What’s Next For the Dallas Mavericks?

The Dallas Mavericks came into the 2022-23 season with lofty expectations and then traded for Kyrie Irving. The Mavs hoped an Irving and Luka Doncic pairing would elevate the team to title contender. Instead, it crashed and burned. 

This offseason, Dallas has the most pressure of any team in the Association after a drastic downfall to end the season. The key to the franchise is there with Doncic, but it’s on the organization to find pieces to complement him. Kristaps Porzingis failed, Jalen Brunson fled, Christian Wood didn’t mesh, and the early returns on Irving are not great.

Here are three key things we’ll look for from Dallas this offseason.

Lottery Luck?

The Mavericks tanked their game on April 7 when they were still mathematically capable of making the Play-In Tournament, prompting the league to issue a $750,000 fine. The goal was to improve their draft lottery odds to limit the risk of their first-round pick being sent to the Knicks, which occurs if it falls out of the top ten.

The dream scenario is striking gold and winning the Victor Wembanyama lottery. The NBA should want to rig the lottery, so we can all bear witness to a team led by Luka and Wemby, but the odds of that are only 3%. They’ll be happy if they keep that draft choice, given what they had to do to earn the tenth slot.

Ideally, the Mavs would know Kyrie’s free agency plans before the NBA Draft. Knowing how Irving handles making decisions, Dallas will probably be forced to operate on Kyrie’s schedule.  

Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison, who is familiar with Kyrie from his days at Nike, said he’s optimistic about Irving remaining in Dallas. Kyrie has not spoken since the season ended, so we’re uncertain about his outlook. Still, the Mavs will need an answer sooner rather than later.

Anyone that watched the Mavericks play in March and April knows the defense looked dreadful. It was essentially non-existent, mainly contributing to the Mavs’ 9-18 record since February 8.

Much of the Mavs’ defensive problems came in the interior, as the combination of Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber, and Christian Wood did not cut it. Operating with the assumption that Kyrie Irving opts to stay in Dallas, the Mavs’ best option to address this shortcoming would be through that potential tenth overall pick. Scooping up free agents on the veteran minimum won’t be good enough.

Looking at the draft board, the Mavericks brass should target Jarace Walker out of Houston. He’s NBA-ready and would be an immediate plug-and-play at the power forward position for years. He’s a relentless defender who can help with much of the interior issues while stretching the floor offensively to be a weapon alongside Luka and Kyrie.