The Dallas Mavericks made some serious headlines during the home stretch of the 2023 NBA regular season, and mostly for the wrong reasons.
Things were going smoothly until the team traded for Kyrie Irving in order to pair Luka Dončić with another superstar. But the Mavericks crumbled on the court, going 7-18 over the final 25 games and free-falling from the 5th seed all the way to being out of the playoff picture entirely.
Dallas Mavericks Fined $750,000 For Tanking Final Games
The NBA has fined the Dallas Mavericks $750,000 for its resting of players vs. Bulls late in season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 14, 2023
There were other speed bumps along the way, too. There was the incident on March 22nd against the Golden State Warriors, when the Mavericks felt that their opponents were given two free points because of a communication error by the game’s officials.
Team owner Mark Cuban was confused and beside himself after that particular game, taking to Twitter to air his grievances. The team eventually issued a protest, saying that the final outcome of the game was affected by the play in question.
The notion was ultimately denied by the league after further investigation.
But even though the Dallas Mavericks’ season is over, they are still in the news with their organizational happenings.
On Friday, the league announced that Dallas had been fined a whopping $750,000 for what happened in their game last week. On one of the final days of the season, after his team’s free-fall down towards the bottom of the standings, Cuban made a tough decision.
Mavericks Have Plenty Of Questions To Answer
Colin Cowherd says Luka Doncic is starting to become like Carmelo Anthony
“He's not in great shape, not committed on the defensive end. He's kind of prickly and he's got his way.” pic.twitter.com/xAuwepDlhy
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 10, 2023
Even though the Mavericks were still technically in contention to sneak in to the play-in tournament, they felt as though the season and their chances had gotten away from them completely. Instead of going all out and fighting for contention, they decided to throw in the white towel.
Dallas sat many of its key players for the entire game. Doncic only had 13 minutes in the game because it was Slovenia Night for the Mavericks and the fans wanted to see him play.
They made the decision because of their draft status. The Mavericks were in danger of losing out on their first round pick if it fell anywhere outside of the top-10. They had traded the selection to the Knicks in the Kristaps Porzingis deal years ago, but there are protections surrounding it, ones that Dallas cashed in on. By losing the final two games of the season, they get to keep their first round pick in the 2023 Draft, which should fall somewhere around the top-10.
It won’t be the last that you hear about the Dallas Mavericks this summer. There are questions surrounding the team, as the futures of their two best players are anything but guaranteed. Both Doncic and Irving should be dominating the headlines as we head into the off-season.
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