4/7/15: Great on Paper - The Failure of the Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks were once the laughing stock of the NBA. One of the best and brightest teams of the 80’s, the Mavs got old and crashed in the 90’s, ingloriously taking Randy White, Doug Smith, Cherokee Parks, Samaki Walker and Robert Traylor (RIP) with lottery picks between ’89 and ‘98. Even when the franchise landed a troika of projected All-Stars in consecutive years (Jimmy Jackson, Jamal Mashburn and Jason Kidd), the personalities didn’t fit and Dallas stalled at 36 wins in 1994–95.
Mark Cuban may not have been the primary catalyst for the resurgence of the franchise in the new millennium, but you can’t argue with his track record. Since purchasing a majority stake in the team 15 years ago, he’s on track for his 14th spring sitting courtside for the playoffs. The Mavs made their first NBA Finals in 2006 and won their only NBA championship five years later. While three coaches (Don Nelson, Avery Johnson and Rick Carlisle) have presided over the era of success; the common threads have been the presence of Cuban, executive Donnie Nelson and, oh, a transcendent talent named Dirk Nowitzki, drafted two years before Cuban came aboard.
Cuban has fashioned himself as the Robert Kraft of the NBA: approachable billionaire with a competitive zeal who lets management gamble on talent. Just look at the first Finals team, featuring several players with negative perceptions playing significant roles: Jason Terry (lightly-regarded gunner), Jerry Stackhouse (me-first) and Keith Van Horn (bust).
More recently, Vince Carter, a guy with a losing reputation, had a productive stint in Dallas. Monta Ellis, another shoot-first wanderer, had a fantastic first season with the team. It doesn’t always go according to plan (see: Lamar Odom, Eddy Curry), but the Mavericks have been one of most successful franchises of the past decade and a half with an ever-changing, semi-volatile supporting cast surrounding Nowitzki.
Cuban went for broke again in 2014–15. Sensing the decline of his major star, the Mavs showered Chandler Parsons with cash, poached franchise point guard Rajon Rondo from Boston and maneuvered to import former All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire. And yet, despite exciting additions that made the Mavs look like a race car and one of the best teams in the NBA, much less the conference, Dallas has fluttered like an autumn leaf to seventh place in the playoff picture out West.
The formerly ball-dominant Ellis looks lost. Injuries have piled up. Their scoring average has tumbled while their defense has remained putrid, particularly when featuring lineups that have Stoudemire protecting the rim. Even at 32, Amar’e is a tremendous offensive player. Rondo is an elite distributor. And yet, the Mavs’ advantages have been overshadowed by their glaring weaknesses on a nightly basis.
Should the standings hold between now and April 13th, their first round playoff opponent will be the Houston Rockets, the #2 seed and a team that fits together nicely, despite possessing less talent on paper than the Mavs. GM Daryl Morey hasn’t resorted to bringing in names; he’s painstakingly scouted the right pieces to surround MVP candidate James Harden and tasked coach Kevin McHale with implementing a 3’s-and-layups offense that plays to the strengths of the roster.
When the two teams played last week, Dallas shot out of the starting gate, leading me to react on Twitter:
Rondo/Mavs look confident to start tonight vs. HOU. Have they been playing possum?
— Sean Sylver (@sylverfox25) April 3, 2015
It made perfect sense: the team with superior personnel was zooming the ball all over the court and taking charge in a big game on their home floor. But it didn’t take long for Houston to climb back into the contest. Parsons was out; the Rockets were getting to the rim at will and finding open three-point shooters, while the Dallas offense had almost completely stagnated. The team we salivated over in December following the Rondo trade looked like a broken-down also-ran. And while we continue to wonder how a talented roster can look so inept, we only have a couple more weeks to do so. If last week was any indication, the Rockets will win that first round series.
Rondo will be a free agent this summer. So will Tyson Chandler, Amar’e, and veteran contributors Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva. Cuban will order another roster rebuild around a 37-year old Dirk. The Mavs will likely be in the playoff picture next year; they always are.
But fans will always wonder: what happened?
This post was originally published to TheDropStep.com on April 7, 2015.
