Dallas Mavericks: 2015-16 Season Outlook

Dating back to the 2000-01 NBA season, the Dallas Mavericks have made the playoffs every single season except for 2012-13, when an injury to Dirk Nowitzki sidelined him for 29 games. The combination of Dirk, head coach Rick Carlisle and spare parts has generally been good for around 50 wins for years now.

But all those years of punting on the draft and looking for the next available option in free agency has finally caught up to Mark Cuban and the Mavs. With so many offseason departures and Dirk another year older, Dallas is staring at one of the ugliest rosters it’s had in the modern era.

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Cuban’s commitment to putting a competitive team around Nowitzki during his twilight years is commendable, but the Mavs need to finish at the bottom of the barrel in order to keep their top-7 protected draft pick next summer. That anti-tanking stance may not only doom Dallas for this season when it becomes clear the playoffs are out of reach, but for the immediate future as well.

It’s not entirely the Mavericks’ fault, however. If it weren’t for DeAndre Jordan‘s flip-flopping this summer, nobody would be throwing around words like “shortsighted” or “poor” to describe Cuban’s roster strategy. A core of Wesley Matthews, Chandler Parsons, Dirk and Jordan probably would’ve been enough to get the Mavs back to the postseason. But when Jordan flaked, the Mavs were left with a major lack of talent in the free agency pool, and it will show in Dallas’ record this season.

2014-15 Vitals
50-32, 4th in Southwest Division, 7th in Western Conference
105.2 PPG (3rd)/102.3 OPPG (25th)
109.5 Offensive Rating (5th)/106.4 Defensive Rating (20th)

Team Leaders
Scoring: Monta Ellis, 18.9 PPG
Rebounding: Tyson Chandler, 11.5 RPG
Assists: Rajon Rondo, 6.5 APG
Steals: Monta Ellis, 1.9 SPG
Blocks: Brandan Wright, 1.6 BPG

Honors
N/A

Next: 2015-16 Roster