Tankathon: Mavs secure a shot at keeping their top-10 pick
In Friday’s tankathon against the Chicago Bulls, the Dallas Mavericks won by losing.
DALLAS — What transpired Friday night felt inevitable after the Oklahoma City Thunder secured a win over the Utah Jazz on Thursday. The Dallas Mavericks didn't control their NBA Play-In Tournament fate, but what they did have some jurisdiction over was a draft pick.
So, as news broke that Kyrie Irving and four other key Mavericks would sit out against the Chicago Bulls, and Luka Doncic, who vowed to keep playing as long as Dallas had a shot at the playoffs, would only play the first quarter, the writing was on the wall.
Dallas, not good enough to make any noise in the NBA Playoffs, let alone the play-in tournament, finally agreed to wave the white flag and give itself the best opportunity to secure its top-10 protected first-round pick that, if the ping pong balls don't bounce the right way, could still land in the hands of the New York Knicks. The Mavericks did the right thing by packing up shop and punting on the season, but still, it's embarrassing that the organization let things get to this point just a few months removed from trading for star guard Kyrie Irving and believing he would be the franchise's saving grace.
“It’s not so much waving the white flag,” Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said after the Mavericks lost 115-112. “Decisions sometimes are hard in this business. And you have to make hard decisions and we’re trying to build a championship team and sometimes, you got to take a step back.
“We trust [Mark] Cuban and Nico [Harrison]to put the pieces together to put us in a position to win a championship and so that’s just starting the process today.”
The move, which Kidd said he had no control over, was described as an "organization decision."
And, truthfully, the year ending in game 81 of an 82-game season to the Chicago Bulls, as AJ Lawson and Theo Pinson took contested jumpers and played 20-plus minutes, felt fitting for this version of the Mavs.
With Doncic and Irving, Dallas masqueraded as a team vying for contention for most of the season, when in reality, the roster, and its poor construction, felt like the Mavs were constantly bringing a Honda Civic to a Formula 1 race.
The defense never jelled. In December and January Kidd explained it away by saying it was "early," and believing the Mavericks would "figure it out."
Then losses to Charlotte happened. Reality set in. With Irving and Doncic the Mavs went 5-11. And as the sun set on what Doncic characterized as a "disappointing" season, Kidd finally said what, for so long, many knew.
The team wasn't good enough, simple.
"A lot of people won't be back next season," Kidd said. "There will be a lot of new faces."
He attributed the defensive regression to his coaching scheme and the names, or lack thereof, on the roster. It looked, sounded, and felt like an attempt to take accountability, also a first of the season.
The Mavericks join a list of teams that made a conference final and missed the playoffs the year after. Most of those teams involve LeBron James being on or off the roster, for context.
Doncic also joins a short list of stars who averaged over 30 points per game and missed the playoffs.
It's probably better that way. He's played basketball for three straight years and vocalized his exhaustion as the season ended.
And as for the Mavericks holistically, it is genuinely hard to believe that this time last year, they were streaking at the right time and feeling comfortable about the prospect of re-signing Jalen Brunson. Now, it's in question whether the Mavs keep their pick, keep Irving, and eventually keep Doncic. That isn't a guarantee, and Cuban admitted as much recently.
"We have to earn that," he said when asked about Doncic's loyalty.
Certainly, this wasn't the future the Mavs signed up for, but it is the future they exist in by no one's fault but their own.
