The past week-plus has not been kind to the Dallas Mavericks and coach Jason Kidd.
The team is supposedly healthy, yet the mood around the team exudes anything but confidence. Players look anything but ready and willing to play defense - including the so-called defensive specialists. The roster is supposed to be complete, for the most part, now that Dante Exum has returned, but on Thursday, they looked like anything but a complete team.
Kidd is messing with the lineup and rotation in search of answers, but the results don't show any progress.
There still appears to be potential here, but as DFW radio legend Norm Hitzges pondered on a recent episode of his podcast, Just Wondering ... with Norm Hitzges, it might be time for a change.
Let's take a look at recent power rankings from the "sources that supposedly know" around the internet.
ESPN
Rank: 13
Last week: 10
Dallas has been the worst defensive team in the league since the All-Star break, allowing 124.4 points per 100 possessions in six games entering Tuesday’s matchup with the Pacers. The return of wing Dante Exum, one of the Mavs’ best on-ball defenders, should help, but coach Jason Kidd is hesitant to give Exum heavy minutes after he missed most of the past two months due to foot and knee injuries. The 28-year-old guard had earned a starting role before the injury on Jan. 1, but Kidd said that is no longer the plan.— MacMahon
Bleacher Report
Rank: 11
Last week: 9
We’re not too far into the post-All-Star portion of the season, but the Dallas Mavericks are an early candidate for most disappointing team since then.
Just when it looked like they might be able to surge out of play-in range and maybe even toward home-court advantage in the first round, Dallas started hemorrhaging points on defense at a worse rate than the Washington Wizards.
Their inability to stop anyone has led to losses to the Indiana Pacers (twice) and Boston Celtics in which the Mavs surrendered 130-plus points. Perhaps most concerning, they dropped a game to the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers at home.
Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving give this team an absurd offensive ceiling, but if it can’t slow anyone down on the other end, this campaign might end after the play-in tournament. Back-to-back seasons without the playoffs for a roster with Luka is borderline disastrous.
On the bright side, they closed out their week with a home win over the Miami Heat in which they allowed just 108 points, but they’ll need to flash defensive upside in a few more games to earn some trust back.
NBA
Rank: 9
Last week: 7
The Mavs have had Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving together for 12 straight games, the longest such streak since Irving arrived in Dallas 13 months ago. They won the first seven of those games, but have since dropped four of five, falling into eighth place in the West.
The Athletic
Rank: 9 (Tier 2: Brink of Contention)
Last week: 8
First-quarter grade B+ | Ranked 10th
Second-quarter grade B | Ranked 15th
Third-quarter grade B+
Even with the rough week, I really like where the Mavs are. They weathered injuries in the first half of the season, beefed up the roster at the trade deadline and look like they could be exceptionally dangerous in a playoff setting. Dončić has generated legitimate MVP buzz. Kyrie Irving has been phenomenal and comfortable when available. The Mavs can’t defend, but they just need to get timely stops. Can they improve their defense to average by season’s end?
