Mediocrity Treadmill: Can Trade Deadline Save Mavs’ Season?

The Dallas Mavericks have been wildly inconsistent for nearly a month now, and there’s no guarantees that a trade before next week’s deadline can save them.

Despite Luka Doncic being in the middle of a career-best, MVP-caliber season, averaging 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.6 assists, the Dallas Mavericks are just 26-22 after 48 games.

Normally, being four games over .500 wouldn’t seem to be any cause for alarm, but the Mavs have gone 11-14 since reaching their season-high mark back on Dec. 12 when they were 15-8.

The Mavs have been on the mediocrity treadmill for two seasons now, going 64-66 since their thrilling Western Conference Finals run in 2022. Some of the reasons for that — like a comical amount of injuries, for example — have been out of Dallas’ control. Other reasons, however — like not offering Jalen Brunson a better contract than the New York Knicks and then setting the team’s timeline back by having to ship out two starters and a future first-round pick to acquire his replacement in Kyrie Irving — have been within the Mavs’ control to an extent.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

No matter what all the reasons have been, the Mavs must find a way to be better than a .500 team going forward if they want to keep Luka Doncic happy.

"I've said this before, and I'll say it for as long as I'm here … you can't take this young man for granted," Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said earlier this week. "I've said this internally, he is better than Dirk. He does things that Dirk could never do. ... And now it's the opportunity of getting the right people around him to, ultimately, win a championship."

Is it possible for the Mavs to do that at this year's trade deadline alone, though? Dallas only has one first-round pick it can trade right now, and there are several players who could be viewed as neutral trade assets at best, so it will be hard for GM Nico Harrisons to turn this team into a title contender in the next seven days.

If the Mavs can just get healthy, they will likely win enough games to make the playoffs this season after missing them last season. However, just making the playoffs isn't enough when you have a player like Doncic who could end up being one of the best of all time before it's said and done.

Mavs Trade Deadline Primer: Players Dallas Should Pursue; Weighing Risk vs. Reward

Dallas might be better suited to make a smaller move at the trade deadline, waiting for the summer to make a bigger trade when more future draft picks are available to trade. But how patient is Doncic willing to be? Is being a Play-In team this season acceptable? What happens if the Mavs miss the playoffs for the second season in a row?

All of these questions have to be considered by the Mavs' front office over the next several days. Turning this roster into a title contender quickly will be an extremely tough needle to thread, but Harrison and company must be creative in trying to find a way to make it happen.