Best Bet: Under 40.5 Wins (-110)
Worst Bet: To Win the NBA Championship (+4000)
Dallas made all kinds of headlines last season, starting with swapping draft picks with Atlanta, which would send Luka Doncic to Dallas and Trae Young to Atlanta. With hindsight, I’m sure both clubs are satisfied with the trade as they have young core players oozing with electrifying talent. Doncic would go on to win rookie of the year, while Dallas made some more moves that would push them in a new direction. Dennis Smith Jr held out due to not being able to coexist with another basketball-dominant point guard on the team. This led to a big overhaul where they would send Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, and Wesley Matthews to New York in exchange for a couple 1st round picks, Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Trey Burke and Courtney Lee. With all the rebuilding, Dallas would also have to say goodbye to lifelong Maverick, Dirk Nowitzki.
Dallas would go on to finish the season with a 33-49 record as they finished 14th overall in the Western Conference. However, there wasn’t much expectations for last year considering the overhaul they went through, and their best player couldn’t even get on the floor. Porzingis is reportedly good to go now, and their nucleus can hit the courts and start building chemistry. There is certainly a brighter light exuding from this team this year as compared to last year, while they also made some splashes this offseason. It wasn’t the greatest offseason for Dallas, but they were able to lock down Porzingis, sign Boban Marjanovic and Seth Curry to multi year contracts, and has rookie Isaiah Roby locked into his rookie contract.
This teams success is all hinging on Porzingis’ health considering he missed nearly 20 months of basketball. If he can comeback to his previous form, this team has a chance to shake things up in the Western Conference. Not vicious shake-up, but enough to vie for a playoff spot. Dallas will have a nice blend of of young talent and established veterans on the court, but nothing has been set in stone yet as this team needs to get on the court and figure out who will be playing the forward positions as well as who will roll with Doncic at the point guard position.
Mavericks Win Total: O/U 40.5
This is a tough one here. There is some decent hype and buzz surrounding this Mavericks team, but this is a Mavericks team that hasn’t played many games with each other. This doesn’t bode well for an already inflated win total due to the promising potential people see in this team. A lot of teams improved in the West such as the Pelicans, Kings, Lakers and Spurs, and they have some chemistry all ready built. It may take Dallas a month or so to really get into the groove of things and start winnings games consistently. A slow start to the NBA season is all it takes to throw off their team total wins from eclipsing 40 wins, so I’ll err on the side of caution and back this win total to stay under 40.5 wins.
Odds to Make the Playoffs: Yes +200, No -240
Dallas is going to have deal with the likes of Houston, San Antonio, New Orleans and a pesky Memphis squad that is a tough out at home. Really, all these teams have improved and it puts Dallas in a tough spot because as mentioned before, this team is going to lack the chemistry to begin the season. It will also hinge on Porzingis’ health, which everyone believes he is good to go. Vegas is giving them the 8th best odds to make playoffs in the West, which of course would put them in playoffs, but for them to have better odds than San Antonio, New Orleans, and Sacramento is a little head scratching. The Western Conference is loaded this year, and I can’t confidently back this team to make playoffs considering their two best players haven’t even played an official game together, so I don’t believe this team will make playoffs.
Odds to Win the Southwest Division: +800
Oddly enough, San Antonio has worse odds than Dallas to make playoffs, but better odds to win the Southwest Division. Of course, this division is going to run through Houston who will have the nasty combo of James Harden and Russell Westbrook handling the ball. I’m really expecting a slow start for Dallas as this team hasn’t logged a whole ton of minutes with each other, and a slow start is all it can take to keep them from winning the Southwest Division as I’m sure Houston will get things rolling from the get-go. I feel pretty confident that Dallas will not be taking this division.
Odds to Win the Western Conference: +2500
Well, they aren’t winning their division, and I know they aren’t touching this one, even with a 10 foot pole. Both Los Angeles teams, Houston, Denver and Utah will be the cream of the crop in the West and are all ready established. Dallas has a promising team, but they still have a long way to go if they want to win a best of seven series with one of those crews. Somewhere in the near future they’ll be competing for the Western Conference crown, it just isn’t this year though.
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +4000
This team is still a couple years removed from getting actual consideration of winning it all. They also need that third guy they can go to when Porzingis and Doncic aren’t getting it done. They have a great nucleus is place, but expectations for this season need to be tempered. A year or so from now I’d consider it, but this season doesn’t belong to Dallas.
