The 2018-19 season for the Dallas Mavericks will be most remembered by two things. First is the amazing debut season of 6-foot-7 guard-forward Luka Doncic, which set him on his way to an unrivaled Rookie of the Year campaign. Secondly, this was the year we all said goodbye to a true NBA legend, as long-time Mavs servant Dirk Nowtizki finally had his swansong following a legendary career.
The franchise is now officially entering a new phase in its history, and with all the buzz surrounding the team, there is definitely a lot to get excited about for the future. It all starts with the upcoming 2019-20 NBA season, which we will be previewing here today.
Offseason Moves
Aside from the retirement of Dirk, the Mavs front office kept busy this offseason with a myriad of new deals made official. For started, Dallas made it abundantly clear that they have selected Kristaps Porzingis as Nowitzki's heir apparent by signing the 7-foot-3 big man to a mind-boggling five-year, $158 max extension. More on him later.
The Mavs also added a couple of studs via free agency, with 6-foot-2 combo guard Seth Curry arriving on a four-year $32 million deal, along with 27-year-old point guard Delon Wright (three years, $28 million via sign-and-trade with the Memphis Grizzlies). Both guys have playoffs experience, and should only make the Mavs a more formidable side.
Cult legend Boban Marjanovic also signed with the Mavs this offseason on a two-year, $7 million deal.
Dallas also decided to extend the deals of incoming third-year power forward Maxi Kleber (four years, $35 million) and 6-foot-8 forward Dorian Finney-Smith (three years, $12 million). However, the most significant extension deal has got to be that of veteran big man Dwight Powell (three years, $33 million), who will look to play a pivotal role as part of the team's frontcourt this coming season.
The Mavs had an uneventful draft night, with their 10th overall pick heading in the direction of the Atlanta Hawks as part of the Luka Doncic trade last season (Atlanta selected Duke's Cam Reddish with the pick). In the second round, Dallas traded down their 37th pick to the Detroit Pistons, which gave the Mavs the rights to Nebraska forward Isaiah Roby (45th overall pick).
One to Watch
All eyes will definitely be on Luka Doncic, as he looks to shatter the sophomore slump that has victimized so many young stars in the past. This does not appear to be in the books for the highly-promising Slovenian, who amazingly, will just turn 21 ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season.
There will also be some intrigue surrounding former New York Knicks stud Tim Hardaway Jr., who himself arrived in Dallas last season as part of the Porzingis deal. The 6-foot-6 wing was forced to undergo season-ending surgery on his leg last term, but the sharp-shooting Hardaway is expected to be ready for the new campaign.
However, the man to watch for the Mavs in 2019-20 is Kristaps Porzingis. The 24-year-old has yet to make his Mavericks debut as he continues to recover from an ACL injury, but he is expected to be ready for the Mavs once the new season starts.
There is no doubt that Dallas will be extremely cautious with their prized big man, and we should expect a strict minutes cap for the Latvian national in the early part of the campaign. It would not be surprising if Porzingis takes the occasional night off for load management purposes, but still, it will be very interesting to see how this highly-promising big man performs in his first season back following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Porzingis signed a monster deal in the summer, and we also cannot ignore the legal battle he is currently facing. It remains to be seen what type of psychological effect these two significant developments in the offseason will have on Kristaps moving forward.
The big question is this: will Porzingis be able to return to All-Star form and re-establish himself as one of the league's best big men? We can all only wait and see.
2019-20 NBA Season Outlook
With a Western Conference only getting more ruthless following a crazy offseason, do the Mavs have what it takes to force themselves into playoffs contention this coming season? At this point, we think that this is a very realistic possibility for Dallas. They appear to have the right tools at their disposal, and with Doncic leading the way, the Mavericks might just be able to break into the postseason picture.
In the West, not even a .500 season will guarantee a playoffs appearance, so the Mavs will definitely need to win more than 40 games this coming season. They have failed to do so in the past three years (they were 33-49 last term), so a vast improvement will need to take place in order for them to reach this goal. All things considered, this is very much doable for the Mavericks.
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