Mark Cuban must go!

[arkuo]

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2022/7/5/23192230/how-to-cope-dallas-mavericks-losing-jalen-brunson

BTW I don't think Brunson is widely overpaid, he's easily 20/yr player, so 26 isn't that far off, but I also don't buy the 55/4 story, I think his father put it out as a preparation for the Knicks takeover.

Same here.

Which leads me to think Cuban was simply just turned off when he found out Brunson and his side was negotiating in bad faith. If an employee is trying to screw you over, as an owner, you just walk away from that situation. At the end of the day, fans will still buy tickets for Luka. Cuban doesn't lose out on anything.

[leolozon]

I remember when these boards were proclaiming Tyrrell Terry as immediately good as Seth Curry

Bey as a potential small ball center who can play great defense... I will never hype myself again for guys outside the lottery. If they pan out, great, if not, I don't care.

[41Dirk41]

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2022/7/5/23192230/how-to-cope-dallas-mavericks-losing-jalen-brunson

I would add, pretend that 2025 is around the corner and Mavs will do all the right moves then.

With this observation he had almost convinced me ... then I woke up.

[Mavrelous]

Nah, I think Cuban got played by Rose and Brunson Sr.

[41Dirk41]

Nah, I think Cuban got played by Rose and Brunson Sr.

Everybody played Cuban in those years but he is not smart to understand it.

[Jonny Blaze]

KhalilS must go? I mean what's the point of this thread? Yes Cuban has made mistakes but if you want to look up what Mavs ownership looked like prior to him or what many other teams deal with you might want to delete this thread rather quickly.

I'm not old enough to know, but does it matter? Should we all be happy Mavs aren't the Wizards or the Kings?
This is buzarre, pleayers like Dirk and Luka give huge wiggle room to make mistakes, they used all the room and then some.

I'm a lifelong Mavericks fan. My family had season tickets from 1981-1992. I've had Mavs season tickets for the past 15 years.

The previous owners before Cuban didn't give a F if the team won or lost. They honestly did not care as long as they made a profit. This is why the 1990's Mavs were not only the worst franchise in the NBA...they were one of the 2 or 3 worst franchises in all of pro sports.

The 1992 and 1993 Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Championship teams each won more games than the Mavericks did that season.

Cuban isn't perfect, but at least he cares. It could be a whole lot worse.

[Jonny Blaze]

This thread is the dumbest thing I ever heard for a few reasons.

1. At the time the KP trade wasn’t bad. It’s not our fault that KP has a bad attitude and never developed. Dallas didn’t have a lot of capital so it was a good swing that just didn’t work.

2. In this time frame Dallas swung hard to get Luka and that was an amazing decision. But Khalis wouldn’t give credit for anything good happening

3. We’re coming of a western conference finals appearance. Luka is 23. Lebron, Curry, Shaq, Jordan all won rings much later. It takes time to get the right pieces relax.

4. Most of the stuff being complained about isn’t a Cuban problem, it’s a Donnie Nelson problem. Abandoning the 2020 pick, Nelson. Curry trade, Nelson.

5. Brunson is not worth 26 million dollars a year. You all can think it was a mistake to not trade him or to sign him for 4/55 last summer are just being stupid. At the time both were the right decision, they just don’t seem like it cause the Knicks tampered and Jalen wanted to go to New York.

Cuban is owner of the Mavs, so everything is his problem. Replacing Donnie with Nico was for sure the right move, but we must comment on Brunson fiasco, because it's crucial not only for next season, but going forward too.

Last year's WCF was great (over)achievement. Maybe it's difficult to admit, but Brunson was very important part of it. Not only for those crucial 2 wins against Utah, but for the whole season, when Luka wasn't on the court. Brunson was mini Luka with similar playing style, that's why he was perfect to lead a team build around Luka. You might replace his points with players like THJ, Wood..., but those players can't create for themselves much, so their value falls without Luka on the court, Brunson on the other hand thrives without Luka.

We will see different West this year. Clippers, Pelicans, Wolves, Nuggets all much better, Portland will be better too, there's some questions about Lakers and Suns but they might get new superstars.

The biggest problem I see is not losing Brunson for next season, which will hurt for sure, but being hard cap team without 0 tradeable assets except Luka. No cap space in 2023 and those 45 millions in 2024 will quickly go down with new contracts.

Those hard words are totally unnecessary. We're here to express our feelings, thoughts on situation. We might be right or wrong, no need to be angry, if you don't agree with someone.

Those are all assumptions. We have no idea if those teams will be better or worse than they were last year.
Those teams are all an injury away from having a horrible season.

[41Dirk41]

KhalilS must go? I mean what's the point of this thread? Yes Cuban has made mistakes but if you want to look up what Mavs ownership looked like prior to him or what many other teams deal with you might want to delete this thread rather quickly.

I'm not old enough to know, but does it matter? Should we all be happy Mavs aren't the Wizards or the Kings?
This is buzarre, pleayers like Dirk and Luka give huge wiggle room to make mistakes, they used all the room and then some.

I'm a lifelong Mavericks fan. My family had season tickets from 1981-1992. I've had Mavs season tickets for the past 15 years.

The previous owners before Cuban didn't give a F if the team won or lost. They honestly did not care as long as they made a profit. This is why the 1990's Mavs were not only the worst franchise in the NBA...they were one of the 2 or 3 worst franchises in all of pro sports.

The 1992 and 1993 Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Championship teams each won more games than the Mavericks did that season.

Cuban isn't perfect, but at least he cares. It could be a whole lot worse.

Agree with the boldet but he maked a lot of mistakes.
It's difficult to think it is only lack of exp/basketball knowledge.

[Bob8]

This thread is the dumbest thing I ever heard for a few reasons.

1. At the time the KP trade wasn’t bad. It’s not our fault that KP has a bad attitude and never developed. Dallas didn’t have a lot of capital so it was a good swing that just didn’t work.

2. In this time frame Dallas swung hard to get Luka and that was an amazing decision. But Khalis wouldn’t give credit for anything good happening

3. We’re coming of a western conference finals appearance. Luka is 23. Lebron, Curry, Shaq, Jordan all won rings much later. It takes time to get the right pieces relax.

4. Most of the stuff being complained about isn’t a Cuban problem, it’s a Donnie Nelson problem. Abandoning the 2020 pick, Nelson. Curry trade, Nelson.

5. Brunson is not worth 26 million dollars a year. You all can think it was a mistake to not trade him or to sign him for 4/55 last summer are just being stupid. At the time both were the right decision, they just don’t seem like it cause the Knicks tampered and Jalen wanted to go to New York.

Cuban is owner of the Mavs, so everything is his problem. Replacing Donnie with Nico was for sure the right move, but we must comment on Brunson fiasco, because it's crucial not only for next season, but going forward too.

Last year's WCF was great (over)achievement. Maybe it's difficult to admit, but Brunson was very important part of it. Not only for those crucial 2 wins against Utah, but for the whole season, when Luka wasn't on the court. Brunson was mini Luka with similar playing style, that's why he was perfect to lead a team build around Luka. You might replace his points with players like THJ, Wood..., but those players can't create for themselves much, so their value falls without Luka on the court, Brunson on the other hand thrives without Luka.

We will see different West this year. Clippers, Pelicans, Wolves, Nuggets all much better, Portland will be better too, there's some questions about Lakers and Suns but they might get new superstars.

The biggest problem I see is not losing Brunson for next season, which will hurt for sure, but being hard cap team without 0 tradeable assets except Luka. No cap space in 2023 and those 45 millions in 2024 will quickly go down with new contracts.

Those hard words are totally unnecessary. We're here to express our feelings, thoughts on situation. We might be right or wrong, no need to be angry, if you don't agree with someone.

Those are all assumptions. We have no idea if those teams will be better or worse than they were last year.
Those teams are all an injury away from having a horrible season.

And Mavs aren't? Luka out and Mavs might compete for Wembanyama. In the beginning of the season you can only compare rosters, not what might happen. West was hit by injuries of important players last year, many teams were out of real competition very early, unlikely that happens this year too.

[Jonny Blaze]

Cuban is owner of the Mavs, so everything is his problem. Replacing Donnie with Nico was for sure the right move, but we must comment on Brunson fiasco, because it's crucial not only for next season, but going forward too.

Last year's WCF was great (over)achievement. Maybe it's difficult to admit, but Brunson was very important part of it. Not only for those crucial 2 wins against Utah, but for the whole season, when Luka wasn't on the court. Brunson was mini Luka with similar playing style, that's why he was perfect to lead a team build around Luka. You might replace his points with players like THJ, Wood..., but those players can't create for themselves much, so their value falls without Luka on the court, Brunson on the other hand thrives without Luka.

We will see different West this year. Clippers, Pelicans, Wolves, Nuggets all much better, Portland will be better too, there's some questions about Lakers and Suns but they might get new superstars.

The biggest problem I see is not losing Brunson for next season, which will hurt for sure, but being hard cap team without 0 tradeable assets except Luka. No cap space in 2023 and those 45 millions in 2024 will quickly go down with new contracts.

Those hard words are totally unnecessary. We're here to express our feelings, thoughts on situation. We might be right or wrong, no need to be angry, if you don't agree with someone.

Those are all assumptions. We have no idea if those teams will be better or worse than they were last year.
Those teams are all an injury away from having a horrible season.

And Mavs aren't? Luka out and Mavs might compete for Wembanyama. In the beginning of the season you can only compare rosters, not what might happen. West was hit by injuries of important players last year, many teams were out of real competition very early, unlikely that happens this year too.

again....you are assuming things that might not happen.

Your whole argument is based on the ASSUMPTION that the Western Conference is going to be a whole lot better. Well...what if the Mavs are a whole lot better?

I don't expect them to start 16-18 after the first 34 games like they did last season.

[Bob8]

Those are all assumptions. We have no idea if those teams will be better or worse than they were last year.
Those teams are all an injury away from having a horrible season.

And Mavs aren't? Luka out and Mavs might compete for Wembanyama. In the beginning of the season you can only compare rosters, not what might happen. West was hit by injuries of important players last year, many teams were out of real competition very early, unlikely that happens this year too.

again....you are assuming things that might not happen.

Your whole argument is based on the ASSUMPTION that the Western Conference is going to be a whole lot better. Well...what if the Mavs are a whole lot better?

I don't expect them to start 16-18 after the first 34 games like they did last season.

Assumption based on who is coming back. 2 best players of Clippers, 2nd and 3rd player of Nuggets, Zion, Dame was out a lot too, then you have Lakers with probably last chance for LeBron, Minnesota played pretty good in last part of the season, now they have Gobert too, Grizzliest are 1 year older.

It's the fact that West was very bad last year, we can expect better West for sure. Mavs have lost the only player except Luka, who can create offense. We will see how important that is.

[Mavrelous]

KhalilS must go? I mean what's the point of this thread? Yes Cuban has made mistakes but if you want to look up what Mavs ownership looked like prior to him or what many other teams deal with you might want to delete this thread rather quickly.

I'm not old enough to know, but does it matter? Should we all be happy Mavs aren't the Wizards or the Kings?
This is buzarre, pleayers like Dirk and Luka give huge wiggle room to make mistakes, they used all the room and then some.

I'm a lifelong Mavericks fan. My family had season tickets from 1981-1992. I've had Mavs season tickets for the past 15 years.

The previous owners before Cuban didn't give a F if the team won or lost. They honestly did not care as long as they made a profit. This is why the 1990's Mavs were not only the worst franchise in the NBA...they were one of the 2 or 3 worst franchises in all of pro sports.

The 1992 and 1993 Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Championship teams each won more games than the Mavericks did that season.

Cuban isn't perfect, but at least he cares. It could be a whole lot worse.

How many owners don't care in the NBA today? Very few and they probably got the team by inheritance, do we set a low bar and be happy about it?
I started by saying Cyban was a great owner until 2011, he took the NBA by storm, was very unorthodox, butt heads with mighty Stern for the sake of the team, was probabely the 1st pro players owner in the league, etc...
Cuban hasn't been good the last 11 years, the excuse was he had no contender, well, it's been 4 years with Luka, clearly the best player in the league IMO, at least top 3, and he's been jumping from one big mess to another.
Don't judge this team's results with Luka, ask yourself where would this team be w/o Luka?

I'll repeat very simple point in the original post that goes to show the lack of planning on this team, Mavs went into this season with Boban, Brown and Chriss on the books for 8 millions, all 3 signed their deals under Nico, not Donnie, these 8 millions that people don't assign value to, are the difference between hardcapped team to non-hardcapped team, between a deal for Sexton being possible to impossible, none of these players was needed, all would've taken last years contract only, these 8 millions also would've cost 36 million in taxes had Brunson re-signed.
Why is Powell still on the books? What happened in May was magical, Luka willed this team past a surefire contender, had he had normal center behind, he may have went further.
Look up my posts from last off season, I defended their moves and gave them a chance, the Brunson fiasco, and the fact that the team is out of resources, and with only 2 ball handler on it, tells me they have no clear direction and are going by the seat of their pants.
Again, go look at my posts (and many others, not just me) last off season, we watched every game, and it was clear, the team MUST have 3rd PG, they didn't get one, then they traded for Dinwiddie, and everything clicked, what's more improtant now? The mascot or a vet PG with Finals experience who fit the team like a glove? if you wanted the roster spot for insurance, keep Theo waiting, and then sign him if it's still open, don't let Dragic go.
Right now Mavs have only trade or vet min, and only assets to trade are Powell + Green, don't see them netting anything worthy.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope Nico does have an ace up his sleeve, I hope Cuban will turn Brunson into S&T and get a player in return, we'll see about that, right now, from reading press statements, I think they stupidly blew the TPMLE fully on McGee and will not have the means to sign Hardy to a normal contract.

[41Dirk41]

Great post.

[Jonny Blaze]

I'm not old enough to know, but does it matter? Should we all be happy Mavs aren't the Wizards or the Kings?
This is buzarre, pleayers like Dirk and Luka give huge wiggle room to make mistakes, they used all the room and then some.

I'm a lifelong Mavericks fan. My family had season tickets from 1981-1992. I've had Mavs season tickets for the past 15 years.

The previous owners before Cuban didn't give a F if the team won or lost. They honestly did not care as long as they made a profit. This is why the 1990's Mavs were not only the worst franchise in the NBA...they were one of the 2 or 3 worst franchises in all of pro sports.

The 1992 and 1993 Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Championship teams each won more games than the Mavericks did that season.

Cuban isn't perfect, but at least he cares. It could be a whole lot worse.

How many owners don't care in the NBA today? Very few and they probably got the team by inheritance, do we set a low bar and be happy about it?
I started by saying Cyban was a great owner until 2011, he took the NBA by storm, was very unorthodox, butt heads with mighty Stern for the sake of the team, was probabely the 1st pro players owner in the league, etc...
Cuban hasn't been good the last 11 years, the excuse was he had no contender, well, it's been 4 years with Luka, clearly the best player in the league IMO, at least top 3, and he's been jumping from one big mess to another.
Don't judge this team's results with Luka, ask yourself where would this team be w/o Luka?

I'll repeat very simple point in the original post that goes to show the lack of planning on this team, Mavs went into this season with Boban, Brown and Chriss on the books for 8 millions, all 3 signed their deals under Nico, not Donnie, these 8 millions that people don't assign value to, are the difference between hardcapped team to non-hardcapped team, between a deal for Sexton being possible to impossible, none of these players was needed, all would've taken last years contract only, these 8 millions also would've cost 36 million in taxes had Brunson re-signed.
Why is Powell still on the books? What happened in May was magical, Luka willed this team past a surefire contender, had he had normal center behind, he may have went further.
Look up my posts from last off season, I defended their moves and gave them a chance, the Brunson fiasco, and the fact that the team is out of resources, and with only 2 ball handler on it, tells me they have no clear direction and are going by the seat of their pants.
Again, go look at my posts (and many others, not just me) last off season, we watched every game, and it was clear, the team MUST have 3rd PG, they didn't get one, then they traded for Dinwiddie, and everything clicked, what's more improtant now? The mascot or a vet PG with Finals experience who fit the team like a glove? if you wanted the roster spot for insurance, keep Theo waiting, and then sign him if it's still open, don't let Dragic go.
Right now Mavs have only trade or vet min, and only assets to trade are Powell + Green, don't see them netting anything worthy.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope Nico does have an ace up his sleeve, I hope Cuban will turn Brunson into S&T and get a player in return, we'll see about that, right now, from reading press statements, I think they stupidly blew the TPMLE fully on McGee and will not have the means to sign Hardy to a normal contract.

Don't judge this team's results with Luka, ask yourself where would this team be w/o Luka?

Who cares?

Any NBA team that loses its best player is not going to be very good. The Warriors didn't make the playoffs the last two years without Klay Thompson...and he was their second best player.

You are the classic definition of an arm chair quarterback. Reading your posts....I'm curious as to what you would have done differently?
What are the moves you would have made that would have gotten the Mavs past the Western Conference Finals?

You make it sound like its easy to win the NBA championship. If this is so easy for you....I'm curious as to why no other NBA team has snapped you up.

and FYI.....Luka aint the best player in the league. To be the best player in the league you can't be running out of gas in the 4th quarter.
You have to be able to play defense....and if you are playing the guard position you have to be at least 80% (if not 85%) on your free throws.

[SOUNDCHASER]

Getting rid of brunson was a blessing because now Dinwiddie and Bullock and THJ got to perform and step up their game and all 3 are going to do that especially on the defensive end of the floor and whoever does that best is going to play more. Now the team is going super focused on defense and that is what wins. With McGee Woods DFS Bullock and Doncic in there you are shutting teams down and you have almost everyone being dagger artist 3 point shooters and when you need 5 long distant assassins just rest McGee and bring in Bingham who is 41.5% from 3 and he stands 7' tall and blocks a ton of shots. Want real domination put all 3 new centers in the game at once and shoot threes with 4 guys hitting them and the 2 centers at SF and PF are better than 40% so with McGee in the middle under the rim deterring everyone from attacking the rim is going to be child's play nobody is getting to the rim with 3 bigs like that and do not tell me Woods is unable to play D on SF's because that is really what he is since he is 6'9"

[Mavrelous]

Who cares?

This is asinine, I care, Nico should care, Cuban should care, you, who take of your free time to discuss the team on mesage board should care.
Mavs are 170m payroll, hardcapped team, without their pick next year, and what do they have other than Luka? no one with a chance of being an allstar, this is exactly what mismanaging team looks like.

You are the classic definition of an arm chair quarterback. Reading your posts....I'm curious as to what you would have done differently?


What are the moves you would have made that would have gotten the Mavs past the Western Conference Finals?

You make it sound like its easy to win the NBA championship. If this is so easy for you....I'm curious as to why no other NBA team has snapped you up.

and FYI.....Luka aint the best player in the league. To be the best player in the league you can't be running out of gas in the 4th quarter.
You have to be able to play defense....and if you are playing the guard position you have to be at least 80% (if not 85%) on your free throws.

I never said it's easy to win an NBA championship.
I've been here 2 years, and I listed what I would do, I even said part of that in 1st post, of course I'm arm chair QB, I'm not the QB.
What should have been done is cleaning the cap when it was possible, what was done is the exact opposite, and Mavs are paying the price for it.
Mavs shouldn't have Powell, Boban, Brown, Burke, Chriss and THJ large deal cluttering their cap sheet going in 1st year of designated max contract for their superstar, and the team looks exactly like a team who didn't good ground work.

[Jonny Blaze]

Who cares?

This is asinine, I care, Nico should care, Cuban should care, you, who take of your free time to discuss the team on mesage board should care.
Mavs are 170m payroll, hardcapped team, without their pick next year, and what do they have other than Luka? no one with a chance of being an allstar, this is exactly what mismanaging team looks like.

You are the classic definition of an arm chair quarterback. Reading your posts....I'm curious as to what you would have done differently?


What are the moves you would have made that would have gotten the Mavs past the Western Conference Finals?

You make it sound like its easy to win the NBA championship. If this is so easy for you....I'm curious as to why no other NBA team has snapped you up.

and FYI.....Luka aint the best player in the league. To be the best player in the league you can't be running out of gas in the 4th quarter.
You have to be able to play defense....and if you are playing the guard position you have to be at least 80% (if not 85%) on your free throws.

I never said it's easy to win an NBA championship.
I've been here 2 years, and I listed what I would do, I even said part of that in 1st post, of course I'm arm chair QB, I'm not the QB.
What should have been done is cleaning the cap when it was possible, what was done is the exact opposite, and Mavs are paying the price for it.
Mavs shouldn't have Powell, Boban, Brown, Burke, Chriss and THJ large deal cluttering their cap sheet going in 1st year of designated max contract for their superstar, and the team looks exactly like a team who didn't good ground work.

WTF does paying the price mean??????

Does "paying the price" mean getting to the Western Conference Finals?
Because if that is the "price" for MBT ineptitude then I will take it.

Your post implies that the Mavs just finished a horrible post season where they got swept in the first round.
This argument we are having is amazing. You are acting like they didn't just go to the Western Conference Finals after a very poor start to last season.

Where would the 2022 Warriors be without Steph Curry or Klay Thompson?

There are only 5 guys on the floor at any given time. If you take away a teams best player they are not going to be very good.
That is why I stated "who cares"

This Mavs team without Luka was up on UTAH 2-1 in the first round....so the supporting cast aint as bad as you make it out to be.

When did you start following the Mavericks?

[Bob8]

Who cares?

This is asinine, I care, Nico should care, Cuban should care, you, who take of your free time to discuss the team on mesage board should care.
Mavs are 170m payroll, hardcapped team, without their pick next year, and what do they have other than Luka? no one with a chance of being an allstar, this is exactly what mismanaging team looks like.

You are the classic definition of an arm chair quarterback. Reading your posts....I'm curious as to what you would have done differently?


What are the moves you would have made that would have gotten the Mavs past the Western Conference Finals?

You make it sound like its easy to win the NBA championship. If this is so easy for you....I'm curious as to why no other NBA team has snapped you up.

and FYI.....Luka aint the best player in the league. To be the best player in the league you can't be running out of gas in the 4th quarter.
You have to be able to play defense....and if you are playing the guard position you have to be at least 80% (if not 85%) on your free throws.

I never said it's easy to win an NBA championship.
I've been here 2 years, and I listed what I would do, I even said part of that in 1st post, of course I'm arm chair QB, I'm not the QB.
What should have been done is cleaning the cap when it was possible, what was done is the exact opposite, and Mavs are paying the price for it.
Mavs shouldn't have Powell, Boban, Brown, Burke, Chriss and THJ large deal cluttering their cap sheet going in 1st year of designated max contract for their superstar, and the team looks exactly like a team who didn't good ground work.

WTF does paying the price mean??????

Does "paying the price" mean getting to the Western Conference Finals?
Because if that is the "price" for MBT ineptitude then I will take it.

Your post implies that the Mavs just finished a horrible post season where they got swept in the first round.
This argument we are having is amazing. You are acting like they didn't just go to the Western Conference Finals after a very poor start to last season.

Where would the 2022 Warriors be without Steph Curry or Klay Thompson?

There are only 5 guys on the floor at any given time. If you take away a teams best player they are not going to be very good.
That is why I stated "who cares"

This Mavs team without Luka was up on UTAH 2-1 in the first round....so the supporting cast aint as bad as you make it out to be.

When did you start following the Mavericks?

Mavs biggest problem is not next season but being in hard cap and having no interesting assets for trading.

And how would have those 3 games against Utah gone without Brunson?

[Mavrelous]

WTF does paying the price mean??????

Does "paying the price" mean getting to the Western Conference Finals?
Because if that is the "price" for MBT ineptitude then I will take it.

Your post implies that the Mavs just finished a horrible post season where they got swept in the first round.
This argument we are having is amazing. You are acting like they didn't just go to the Western Conference Finals after a very poor start to last season.

Where would the 2022 Warriors be without Steph Curry or Klay Thompson?

There are only 5 guys on the floor at any given time. If you take away a teams best player they are not going to be very good.
That is why I stated "who cares"

This Mavs team without Luka was up on UTAH 2-1 in the first round....so the supporting cast aint as bad as you make it out to be.

When did you start following the Mavericks?

Mavs were led by Jalen Brunson against UTA, who Mavs lost for nothing, they also were helpless against the Warriors.
Warriors w/o Steph is a better team than Luka-less Mavs, they have 3 young talents of much higher calibre Mavs have in Poole, Kuminga and Moody, and most importantly, Dubs are in the last cycle of a team that went to 6 finals and won 4 rings, they carry the dead weight of that run, Mavs haven't done anything similar, they should be compared to 2014 Warriors, not 22.
I started following the Mavs in the Dirk/Nash era in early 2000s, I appreciated the effort and the willingness to spend, I don't see this now, or more accurately, I see a lot misplaced spending and very, very, messy cap sheet.

[Jonny Blaze]

WTF does paying the price mean??????

Does "paying the price" mean getting to the Western Conference Finals?
Because if that is the "price" for MBT ineptitude then I will take it.

Your post implies that the Mavs just finished a horrible post season where they got swept in the first round.
This argument we are having is amazing. You are acting like they didn't just go to the Western Conference Finals after a very poor start to last season.

Where would the 2022 Warriors be without Steph Curry or Klay Thompson?

There are only 5 guys on the floor at any given time. If you take away a teams best player they are not going to be very good.
That is why I stated "who cares"

This Mavs team without Luka was up on UTAH 2-1 in the first round....so the supporting cast aint as bad as you make it out to be.

When did you start following the Mavericks?

Mavs were led by Jalen Brunson against UTA, who Mavs lost for nothing, they also were helpless against the Warriors.
Warriors w/o Steph is a better team than Luka-less Mavs, they have 3 young talents of much higher calibre Mavs have in Poole, Kuminga and Moody, and most importantly, Dubs are in the last cycle of a team that went to 6 finals and won 4 rings, they carry the dead weight of that run, Mavs haven't done anything similar, they should be compared to 2014 Warriors, not 22.
I started following the Mavs in the Dirk/Nash era in early 2000s, I appreciated the effort and the willingness to spend, I don't see this now, or more accurately, I see a lot misplaced spending and very, very, messy cap sheet.

The reason I asked when you followed the team is that I wanted to see if you were around when Nash was here.

The Mavs lost Steve Nash in 2004 (which I didn't agree with) and immediately had the best 3 year stretch they've ever had in franchise history winning 58, 60 and 67 games.

They were able to replace Nash's production with guys that were almost as good offensively, and much better on defense.
I'm not losing sleep over Jalen Brunson.

We just see the world differently. From reading this thread you strike me as glass half empty, very pessimistic kind of person. The world doesn't always go your way.