Apr 28, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) discusses a call with an official during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets in game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Mavericks 103-94 to win the series 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Dallas Mavericks
Question: What are reasonable expectations for the Mavericks after the DeAndre Jordan saga?
They swung and missed on their guy in free agency and two of their top three players (Chandler Parsons and Wes Matthews) are coming off of major surgeries. Their primary scoring option Dirk Nowitzki is entering his 18th season, in which he’ll turn 37. While he shows the Dirk of old is still kicking around inside of him somewhere, he’s not getting any younger and Father Time is undefeated.
They lost three starters (Ellis, Rondo, Chandler) and most of their bench. Missing out on DeAndre Jordan and losing Tyson Chandler to the Suns, only to replace them with Zaza Pachulia will hurt them in the paint in the long run; And JaVale McGee doesn’t project to be much better.
So where, realistically, will this team fall? Can Deron Williams still be enough of a catalyst to help this team compete?
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