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Despite being much more competitive in recent games, the Dallas Mavericks are still not winning enough to be considered good. They are currently 7-19, the worst record in the Western Conference, and third-worst in the entire NBA.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban eventually wants to get his team back to winning and being competitive in fairly short order. But as the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn reports, Cuban wants his team to be championship contenders instead of being just good enough to make the playoffs.
Article Continues Below“We want to get back as soon as we can. But we don’t want to just say now we’re just competing for the playoffs and get stuck in the middle. We want to be in the position to compete for championships.”
Cuban has followed through with that lofty goal by avoiding the urge to make significant improvements to the team in the offseason. Their lack of upgrades has been a big reason why they find themselves at the bottom of the conference, where they can maximize their chances of landing a franchise-altering star at the top of the draft.
After years of mediocrity due to constantly striking out in free agency after winning the title in 2011, Cuban has likely learned his lesson that building through the draft like what the Philadelphia 76ers did for many years is the more logical route for a team with long-term championship goals to take.
The Mavs seemingly have one key piece of their future secured after drafting rookie Dennis Smith Jr. But in order to achieve Cuban's goal of becoming true title contenders once again, they’ll need to get lucky and surround him with even more elite prospects in the coming years.
