Jason Kidd Believes 'Step Back' Season Will Help Build Mavs Into Championship Team

The Mavericks opted for the future and the draft lottery over the play-in tournament on Friday, which is a decision that will loom huge for the franchise in the coming months.

The Dallas Mavericks have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. And not just playoff contention, but play-in tournament contention as well.

That's not a statement anyone thought would come to light this season, but here we are. 

Following a masterful tank job by the Mavericks in the fourth quarter, Dallas fell to the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, 115-112, to end their play-in and overall postseason hopes that were already hanging on by a thread going into the night.

Prior to the game, the Mavs announced that several players would be out, including Kyrie Irving, Christian Wood, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, and Tim Hardaway Jr.

For Luka Doncic, Mavs coach Jason Kidd told the media pregame that he'd play the first quarter but would be 'done for the season' after that.

"It's not so much waving the white flag," Kidd said following the loss. "Decisions are sometimes hard in this business and you have to make hard decisions."

The decision was made my Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and General Manager Nico Harrison on Friday to essentially pull the plug on the remaining two games by having several core players sit out to help set Dallas up to keep their top-10 protected pick despite their play-in chances still up for grabs. 

"It was tough at first when you hear about it, but at the same time we’re pros," Theo Pinson described the organization's decision.

After acquiring a player like Irving at the trade deadline, and making the Western Conference Finals just last season, it's a tough pill to swallow to think just how far Dallas has fallen. They basically wasted an MVP-caliber season from Doncic, who took a beating with the load he carried throughout most of the season.

But, no matter how much it hurts for the players and coaching staff, Kidd seemed hopeful that this 'step back' for the franchise will lead to an jump forward next season.

"We're trying to build a championship team and sometimes you gotta take a step back and understanding with this decision, this is maybe a step back but hopefully it leads to going forward," Kidd said. 

Dallas now goes from a championship-hopeful team from the beginning of the season to a lottery-ball hopeful team, and the disaster of this season will only magnify if the Mavericks don't retain their top-10 protected pick come NBA draft lottery night on May 16. Major changes must be made to the Mavs' roster this offseason if they want to be taken seriously again heading into next season.

"We trust Cuban and Nico to put the pieces together to put us in a position to win a championship and so that's our process today," Kidd said.

You know what they say: trust the process.

---

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here.

Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.