Mavericks embrace a youth movement. That’s a sentence we didn’t expect to type
The Mavericks are taking a new approach, and their fans find it refreshing even if the team may not make the playoffs.
The Mavericks have quietly embraced an on-the-fly youth movement and are in a position where expectations are relatively low. That’s a new world for Mavs fans, and they’re embracing it. SBNation.com’s Tim Cato and Mavs Moneyball’s Kirk Henderson join Mike to discuss the following topics:
- The Mavs have an actual future now! Maybe not like a future title winner, but a fun youngish core nonetheless.
- Are we getting too far ahead of ourselves with Dennis Smith Jr., or should we shut up and just enjoy him? (The latter).
- What’s going on with Nerlens Noel? Why hasn’t he re-signed yet? Are fans worried?
- How good is Harrison Barnes, exactly?
- Has management done enough to regain the trust of the fan base after Plan Powder kinda fell flat year after year?
- Oh yeah, let’s talk about Dirk. Suppose you put Dirk at his absolute best (whenever that is) on this Mavs team. How high would they be in the West?
- What will Dirk’s next job title be once he retires?
- If Mavs fans had a chance to do it all over, would they have preferred keeping the 2011 championship team together or breaking it up like they did?
- Which three Mavs would you want on your banana boat? (Dirk and Steve Nash should be shoo-ins, but who else joins them?)
Plus, predictions, best/worst case, making fun of Tim being super young, and way more.
This podcast was part of the Limited Upside podcast’s 2017-18 offseason series previewing all 30 NBA teams with members of SB Nation’s team communities and other friends of the show. We’ve spent the last two-and-a-half months gauging the temperature of every fan base heading into what should be a terrific NBA season. There’s no better way to understand what makes NBA fans in each market tick.
We began these in August and counted down worst-to-first leading up to the season. Here’s how to listen to them all:
- Nets with Kristian Winfield and Nets Daily’s Anthony Puccio
- Lakers with Zito Madu and Silver Screen and Roll’s Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen
- Suns with Bright Side of the Sun’s Dave King and Evan Sidery
- 76ers with Tyler Tynes and Liberty Ballers’ Kyle Neubeck
- Knicks with Kristian Winfield and Posting and Toasting’s Seth Rosenthal
- Magic with Orlando Pinstriped Post’s Zach Oliver and Cory Hutson
- Kings with Kenny Carraway and Sactown Royalty’s Tony Xypteras
- Mavs with Tim Cato and Mavs Moneyball’s Kirk Henderson
- Wolves with Canis Hooups’ Eric Goldman and John Meyer
- Pelicans with The Bird Writes’ Oleh Kosel and Travis Tate
- Hornets with James Dator and At the Hive’s Nicklaus Denning
- Pistons with John Ketchum, Kofie Yeboah and Detroit Bad Boys’ Lazarus Jackson
- Nuggets with Denver Stiffs’ Adam Mares
- Heat with Kelly Cohen and Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez
- Bulls with Ricky O’Donnell and Blog a Bull’s Jason Patt
- Pacers with Whitney Medworth and Indy Cornrows’ Caitlin Cooper
- Blazers with Blazers Edge’s Brian Freeman and Peter Sampson
- Bucks with Kevin McCauley and Brew Hoop’s Mitchell Maurer
- Hawks with Harry Lyles Jr. and Peachtree Hoops’ Brad Rowland
- Grizzlies with Grizzly Bear Blues’ Joe Mullinax
- Thunder with Eddie Maisonet and Welcome to Loud City’s Joshua Broom
- Thunder addendum! Carmelo Anthony trade emergency pod with Eddie Maisonet
- Wizards with Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp and Bullets Forever’s Michael Sykes
- Jazz with SLC Dunk’s Mychal Lowman and James Hansen.
- Raptors with Raptors HQ’s Daniel Reynolds and freelance writer Seerat Sohi
- Cavaliers with Fear the Sword’s Chris Manning and MMA Fighting’s Eric Jackman
- Clippers with Clips Nation’s Lucas Hann and former L.A. video coordinator Mo Dakhil
- Celtics with Paul Flannery and Celtics Blog’s Nick Gelso
- Rockets with The Dream Shake’s Ethan Rothstein and Jeremy Brener
- Spurs with Pounding the Rock’s J.R. Wilco and Bruno Passos
- Warriors with Golden State of Mind’s Bram Kincheloe
