For the first time in franchise history, the Mavericks will experience the play-in tournament.
What that means is they weren’t good enough in the regular season to prove they are playoff worthy. But they weren’t bad enough to be serious contenders in the Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes.
Somewhere in between. That’s where the Mavericks are.
“Hope is still in that locker room,” coach Jason Kidd said of these Mavericks as they had into the final home regular season game Friday against Toronto. “AD (Anthony Davis) is not a bad player. I think he’s top 75 if I recall.