State of the Mavericks | Playoffs and Beyond

Dallas Mavs This Season

The Mavs did not make any major personnel moves at the trade deadline, but Jason Terry’s return from a hand injury coupled with Dirk being on fire have the team looking much better. The Mavericks are doing it without Josh Howard who has been sidelined with a lingering ankle injury that might keep him out until the end of March. Devean George is also out, a knee injury has him sidelined, although the Mavericks will probably be just fine without him pointing around the court. His 3.4 points a game will be hard for the team to make up, but they’ll just have to manage.

Although many have been calling for the Mavericks to be blown up, they are currently 6 games ahead of the Phoenix Suns, all but guaranteeing them the 8th seed. Only one game separates the Mavericks from 4th place; so do not put the nails in the coffin just yet. Lets just hope the team that showed up for the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder does not come out again this season.

If Dirk can keep playing out of his mind into the playoffs it will be entertaining to watch, although it will not be enough. The bench will need to play better, Singleton has had a string of nice games and more are needed from him and others for a legitimate playoff run. Its doubtful that very many fans are optimistic about this years playoffs, but just remeber how terrible this team was in the early 90s when their win totals for several season’s were in the 20s. The Mavericks have come a long way since then so enjoy it.

Future:

It has been rumored that Dirk and others are willing to help create some cap room for one of the vaunted 2010 Free Agents. This Free Agent class is full of stars including:

Free agents:
Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Manu Ginobili, Marcus Camby, Tracy McGrady, Shaquille O’Neal, Brad Miller, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, Mike Miller, Rip Hamilton

Players with opt out clauses:
Amare Stoudamire, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Mike Redd, Tyson Chandler.

There are also many other nice players that will be available. So if one of the above free agents is added and Dirk doesn’t opt out the Mavs could be contenders again. It would be even better if the Maverick’s could pull off a trade like the Celtics and Lakers did, although a trade as sweet as those is highly unlikely.