(02-06-2026, 10:08 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I agree. Really all of Middleton, Bagley and Jones create the possibility of adding a random win or two here and there. If you listen to the entire press conference yesterday, they think it is more important to have people around Flagg that make things easier for him. So, it is a development question. Do you throw him in the deep end with ankle weights on or do you put enough structure around him that he can work on the things that will most pay off in the long run.
Isn't it likely that the Mavs are of the belief that not only do they have higher priorities than chasing all the losses they can attain, but also that they can't really make much of a diff anyhow, even with a random extra win here or there?
They won't make the play-in, so their limit is pick 10 on one end. They also have a really hard time "catching up" to any of those currently in the top 6, most of whom have a sizable gap difference, and that includes 2 teams (WAS, UT) who simply MUST land in the 1-6 range or lower or else they have a big risk to lose their pick. So I expect those in 1-6 will do what it takes to say in that 1-6 tier.
That means the Mavs are set to land in the 7-10 range (currently in 7) and I would suggest they may not be all that worried - at least for now - as to which of those it is. Maybe in the last week or 2 of the season they shift a bit, but I think they want to have the best play possible from a lot of backup-caliber players that are unlikely to win even if they are "unleashed".