The Dallas Mavericks(38-43) were officially eliminated from playoff contention after losing to the visiting Chicago Bulls 115-112 on Friday night.
Dallas will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
Entering this game, Dallas was a 1/2 game behind the Thunder for the 10th and final spot in the Play-In Tournament, but now it’s over, and the Mavs are okay with it.
Dallas sat Kyrie Irving(foot), Christian Wood(rest), Maxi Kleber(hamstring), Josh Green(rest), and Tim Hardaway Jr.(ankle). Luka Doncic played little over one quarter on “I Feel Slovenia” night, scoring 13 points, so it was clear what the Mavs’ plans were for this game and the season-finale; this team waived the white flag of surrender and was looking to tank.
“Understanding it’s not so much waving the white flag,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said after the loss. “Decisions sometimes are hard in this business, and you have to make hard decisions, and we’re trying to build a championship team, and sometimes you got to take a step back. Understanding, again, with this decision, maybe a step back, but hopefully, it leads to us going forward.
“Again, it’s not always easy to make decisions, but these are decisions that are made from my bosses, and we got to follow them. We trust Cuban and Nico to put the pieces together to put us in a position to win a championship, and so that’s just starting the process today.”
At this point, the Mavs focus on next season. Dallas is currently slotted for the 10th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The draft lottery could change that, but it’s a good chance they stay at 10. If they remain at 10, their pick, which is top-10 protected, would not go to the Knick(Kristaps Porzingis trade), which gives the team more assets to go after more talent. In addition, it appears the team wants to re-sign Irving and build around Doncic and Irving going forward.
Back to this season, what a disappointment. When the Mavs acquired Irving in February, many felt this team could make noise in a wide-open Western Conference. At the time, the Mavs were 29-26 and the fifth seed in the West. Unfortunately, things never came together, and Dallas is 9-17 after the trade.
Regarding the tank, again, the West is wide open, and anything could have happened once they got into the Play-In Tournament, but again, the white flag was raised, and now it’s on to the NBA Draft Lottery, NBA Draft, free agency, and more.
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