Dallas Mavericks: 5 reasons to be excited for the 2018-19 season

The Dallas Mavericks will not contend for an NBA championship in 2018-19, but there are a few positives that fans can look forward to this season.

As the Dirk Nowitzki Era winds down, it’s worth asking whether it was one of underachievement for the Dallas Mavericks.

Nowitzki, a first-ballot Hall of Famer who helped redefine the power forward position in the NBA, certainly deserves a lot of credit — along with team owner Mark Cuban — for changing the perception of his franchise.

When Nowitzki came to Dallas in 1998, the Mavs hadn’t been in the playoffs in eight years and hadn’t won a playoff series in 11 years. Cuban purchased a majority stake in the team in 2000.

As Cuban took control upstairs and Nowitzki began to blossom on the court, the Mavs became an entity that had to be taken seriously by other championship contenders.

Nowitzki peaked between 2007, when he won league MVP, and 2011, when he won Finals MVP on his way to leading the Mavericks to their first NBA championship.

Looking back on Nowitzki’s career as he enters his 21st and possibly final season, though, could he and Cuban — should he and Cuban — have accomplished a lot more?

For the better part of two decades, the Mavs have had a cornerstone superstar whom everyone likes and respects, whom has also been willing to take pay cuts for the sake of salary cap flexibility.

The Mavs have surrounded their superstar with a rotating cast of standouts including Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Michael Finley and Josh Howard. They’ve had great coaches, from Don Nelson to Avery Johnson to Rick Carlisle.

They’ve had an owner who is willing to spend the money it takes to put a winning team on the floor. They’re in a major media market in a state with no income tax that should be attractive to free agents.

Should the Mavericks have done better than winning “only” one championship?

The Mavs have not won a playoff series since that 2011 title. Nowitzki himself has been knocked out of the first round more times (eight) than he’s advanced past the first round (seven).

Last season’s Mavs were the worst team of the Nowitzki/Cuban era in terms of winning percentage, going 24-58 (.293) and missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

The Mavericks have the talent to improve in 2018-19, but not quite enough to be legitimate contenders in the Western Conference. There are, however, still some reasons to be excited about this season for Dallas fans.