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NBA Coaches, Scouts & Executives Pick Mavs for 'Worst Offseason'
The Dallas Mavericks are coming off an impressive run to the Western Conference Finals. The contributions of Jalen Brunson went a long way in that success. However, he departed to the New York Knicks in free agency by signing a four-year, $104 million contract.
Before Brunson's departure, the Mavericks executed a trade with the Houston Rockets to acquire Christian Wood to bolster the frontcourt. The deal moved four non-rotation players along with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The Mavs continued to address the frontcourt after using the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign JaVale McGee. Replacing Brunson's general scoring and adding rebounding were focuses.
While losing Brunson is an unfortunate outcome for the Mavericks, they insulated themselves to an extent by acquiring Spencer Dinwiddie before the midseason trade deadline. Dinwiddie will slot in next to Luka Doncic in the starting backcourt with Frank Ntilikina playing what sounds like a key bench role in 2022-23.
In ESPN's annual NBA offseason survey involving 15 league personnel — including coaches, scouts, and executives — one of the questions identified the teams with the worst offseason. The winner of this title was the Mavericks with six votes with the Charlotte Hornets (three) and Brooklyn Nets (two) being the only other teams to receive multiple votes.
"They lost him for nothing," a West executive said, "then turned around and gave JaVale [McGee] a lot of money and traded for Christian Wood."
When considering how the Hornets' leading scorer — Miles Bridges — is out of the picture after being charged with three felonies in a domestic violence case, how is that not the worst offseason in the NBA?
The Hornets haven't done much to improve. It tends to take time for rookies to be consistently positive contributors without there even being a guarantee of the selection panning out long-term
The Nets faced no shortage of drama, but they did at least sign T.J. Warren on a prove-it deal and acquire Royce O'Neale while still having Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. It could all go up in proverbial flames during the season, but they did get better as a basketball team.
"It's absolutely the Nets," an East scout said. "They're paying the price for the past three years. They handed their team over to these guys, and this is what you get."
There are plenty of other worthy candidates for having the worst offseason around the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers come to mind considering they already ranked 29th in spot-up shooting efficiency and their top two shooters from last season — Malik Monk and Carmelo Anthony — departed or are unsigned.
Russell Westbrook is still on the Lakers' roster, and while that could change, they did get their hopes up for a potential trade for Irving. Things could change if they were to trade future draft capital for veteran help, but regardless, their main additions were Lonnie Walker IV and Thomas Bryant.
You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.
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