Season Preview: Dallas Mavericks

So I'm going to be more sparing with the pics, because frankly, they're kind of a pain in the butt to put in. Onwards!

Starting 5:
PG- Jason Kidd
SG- Jerry Stackhouse
SF- Josh Howard
PF- Dirk Nowitzki
C- Erick Dampier

Off the Bench
Guards: Jose Juan Barea, Jason Terry, Eddie Jones
Forwards: Devean George, Brandon Bass, Gerald Green, James Singleton, Antoine Wright
Centers: DeSagana Diop

The more I think about it the more Dallas looks like something of a Washington Wizards of the West. The exception being that their star players aren't hurt as often, which also means, what they have doesn't work. Talent-wise I think the Mavs are a decent regular season team, but they don't have any sustainability through hard fought playoff series. Dirk Nowitzki has shown that he doesn't have what it takes to carry his team and while Terry and Howard are decent, they're not going to carry the load either. It's like playing with 3 second-option scorers. Granted Nowtizki would be a crazy 2nd option, but still, I think you get the point. All-in-all the team looks to be about the same.

The more we reflect on what was in essence Jason Kidd for Devin Harris straight up, the less it looks that appealing. Kidd hasn't really proven himself yet to be the PG that the Mavs are looking for, but of course we can always argue that half a season for a PG to learn a new system and master it is really asking for a lot, even from someone like Jason Kidd. I don't know what Rick Carlisle is going to do, and I'm not sure if it's going to work. There's just a lot of baggage with this team. Let's hope that Jason Kidd looks marginally better than he did last season, in fact, let's hope he looks better than he did at the Olympics. Granted the man is 35, but still, it's a contract year, and he can only get better than last season right? I hope. Oh yes, we can't forget that Josh Howard is sorry, and therefore that will make him a better player. Right. So where does this put this team?

First, Dirk Nowtizki, in my book, is not, and never will be among the top 5 PFs in the league, unless he learns to play a post game going into his 30s. Dirk is a good player, all that size is just wasted though. He's like Lamar Odom with a jumpshot, but doesn't finish as well. Howard is a shooter/slasher, Terry is a shooter, Stackhouse; shooter, George; shooter, Jones; shooter, wait, wait, wait... Ok so all these people are supposed to do something else, but seriously, is there an inside threat in here? Erick Dampier? Wow. To me, if you're desperate enough for interior presence that you'd throw a full MLE at DeSagana Diop then your franchise has some issues. Dallas also remains among the only team still willing to give Gerald Green a chance. Bass and Barea look good, but aside from that, they're really just a middling team, above-average, by enough to get into the playoffs, that's about it.

48-50 win season again, because they're good enough to pull it off, sliding them into the playoffs, not an easy feat in the West. They however, are not good enough to ever get out of the first round.