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Overall
Win/Loss Record : 36-30 third place Southwest Division
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Last Season’s Rank
16
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Projected 2012/2013 Finish
18
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Last season’s
Team Statistics and League Rank
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Returning
Individual Statistical Leaders
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Projected Starters Based on Last Season’s Performance, Veteran Seniority and Projected Impact
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Key Reserves Based on Last Season’s Performances, Veteran Seniority and Potential Impact.
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2012/2013 Projection: 43-39 third place in Southwest Division,
will miss the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.
Analysis:
If last season were an
indication of the future, the Dallas Mavericks has seen their last playoff
appearance for quite some time. A
season after winning their first ever NBA Championship, the Mavs entered the
season looking old, slow, worn out and tired.
They barely managed to hold on to the second to last playoff berth in
the West and once they arrived to the post-season they were immediately shown
the door out. Now the Mavericks enter
this season a broken and weary team that is on its way to finally collapsing
and being food for the buzzards circling above them. The end has finally arrived and all
Mavericks can do is just sit and watch their once mighty team just waste away
to nothingness.
Ask Mavericks owner Mark Cuban or
GM Donnie Nelson and they will give an entirely different answer. Deluded that money is cure of what ails the
team, Cuban and company are on a mission to keep the gravy train rolling for
as long as it is humanly possible. The
Mavs’ front office went into overdrive this offseason trying in vain to
retool their roster for the upcoming season; however, it was to little or no
avail. They tried to use the cap space
they earned through the departures of long time veterans Jason Kidd and Jason Terry (close to 30$ million) to try and woo Deron Williams to the Lone Star
State; however, that plan collapsed as Williams return to the Brooklyn Nets signing a
max deal. Now the Dallas Mavericks
were left not only empty handed from losing Deron Williams, but also left
scrambling for a point guard as their let their previous starter Jason Kidd
go as well.
Desperate for a point guard
after failing to acquire the prized free agent, Dallas was forced to settle
with Darren Collison as their starting point guard. Collison was at best mediocre starting for
the Indiana Pacers as his numbers were rather unimpressive to say the
least—just 10..4 points and 4.8 assists per game in 31.3 minutes of playing
time. As the season drew to a close
Collison was then later replaced by his backup George Hill and was forced to
come off the bench during the playoffs.
Now the Dallas Mavericks’ front office wants fans to think that
Collison will be the answer to keep this team in the playoff hunt, but that
is farther from the truth. Acquiring
Collison was an act of desperation for a team that has seen its best years
just slip behind them.
And it did not stop with
Collison as they Mavs were in a frenzied struggle to fill out the blaring
gaps in its roster looking for anybody in a rather thin free agent
market. The managed to upgrade their
roster at the center position using the league amnesty clause to get rid of
Brendan Haywood’s ridiculous contract that would have paid him 30$ million
over the next three years and signed Chris Kaman. Kaman may have struggled with injuries for
the past couple of years, but he will provide the Mavs with at least another
offensive option down low as their star Dirk Nowitzki is on the verge of
calling it a career. Dallas also wants
its fans and the world to believe that OJ Mayo is also a major piece in their
future plans even though Mayo had not started for his previous team, the
Memphis Grizzlies, for the past three years and the Grizzlies did not even
try to keep him on the team. As it
stands now, the Mavericks resemble a house of cards that is on the verge of
collapsing with the slightest breeze.
Despite the
dire situation, the Mavericks will still put on a brave face and enter the
season looking to play hard and compete against the best of the league;
however, try as they might, they will more than likely not reach the post
season. The balance of power in the
Western Conference has seen a major shift as a former doormat has suddenly
turned into a contender in the Minnesota Timberwolves and another went from a
team that has run out of time to one that has return to championship
contention in the Los Angeles Lakers.
At least in three years the Mavericks will be in a great position as
almost all their contracts will be expired and they will have the necessary
cap room to attract big name free agents.
The question is whether or not Mark Cuban will be patient enough to
see the team that he has spent close to half a billion in salary alone
struggle to win during this time. As
it stands now the Mavericks are going in just one direction and that’s
straight down and it will not be a quick death either, but a slow painful one
that their fans will be forced to watch as the season progresses.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
SDH's 2012/2013 NBA Worst to First Previews and Predictions: 18. Dallas Mavericks
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