One final slap in the face from the NBA gods. One final reminder that just getting into the lottery is the smallest of all possible achievements.
Dallas learned Tuesday that, despite having underachieved beyond all reasonable expectations to secure the league’s third worst record, it would receive only the fifth pick in as its prize. Owner Mark Cuban got fined $600,000 along the way for talking up losing to his players, and head coach Rick Carlisle endured many difficult days and nights trying to talk around his odd fourth quarter lineups that helped produce 58 losses.
Of all the bizarre results the 2017-18 season gave us, none could top the final one.