Why doesn't Cuban and Mavs management get more criticism? In the five years since they won the title, they've won more than 42 games only twice and had four first round playoff losses, wasting the tail end of an all-time great's prime. They had an incredible 10 year run up to that point, but when do they stop getting excused because of it?
Mike
Well, to start off you skew your numbers by including the '12 lockout season. That was a 46 win pace, not spectacular but respectable (probably doesn't change your point though).
In those 5 years they never had a losing season. They've constantly made mid-to-small-tier moves to improve the team (even if they all didn't pan out), like trading for Rondo and Tyson Chandler, signing Monta Ellis, Parsons, Wes Matthews, and OJ Mayo, etc, bringing in cheap vets like Stoudemire, Deron Williams, David Lee,Vince Carter, etc. And they definitely made the right move sometimes by not bringing their aging vets back (like Terry, Kidd, etc.).
Really it comes down to whiffing in free agency, but can you blame them for that? They've tried to go after guys, just haven't been able to land the big ones. They tried to sign Deron Williams in '12 (probably better that didn't happen though), Howard in '13, Carmelo in '14, Deandre Jordan in '15, Whiteside, Batum, and Conley in '16.
I actually think they've done a pretty good job with an aging team. They've stayed competitive even though they had an aging core. They've maintained cap room to sign big free agents every summer, and when they miss out on those they're able to fill the roster with capable vets without hurting their cap room going forward. They haven't done what a lot of teams would do and fire one of the best coaches in the game just to make a change. I actually think the Mavs front office has done a pretty good job.
Topic: Are the Mavs are a playoff team? (Read 4896 times)