![]() The Nets are currently in a 2-0 hole to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, with Finney-Smith playing only 18 minutes in Game 1 with six points and one rebound, while Dinwiddie scored only 14 points on 12 shots, missing four of his five three pointers. Dinwiddie’s assists rose to nine per game, but his efficiency cratered, shooting only 49 percent on twos and 29 percent on threes. The truth was the team wasn’t in a good spot before the trade, and the trade wasn’t enough to fix the core issue - the Mavericks weren’t good enough.įinney-Smith and Dinwiddie didn’t do much to make the Mavericks feel regret - Finney-Smith shot 43 percent on twos, 30 percent on threes and averaged about seven points and five rebounds per game as a Net in the regular season. But the 22nd best defense a year after being in the top 10 is simply not good enough for a team wanting to contend. Could Dallas had used Finney-Smith’s defense presence? Sure. The offense got a little better, the defense got a little worse. At least, not different enough to explain the massive collapse. ![]() Dallas at the time had the seventh best offense and the 22nd best defense.Īfter the trade, the Mavericks fell apart, but the numbers aren’t that different. The team was 28-26, the eighth seed by only the slimmest of margins. That’s fair, but here’s the dirty secret - no matter what point of the season, whether it was pre-trade or post-trade, the Dallas Mavericks talent simply was not good enough.īefore the Mavericks traded away Finney-Smith and Dinwiddie, the team played one final game together, losing to the Golden State Warriors 119-113. Irving was good, but the Mavericks needed the bodies more than another star. ![]() So as Dallas’ defense toiled after the trade, there was a growing narrative that the Irving trade was a failure, that Dallas couldn’t afford to lose its defensive stalwart and steady backcourt-mate for Luka Doncic. Losing two starters for one, no matter how great that one starter is, can cause some cascading effects that doom a team, especially one that was already as limited with its depth as the Mavericks. While most acknowledged that judging the trade by pure talent, the Mavericks won, there were plenty of risks involved in terms of breaking up and losing two major contributors from a team that went to the Western Conference Finals a year ago. Young was then traded to the Atlanta Hawks, who had picked Dončić with the third pick, shipping the Slovenian superstar to the Mavericks.Since the Mavericks blockbuster trade of Kyrie Irving, I’ve kept my eye on the progress of Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie, the two Mavericks that had to depart in the trade so Irving could come to Dallas. The 2017-18 team finished 24-58 and in the subsequent draft selected Oklahoma guard Trae Young with the fifth overall pick. In 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 for "public statements detrimental to the NBA" after admitting Dallas was losing on purpose. ![]() Mavericks governor Mark Cuban could be fined if it is determined that the team tanked on purpose. As part of the trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas from the Knicks in 2019, the Mavs gave the Knicks a first-round pick that is protected picks 1-10.īy finishing as one of the 10 worst teams, it’s unlikely the Mavs will fall out of the top 10 in the draft lottery, meaning they would retain their first-round pick in the draft. That pick would’ve been in jeopardy and possibly been New York’s pick had the Mavs made the postseason. NBA MOCK DRAFT 1.0: France's Victor Wembanyama tops the list, but who's next?īy missing the postseason, the Mavs could have a top-10 pick in the 2023 draft.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |