The Dallas Mavericks sit in the twelfth seed in the Western Conference and four games back of a playoff spot.

But according to Dwain Price of Mavs.com, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban remains optimistic about his team's chances.

The first-round draft pick Cuban is referring to is Dallas' 2019 first-round selection. It was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in part of a draft night deal for Luka Doncic last June. The pick is top-five protected, meaning if the Mavericks fall near the bottom of the standings, they will instead surrender their 2020 first rounder.

However, Dallas remains even further from a top five pick than they do from a playoff spot. They are currently six and a half games ahead of fifth-worst Atlanta with five other teams in between. This makes such a fall unlikely.

However, Dallas' playoff chances don't look great either. They would need to leapfrog four other teams to catch up with the eighth-seed Los Angeles Clippers. With 18 of Dallas' 30 remaining games coming against teams that are currently over .500, there will be no clear path to the postseason.

According to ESPN's BPI Playoff Odds, Dallas has only a 5.0% chance of making the postseason in 2019.

Dallas is coming off of two consecutive playoff misses. But with a team seemingly too bad to win and too good to tank, Cuban is digging his heels in and announcing the Mavericks will be going for it.

The team could look to add more talent beyond recent blockbuster acquisition Kristaps Porzingis prior to Thursday's NBA Trade Deadline.

However, they will need to off-load a sizable contract or two to remain under the salary cap going forward if they wish to do so.