A New Found Respect For Dwight Powell

[loki]

There's no argument that the Mavs can be improved in some way or another (even more than one). They're certainly not perfect, and if you have the opportunity to upgrade (for a reasonable cost), well yeah.

But the doom and gloom over today's team is getting absurd.

Your production, not your pedigree or acclaim, is the only objective criteria. By that standard, the Mavs roster is already on a par with or ahead of EVERY team except Phoenix and Memphis. Results, not "roster as we perceive it on paper," is what matters.

When the season ends, Dallas may have the 3rd best record, of everyone, and they are clearly playing on the same tier of success as all of Mia, Mil, Bos, Phil, GS, Utah, Denver. Those teams being lauded for their supposedly impeccable rosters are all flawed in one or more ways, just like the Mavs are, and "not good enough." The supposedly-superb Nets and Clippers won't even make the playoffs for sure, each still hoping to play their way in to one of the bottom seeds. You are who you are.

I don't see it as doom and gloom. I think we're all pretty excited by the fact that the Mavs are fighting for home court advantage in the playoffs and have a real chance at winning their first round series. It seems to me that people are just trying to be realistic about the team's potential moving forward. If production in the moment was the only thing that mattered, you might have looked at Atlanta's last playoff run and expected them to contend to win the East this year.