Even though the Dallas Mavericks still sit at the bottom of the league, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs still believe in their playoff hopes.
It is January 3rd and the Dallas Mavericks sit a half game up from the worst record in the Western Conference with a 10-24 record. Dirk Nowitzki has only played in nine games while the majority of the older veterans on the team have missed good chunks of the season.
The recipe is there for the Mavericks to tank for a top five pick, but as we know, not everyone follows recipes.
The fan base is clamoring about draft prospects and the “experts” already predict the Mavericks to finish at the bottom of the league, but Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have other plans.
While speaking to the media a day before their home game against the Wizards on Tuesday, Dirk Nowitzki had this to say in regards to their plans for the season at this moment.
The Mavericks still believe they have a playoff shot and it isn’t that crazy.
Nowitzki and Bogut are back from their respected injuries. Deron Williams is dealing with an illness, but has been fairly healthy over the last couple of weeks. Besides J.J. Barea still being out, this is one of the healthiest Mavs teams we have witnessed all year.
Now, with news coming out from ESPN that Andrew Bogut requested to Rick Carlisle to come off the bench, the Mavericks seem to be adapting to the faster paced game in hopes of making the playoffs.
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Dirk Nowitzki will man the center spot while Dorian Finney-Smith looks to move back into the starting power forward spot. Whatever defensive woes might take place, Dallas will be able to have a three-point threat at every position on the court in their starting unit.
The team is getting healthy and the lineup change is happening; now it’s time to catch up.
Sacramento sits in the 8th spot out West with a 14-19 record while the Mavericks sit in the 14th spot with a 10-24 record. Over the next couple of weeks, the Mavericks face the Wizards, Hawks, Suns (2) and Wolves (2)…not the scariest schedule you have seen.
So if the Mavericks do go on some sort of mini run over the next couple of weeks, we all could see Dallas near that 8th spot around the all-star break.
Unfortunately, the 8th spot is most likely the highest the Mavericks could reach barring some unexpected injury to a big time player to a prominent Western Conference playoff team.
So should the Mavericks fight out of the bottom of the league to get the 8th spot in the playoffs and lose their chance at a top 5 pick?
No matter how you answer that question, Dirk and the Mavs don’t care, making the playoffs is still the main goal.
