Gloomy assessment on the Mavs from Kelly Dwyer

[MJohnnyboy]

Honestly, the best case for the Mavs is to go all out for the playoffs, hand Ainge a pick in the upper teens and then blow it up next year.

Absolutely. It just doesn't make sense to me that they'd tank this year, given that they'd risk falling above the bottom-7 anyway (a lot of really bad teams out there, as a previous poster mentioned), and the motivation of some players nearing the end of their deals (or in Dirk's case, end of his career). In other words: No choice but to compete as hard as you can.

But the next question is, Even if the Mavs go all out this year, just how good can they be? I am really skeptical. Keep in mind that a 45-win team (OKC) missed the playoffs last year. That almost seems like the ceiling for this current Mavs team.

Yeah it's going to be a struggle for them to get into the playoffs.
Dirk will miss some time, Parsons coming back from injury, Mathews coming back from injury. Deron needs a jolt up the azz and their starting center is going to be Paculia or Dalambert.
Not exactly a sunny outlook on their playoff hopes.

You forgot the immortal Javale Mcgee.

[Big333223]

I think the biggest variable with The Mavs will be Carisle. I just don't see him as the tanking type, ever. I think his stubborn competetiveness is our best chance for the Mavs to just-miss the playoffs and send us a pick in the 12-9 range, which will be pretty nice.

But this is all just the first part. We can't keep drafting 3 new players every year. Ainge has to find away to turn some assetts into flesh-and-blood basketball players that can contribute to a championship team.