2021-2022 MAVS NEWS: 4th in West | WCF loss [ARCHIVED]

[omahen]

Like most teams, the core and bulk of the roster is still the same. And you have to work with what you have.

The biggest potential change this season comes if they get an upgrade via KP's play and better availability.

Otherwise, what has changed is the apparent quality and depth of the 2nd team, with Bullock and Brown replacing Richardson and Johnson. That impacts not only what they can do in normal game rotations, but also in what happens when players are sick or injured. And while not as flashy, a difference in only 2-3 points per game can make a major difference in the record over a long season. Progress at the margins matters more than people realize.

 I can get your meaning, but my comment was refering to a vast difference between publicly revealed plans/ambitions and results. 

While I agree there are a majority of teams that keep "the core and bulk of the roster is the same", I think the most ambitious teams are clearly showing that, trying their best to make the next step. Either to make playoffs (think Chicago) or to become/stay a serious contender (LAL, Miami). Obviously it will not work for all of them, but I think the difference in approach is apparent. Due to a strange season, there are a bunch of teams that might be totally correct in thinking that injuries were the one thing that was keeping them from taking it all and big changes are not needed: BKN, DEN, LAC to name a few. Mavs are trying to appear to be the most ambitious team in their public statements, yet the reality is that they either lack the ambition or are just uncapable of actually aggresively building a contender around arguably top5 talent. Neither option si good. I really have a problem accepting the result. After all the big words they change a couple of bench players and you are satisfied?

I may be wrong, I hope they prove me wrong, but I don't believe Mavs were a couple of minor changes away from being a true contender. Better bench (if it turns out that it is in fact better) might help in the regular season but playoffs will again expose the low ceiling and lack of talent behind Luka. I just can't see this roster, as it is constructed now, being capable of more than second round exit.