The Mavericks are right back in the mix, and they still preserved their future

Mark Cuban is an owner who doesn’t want to tank. That’s commendable.

But Cuban is also a realist and he had no problem acknowledging the obvious earlier this season when he told Julius Erving -- randomly -- that losing was the Mavs’ best option. That’s a position that a) everyone knew and b) no one disagreed with.

Cuban went on to tell Dr. J that he communicated that very message to his team, which was way more candid and forthright than most -- any? -- team owners would have been in that situation. It also got him fined $600,000 by the NBA because you’re not supposed to say the quiet parts out loud.

At any rate, Cuban wasn’t going to tank for very long, which was yet another thing he said to the Doctor. (That was some podcast.)

After swinging a franchise-altering deal for Luka Doncic during the draft -- a trade that included next year’s first-round pick -- they wasted no time spending their cap space on a one-year deal for DeAndre Jordan. That pick to Atlanta is top-5 protected for the next few seasons, a clear signal that they would be active in free agency to make their team competitive.

This was the rebound tank: a one-year drop into the hinterlands to atone for past mistakes and refresh the talent pool. Some would argue that the Mavs should have gone further and extended the misery for one more season to take another shot in the lottery.

There’s merit to that argument, but roster building in the NBA can’t be seen as a zero-sum game. The league can’t support a system where a handful of teams try to win the championship and everyone else tries to lose. The Mavs wanted to get competitive quickly, and they appear to have done so.

To be clear: Drafting Doncic and signing Jordan doesn’t make the Mavs contenders by any stretch. They should, however, be in the hunt for a playoff berth in what could be Dirk Nowitzki’s final season. That matters to the franchise.

With Jordan, Nowitzki, and Harrison Barnes up front, along with the still-effective Wes Matthews on the wing, the Mavs have a stable core of vets to bring the next generation of Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr. up to speed. In reality, signing Jordan is a one-year flyer to buy time for those two to develop in a competitive environment.

The Mavs have options if things fall apart. Jordan’s one-year deal is like an extended trial period between a player who spurned them in free agency during the great emoji war of 2015. If it works, great. If not, cool. We’re all so much older now.

Talk of Jordan opting in to help facilitate a trade between Dallas and the Clippers seemed like an exercise in trying to get Matthews’ deal off the books, but he’ll be in the last year of his contract as well. Barnes can also opt out of his deal next summer, something that should no longer be considered a certainty. Still, the Mavs should have ample cap space to work with next July. That’s where they’ve always been comfortable operating.

It’s worth remembering that they held off on rebuilding until that path was the only one left to take. As the glow from their championship season dimmed, they signed Matthews and Deron Williams in free agency, cleared space for Barnes and Andrew Bogut, and traded for Rajon Rondo.

None of those moves held off the decline, although Barnes has become a good player and Matthews still had game left after coming back from a Achilles injury. (Matthews also suffered a stress fracture, which ended his season in March. Don’t bet against that dude.)

2017 was the reality check when it all came crashing down, but it allowed them to select Smith, a human jetpack of a point guard, with the No. 9 pick. Smith’s selection was the first top-10 choice for the Mavs in almost 20 years, when they wound up with Dirk Nowitzki. Doncic’s selection brings the last two decades full circle.

Smith and Doncic are still the future, so this is a free roll of the dice. Might as well try to win some games while waiting for that future to arrive.