The Dallas Mavericks have the worst record in the 2016-17 NBA season through 14 games at 2-12. They are on a 7-game losing streak, Dirk Nowitzki is 38 years old, Harrison Barnes is still learning the ropes of being the go-to guy, and the rest of the roster are still unproven. There's still 68 games to go in the regular season but should they start rebuilding now?
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban certainly doesn't think so, at least not yet. "We will look at that like game 75 or maybe game 70," said Rick Carlisle who is certainly not giving up yet. "It's such a long year, we've just got to stay the course every day, get the team better, get the young guys better, get healthy and go from there," Carlisle said.
Things aren't looking good right now for the Dallas Mavericks. Their top players are either injured or keep getting injured. Nowitzki missed games due to a sore Achilles, Andrew Bogut, JJ Barea, and Deron Williams missed time because of a calf injury, and Devin Harris has yet to play a game this season because of a toe injury.
Harrison Barnes is making strides as the go-to guy but isn't doing enough yet to give the Dallas Mavericks a win in the NBA 2016-17 season. Although he has shown the willingness to carry the team, he still has to figure out how to get everybody going.
Wes Matthews is currently the second leading scorer on the team but is shooting a career-low on 32 percent from the field, including 31.3 percent from downtown, also a career-low. That is because he is not used to creating his own shots. Wes Matthews thrived during his time with the Portland Trailblazers because much of the attention were focused on Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, which gave him open jumpers or open lanes to the basket.
Seth Curry and other young players have shown flashes of their potential but have yet to make significant contributions that translate to wins. Carlisle is giving the youngsters some playing time but it's because he has no choice. If it's any consolation, Cuban is happy with how Carlisle is distributing the minutes. "We're not winning games like we want but we're hoping it'll pay off dividends because the young guys are getting minutes," Cuban said.
The Dallas Mavericks have yet to play a full roster this season but Carlisle has gotten what is left of the roster to play hard every night. If playing hard doesn't translate to wins, then something's got to give. Keep it here in Gamenguide for more NBA 2016-17 news and updates.