Dallas Mavericks – Fan perspective on the big talking points | NBA News

Dallas Mavericks fan Jamie Smith assesses the 2021-22 season for his team, and then casts an eye ahead to 2022-23.

Where my love for the NBA and the Mavs came from…

I’m Jamie, I run the @UKMavericksFans account on Twitter. I am an avid sports fan from Yorkshire and when it comes to the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks are my team. Growing up in the height of the Michael Jordan phenomenon, it would’ve been easy to jump on the Chicago Bulls train but I just couldn’t connect with them as a fan should. I continued to follow the sport as a neutral and knew the right team for me would eventually make itself known. As my interest continued to grow, I would watch games live on a regular basis with one of my friends, who happened to be a Mavericks fan. The more I watched players like Dirk Nowitzki and Jason ‘The Jet’ Terry, I became hooked and my love affair with the Mavericks began.

In the early years of being a fan, the Mavericks always felt like the ‘nearly’ team of the NBA, who would play exciting basketball but didn’t quite have what it took to win the big one. That all changed in 2011, when we beat the superstar-packed Miami Heat in six games to secure our first title – that will always be special.

One of my favorite memories to date, was getting to see the team play live in person at the American Airlines Center, while on a trip to Dallas. We may have lost to the LA Clippers on the night, but watching arguably the greatest European player to ever grace the NBA – Dirk Nowitzki – is hard to put into words. That almost didn’t happen though, as in the days leading up to the game, reports were surfacing that Nowitzki may not play due to an injury. Thankfully, the injury didn’t keep him out of the line-up and I got to see him sink a few of his famous one-legged fadeaways.

My favorite player

Of the current roster, it will be hard to find any Mavericks fan around the world whose favorite player isn’t Luka Doncic. Although he’s only 23 years old, he played at a high level in European basketball at Real Madrid from a young age, which helped elevate his game and eased his transition to the NBA. He quickly adapted and could easily be mistaken for a seasoned NBA veteran so early in his career.

Grade for last season: B+

Playing in the very competitive Western Conference makes it extremely difficult to make a Finals push, due to the strong competition all vying for one spot. Last season’s champions – the Golden State Warriors – are likely to be just as dominant and will expect to return to the Finals once again. Preventing them from doing so will be a tough task for any Western Conference franchise.

The 2021-2022 season saw us finish fourth overall in the Western Conference, resulting in a playoff spot which saw us take on and beat the fifth-seeded Utah Jazz in the first round. Following that, there was a brilliant performance to knock out the No. 1-seeded Phoenix Suns in seven games, before falling agonizingly short of our first Finals appearance since 2011 – losing in the Conference Finals to eventual NBA Champions Golden State in five games.

Despite an impressive season, I would give the Mavericks’ season a grade ‘B+’ rating, which may seem a little harsh due to where we ended up and what was expected of us in the season. But I’m not sure I could’ve graded it an ‘A’ without reaching the big one.

Assessing the offseason for the Mavs

The biggest talking points of our offseason could be narrowed down to two things. First, we lost Jalen Brunson to the New York Knicks. He was a brilliant compliment to Luka – but is he worth the $104 million that the Knicks paid him? Personally, I don’t think he’s even close to being on the same level as Luka, so I couldn’t justify giving him such a lucrative contract. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a brilliant player, who can give you something different when he’s got the ball in his hands. It’s disappointing he’s no longer on the roster, but I can certainly understand why the Mavericks were reluctant to hand him the huge contract that the Knicks were willing to.

Secondly, we’re still a second superstar away from being a year-in, year-out contender. From when Doncic first stepped onto the court in his rookie season, you could see he was going to be a superstar. He still needs the ‘Robin’ to his ‘Batman’ though and it feels like the Mavericks have failed to do that once again. We traded for Kristaps Porzingis in the 2019-2020 season, which seemed like it could be the one-two punch required for another championship. But after two seasons, it was clearly a failed trade. The hole his absence left in the roster still needs addressing. Doncic is a generational talent, now heading into his fifth year in the league and with his best years still ahead of him. Hopefully he spends his entire career in Dallas, but if not, the Mavericks must not waste his prime years – his talent deserves a championship.

That being said, we did make some positive moves this offseason, adding Theo Pinson, JaVale McGee and Tyler Dorsey in free agency. Christian Wood also arrived via a trade with the Rockets. Wood gives our center position a significant upgrade, but he’s not quite the second superstar we need.

The Mavs’ aims for next season

My expectations, or perhaps, my hopes for the upcoming season are for the Mavericks to at least make it back to the Western Conference Finals. Although in a loaded Western Conference, it’s going to take another All-Star season from Luka at a minimum, with elite play from the rest of the roster also required.

Three predictions for the season ahead…

• Doncic wins MVP
• The Mavericks reach at least the Western Semi-finals
• Dwight Powell wins the Most Improved Player award

Why should people watch the Mavericks?

An easy one, it only needs two words… Luka Doncic! Trust me on this and you can thank me later.