10-08-2019, 08:39 AM
(10-07-2019, 11:56 PM)Mavsfan12 Wrote: The West is brutal. I see almost all teams with a reason to be optimistic that they could make the playoffs - and many more would if they were in the EC.
As for the Mavs, I can't decide if this team is the 99-00 team that began to gel and show promise, finishing around .500, or if this ithe 00-01 team that started becoming a force in the league.
On the one hand, last years' team would have finished around .500 if they hadn't made the trades (or if they HAD and KP would have played). On the other, this team shows a lot of the same similarities to that 53 win team that had a swagger and began to really believe in the Fin/Dirk/Nash core. It also was buffed by a midseason trade which brought in JHow/Boothe and would go on to claim the 5th spot in the West and upset veteran UTA in the playoffs! I could see something like this unfolding this year.
But... the West is brutal, so I will hedge. 48 wins and possibly more if we can swing a material trade to bring in a solid #3 (or if THJ or someone else can step up to that level). One thing that parallels that team is we signed a promising backup G from an elite team - Howard Eisley then, DWright now. Hope this time around turns out better!
Good comparison (99-00 vs 00-01)!
I think Luka and KP are both ahead of where Dirk was in 99-00, so there's some hope in that.