29 and streamed on MavsTV and NBA League Pass where available.
