SALT LAKE CITY – The years fly by and with another one ending, the Mavericks can look back on 2023 and know that it was good.
As in, good riddance to the first half, good vibes for the second half.
And they prefer to think of the champagne glass as half-full.
It was a dreadful finish to the 2022-23 season, a time in history that the Mavericks and fans would just as soon forget. But the 2023-24 season has, so far, been mostly full of joy and promise.
And it was that regrettable finish last season that has helped spawn this season’s success.
Draft night of 2023 will go down as a pretty memorable highlight. And it makes our list of top-10 moments in the 2023 calendar year. And it would have been a top-11 if the year were a few days longer and Luka Dončić’s 60-point, 21-rebound, 10-assist triple-double on Dec. 27 of 2022 would certainly be atop the list.
So here’s our unofficial list of top-10 highlights of 2023. Hold your applause until the end, please.
No. 10. Dante Exum’s signing. Was it under the radar? Of course. And it was not without risk. After two years in Europe, the previously oft-injured Exum was a gamble. But no matter what happens from here on, he’s already justified his contract. And the Mavericks are likely to keep him in the starting lineup when Kyrie Irving returns soon. Just a good, solid pickup and those are never to be sneezed at.
No. 9. Grant Williams’ signing. The Mavericks hit a lot of home runs in free agency, but they certainly cranked out a solid double by signing Williams from the Boston Celtics. He’s a consummate teammate and leader and he’s put up solid numbers through the first 30-odd games of the season.
No. 8. The end of the 2022-23 season. Was it a highlight? Not even close. But was is important an important event in 2023? Absolutely. It was a necessary evil if fans are being honest with themselves. The Mavericks did what they had to do to keep their top-10 protected draft pick and they parlayed that draft pick into Dereck Lively II and O-Max Prosper. Would it have been more fun in the short term to make the play-in tournament and lose the draft pick? Sure. But for the long run, it’s hard to beat the excitement that Lively has generated. And pretty much everybody around the league expects Prosper to develop into a solid contributor.
No. 7: Draft night. The wheeling and dealing was opportunistic for the Mavericks, to say the least. They knew Oklahoma City wanted Cason Wallace. But the Thunder, drafting 12th, were concerned that Orlando would scoop up Wallace at No. 11. So Mavericks’ general manager Nico Harrison turned one pick into two with the deal that sent Wallace and the 10th pick to OKC and brought in Lively at No. 12 and Prosper at No. 24. Hard not to like what that trade has yielded so far.
No. 6. Luka drops 50 on Christmas. He joined an elite group with Wilt Chamberlain, Bernard King, and Rick Barry as the only players to roll up half-a-hundred in a Christmas game. And on the same day, he pushed past 10,000 points for his career. “That’s pretty cool, pretty fast,” coach Jason Kidd said.
No. 5. The sale. Maybe this deserves to be higher on the list, but we tend to put bigger emphasis on the basketball side of things. And Mark Cuban will continue to be involved in the basketball decision-making. It will take months, maybe years, before the impact of the new ownership will be fully known. But there’s no denying that the influx of new money has put the Mavericks in a much better position of strength when it comes to competing in the future – from a possible new arena to player acquisition.
No. 4. Luka’s All-Star weekend: It may have been a no-brainer that he was named to his fourth consecutive All-Star team, but we should never underestimate the importance of that achievement. There are a lot of good players who never get the honor. Do not take it for granted.
No. 3. Three-point shooting. The Mavericks have built this team to be potent offensively with the hope that they can be good enough defensively to make that high-octane offense workable. They are No. 2 overall in the NBA in shooting and making three-pointers. They also are 10-3 when they make 40 percent of their long-distance shots. The bottom line for this team is that when they shoot the three-ball well, they are hard to beat. When they don’t, it’s a struggle.
No. 2. The Kyrie Irving trade: Immediate dividends were missing. But the long-term look after he re-signed as a free agent with the Mavericks meant that they had their starting backcourt for years to come. Irving is a legitimate star player who can take pressure off of Luka. They were one of the highest-scoring duos in the league before Irving’s injury. They are set up for a dominant 2024 if the hoop gods help out with the health of both of them.
No. 1. Dirk’s HOF induction: With the good half of 2023 still yet to be capitalized on in 2024, the No. 1 highlight of 2023 had to be Dirk Nowitzki’s call to the hall of fame. His ceremony at Springfield, Mass., in September was wonderful. So many Mavericks personnel – past and present – were on hand to watch the Big German take his spot among the immortals. And his acceptance speech was spot-on, too. Just a wonderful moment for him and the Mavericks’ franchise.
X: @ESefko
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