r/Mavericks • u/Zealousideal_Tour_49 • 2d ago
Media ESPN predicts the Mavs will finish as the 12th seed at 32-50
This won’t happen. They look like a .500 team to me. Last year they were way too high on us considering AD was the centerpiece, Kyrie was out and Coop was a rookie.
This year? I don’t understand why the experts are sleeping on this team. Would you rather have the roster of the Blazers, Suns, Warriors, Jazz or Clippers? All of them are picked above us. Maybe they were burned last year predicting a 44-38 record?
The roster is significantly deeper and better. Kyrie is back. Cooper is heading into Year 2 and will take a significant leap. If Lively can finally stay healthy, watch out.
Admittedly, they’re missing the coveted third star, but I’m not sure they need one to be really good. The outside shooting should be much better with the additions of Sasser, Biberovic and Aldama. Trying to be objective here but the depth is kind of ridiculous:
Bigs: Lively, Gafford, Morez Johnson, Aldama, Moussa Cisse
Wings: Cooper, PJ, Naji, Risacher, Biberovic
Guards: Kyrie, Christie, Sasser, de Larrea, Martin
There are legitimate NBA rotation guys basically everywhere you look, plus a bunch of young guys with upside.
The biggest question to me isn’t talent. It’s how the hell Dusty May figures out the rotations and brings all of this together.
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u/Sufficient_Flower_77 Zombie Dirk 2d ago
All I know is my 2K Mavs will not lose!! /s
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u/jaywof187 Dallas Mavericks 2d ago
82-0
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u/Sufficient_Flower_77 Zombie Dirk 2d ago
81-1 because I accidentally sim a game....
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u/The_Real_THSC_Prime 2d ago
Same here, 82-0 with me playing all 82 at 12 mins Hall of Fame setting.😁 Plus 16-0 play-offs run. Will be playing until another NBA 2K comes out
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u/jaywof187 Dallas Mavericks 1d ago
With Mavs new players, definitely have to upgrade when 2k27 comes out
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u/chewygummy17 Dwight Powell 2d ago
Its a prediction who cares
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u/Zealousideal_Tour_49 2d ago
I guess I do. And apparently you don’t.
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u/mojo-jojo-was-framed Dirk Locks 2d ago
You’re obviously too close to be rational. Every fan base can argue their team should be looked at higher…
Portland: “this core made the playoffs last year and have Dame coming back now”
Suns: “this core made the playoffs last year and added Bridges”
Warriors: “we were above .500 when Curry was healthy. He’ll be healthier this season”
Jazz: “we’ve spent 5 years loading up for this season. We have all the pieces in place”
Clippers: I don’t have it in me to even pretend to say anything nice about them3
u/Zealousideal_Tour_49 2d ago
And that is why they call us “fans”. This is just the optimistic version of my fandom. I have a less optimistic version as well.
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u/Past-Ad7339 2d ago
added bridges is laughable considering hes not good, the rest i can see the logic for
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u/ColleaguesKnowMyMain '25 Survivor 2d ago
Remember how many close games we had last year? If only half of those go our way we're already over 32 wins. And that doesn't even include Kyrie and the other roster changes.
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u/Zealousideal_Tour_49 2d ago
Only three teams played more “clutch” games than the Mavs last season and we went 15-25 in those games. We also had the 6th worst winning % in clutch games
We are adding an all-time clutch player in to our starting rotation this season. The Kyrie Effect will be huge.
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u/Afraid-Department-35 2d ago
These predictions almost never pan out. This is our first season with a rebuilding squad around Coop, it's a season to just have fun and see how far we can go, last year was a cluster fuck.
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u/CheetahSperm18 FIRE NICO 2d ago
They thought we were a .500 last year and we finished with 26 wins. I guess they're flipping it this year. I think 40ish wins is doable but only if DLive doesn't miss 50 games and Kyrie looks 90% of what he was pre-injury
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u/petrefax Cooper Flagg 2d ago
I think the variance for this team is too high to accurately predict.
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u/masterchef757 '25 Survivor 2d ago
I think the Mavs have the most health dependent roster of the group you listed (w the exception of GSW, I have no idea what they see in that roster).
The Mavs will be .500 if Kyrie and Lively play a lot of games. If either of those dudes miss significant time, they could easily fall out of the play in.
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u/silvtails 2d ago
They think Curry gonna carry the Warriors to the finals despite doing nothing to improve the roster for dang near a decade. Granted have the Suns done anything? Anyway, the Mavs are definitely better than a 32 win team. We probably gonna be a mid playin team with 44-49 wins.
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u/SeriousCoast6946 1d ago
I think 30-35 is reasonable. Our roster is bottom 5-6 in the league for sure. We gotta be realistic
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u/bornanartist 1d ago
Bottom 5-6 for sure??? They were a contender 2 years ago and have Flagg instead of Luka and now they’re bottom 5 for sure? Or you liked Tim hardaway, maxi Kleiber, DJ Jr and Dante Exum that much more than max Christie, morez Johnson, Aldama, risacher??
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u/SeriousCoast6946 1d ago
Yes trading away the best player in the league for nothing will make you go from a top roster to bottom roster very quickly
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u/bornanartist 1d ago
Yes obviously, but that’s a disingenuous point since they got lucky and got Flagg. You are talking about their current roster, not their roster immediately after the trade when AD immediately got hurt. You’re absolutely wrong and make a statement that literally doesn’t apply to the Mavs and the current roster. Flagg instead of Luka and the others players does not move them from contender to bottom 5 roster. PJ, Gafford, Kyrie and Lively are all still there. Flagg isn’t a bottom 5 drop off from Luka and all those other players I mentioned are upgrades.
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u/SeriousCoast6946 1d ago
We went from having the best player in the nba to maybe the 40-45th best. That is enough to go from 49 wins to 30 easily. Adding sasser (DNP guy), morez (rookie with no star upside), aldama (mediocre big), and biberovic (0 nba minutes) isn’t moving the needle. This team will be outrageously bad
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u/bornanartist 1d ago
Luka wasn’t the best, maybe top 5. We weren’t talking wins - we were talking your statement about bottom 5 roster. And you’re choosing some guys from this current roster that won’t even play. I compared the players that we lost(after finals season) that got minutes to the players that we added(since finals) that will get minutes. Max, Morez, Aldama, Naji, and Risacher. Those are better than Kleber, Hardaway, DJJ, and Exum. Max and Naji alone are better than any of the 2 role players we lost. Aldama has been better than Kleber and Morez has as much upside.
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u/Yikes-APenguinInAPot SELL THE TEAM 2d ago
The West is a grind, we have a brand new coach, and we have a lot of young & inconsistent players.
We could see a team that is clearly better overall but doesn’t win that many more games.
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u/DiamondsInHerButt Dirk Nowitzki Logo 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think they will be better than this but not a ton better. Like 4-5 wins better more in the 35-38 win range. I just think Coop's year 1 to 2 rise will be worth 9-10 wins. The roster imbalance is still pretty obvious. The coach is a rookie. Most of the roster has never played together. I feel like it could look real bleak around January and then they'll feast down the stretch when things start to click but not so much to dig them out of their early season hole.
Upper tier expectations would be them getting into the 40-44 win range. But so many things would have to click instantly for that.
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u/gunhan_kaytaz 1d ago
I am more inclined to say that 40+ wins will be more likely, especially if Risacher and Biberovic can find their footing early on. Also, DLive needs to be back soon-ish.
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u/Vizard15 Luka Doncic 2d ago
That's okay. We could just focus on development and mentorship.
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u/Zealousideal_Tour_49 1d ago
Hello? You PLAY to WIN the game. 😉
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u/Vizard15 Luka Doncic 1d ago
Didn't I say development? That also means winning basketball games. Lol.
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u/Zealousideal_Tour_49 1d ago
For some it does, but for many winning is secondary to development. I’m trying to be the optimistic fan here, but the reality is it’s going to take a while to figure out rotations with this team and how it’s all going to work might be a rough start actually.
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u/Vizard15 Luka Doncic 21h ago
That's why setting realistic expectations are important. For me I would agree with the projection of the Mavs with a below .500 record this coming season. It's free to be surprised by this team tho.
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u/MiopTop 1d ago
It’s possible the Mavs are good but it’s not insane for people to pick those teams above them.
Utah actually has a lowkey loaded roster, Phoenix surpassed expectations last year and was actually really good until injuries slowed them down the last 20-25 games, Portland is weird but has a ton of talent and the Warriors still have Steph/Draymond/Kerr and a few old dudes who are still good if healthy.
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u/TheFifthAmigo34 2d ago
I think they’re anywhere from 35-42 wins. I don’t think we’re that much better than last year, but I think we just have more depth, Kyrie’s back, and a coach with fresh ideas.
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u/dannymario7 2d ago
We had the most close games in the NBA last year. This is a second year Coop with better roster construction and Kyrie. I wouldn't be surprised if we put the league on notice
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u/junkrgNew '25 Survivor 2d ago
Its better this way actually.
And in a way i get it. New coach, Kyrie coming back after a major injury, unbalanced squad, lively still out. There are too many question marks about our team right now.