Every offseason in the NBA some teams are viewed as winners and losers based on the moves that they made. This offseason was no different, as there were a few head-scratching decisions made by teams.
A team sitting pat when a move needed to be made or giving a player a lucrative contract that is considered an overpay would land a team on the ‘losers’ list of the offseason. A few teams would certainly qualify this offseason, but the team who takes the cake is the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas was the most popular choice among the 15 scouts, coaches and executives that were polled for a survey over at ESPN. They led the way with six votes, followed by three for the Charlotte Hornets and two for the Brooklyn Nets. The Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers all received one vote as well.
The reasoning for the Mavericks being the unfortunate winners in this category is easy to understand. A strong argument can be made that they got worse this off-season. Despite addressing what they identified as their biggest need, upgrading the center position, they suffered a major loss in the backcourt when Jalen Brunson departed in free agency.
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Brunson signed a four-year deal with the New York Knicks, leaving the Mavericks dangerously thin on ball handlers. Dallas doubled down on the loss of Brunson by not working out a sign-and-trade, losing who was their second-best player without any compensation.
“They lost him for nothing,” a West executive said, “then turned around and gave JaVale [McGee] a lot of money and traded for Christian Wood.”
The Christian Wood acquisition was one that many people thought highly of, as the Mavericks traded four players that weren’t part of their playoff rotation and a first-round pick for Wood. Wood provides secondary scoring, which became a need a few days later once it became apparent that Brunson was leaving.
Paying JaVale McGee is the head-scratching move. They used a large portion of their mid-level exception on him and then announced him as the starting center. With Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber already on the roster, the Mavericks created an unnecessary logjam in the frontcourt.
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Dorian Finney-Smith and Davis Bertans are still on the roster as well and will factor into the mix at power forward. Once they realized that Brunson would be leaving, the Mavericks should have focused their efforts on finding another guard, not doubling down at the center position.
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