‘Tough' Roster Decisions Coming For 'Makeshift' Mavs, Says Cuban
After the ‘makeshift’ Dallas Mavericks took down the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night with brand new ‘hardship exception’ signees Theo Pinson and Marquese Chriss playing surprising big roles on the fly, owner Mark Cuban made it known how impressed he was with what he saw.
“That was fun to watch,” said Cuban on his MavsCollectibles Discourse after the game.
“Seeing guys basically just show up and play great like that! We are going to have some hard decisions!”
That quote from Cuban shouldn't be taken lightly, because it's one of the few, if only, recent examples we have of someone in the Mavs front office seemingly being open to a roster shakeup. Even when Mavs GM Nico Harrison joined play-by-play announcer Mark Followill on the broadcast in Minnesota on Sunday, he took the 'company man' approach and called for even more patience with this current Dallas roster that has been bombarded by injuries and COVID-19.
Cuban's thoughts, however, seems to jibe well with our 'Change is Good!' piece from earlier:
Although it didn't happen the way we thought it would, the Mavs' recent misfortune of injuries and COVID absences gave us a glimpse of how shuffling the deck, even if it's seen as a 'lateral move' on the surface, could provide a spark for this team going forward.
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Dallas has pretty much had the same core of players on its current roster for nearly three years now, or rather, since the trade for Kristaps Porzingis that happened on January, 31 2019. As mentioned on Monday, it's not just the Mavs' inconsistent play this season that has people upset, it's the fact that the Mavs have literally been a .500 basketball team over their last 276 games.
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The Mavs may still 'love our boys in blue,' as (Donnie) Nelson used to say, but at least on Tuesday night, we saw more effort, energy and raw talent from two players who were both picked up in the last 24 hours than we have from half of the Dallas roster this entire season so far.
Maybe it was just the high of the moment. After all, we've seen it before where very undermanned teams come together and get a big, unexpected win. Maybe the play of Pinson and Chriss won't hold up over the next handful of games, but our eyes saw what our eyes saw on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. And if that kind of play is sustained by the Mavs' new 10-day 'hardship' signees? Well, then the front office is going to have some important decisions to make before those contracts end.
The Mavericks will obviously need more than a couple of new 10-day contract guys in order to truly take the next step towards being a contender when Luka Doncic, who is now going to miss even more time due to entering the NBA's Covid protocols, returns to action. That much is a given.
However, giving guys like Pinson, Chriss, and now Texas Legends standout Carlik Jones a real chance to make the roster over some of the current players, who have been inconsistent this season, could be a good way to raise the team's performance level while also incrementally improving the asset department.
Dallas' list of inactive players seems to be growing by the day. Such is the nature of this seemingly never-ending COVID-19 pandemic. But if the Mavs can take advantage of this weird 'showcase' part of the season, maybe it can be a silver lining.
