Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks
Remember when the 2018 offseason rage was about how Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic were going to fare against one another?
The Phoenix Suns won 14 games fewer than Dallas, yet still managed to take the first two games against the Mavericks even if Ayton did not play all that well.
Then this offseason, while the Mavericks will be improved in age and experience, they did not really add anyone at all of note, save for the re-addition of Seth Curry (who wasn’t even good enough for the Phoenix Suns to keep several years ago), and Delon Wright, who will backup Luka.
Dallas is therefore the exact same team – except for the addition of Kristaps Porzingis…
Kristaps and Luka are going to be a lot of fun to watch for as many years as they spend together, however, I do not believe that the pairing is going to be all that formidable this coming year.
They will be good, but they will also be beatable – especially since the Mavericks are likely going to be careful with Porzingis’ knee as returning from an ACL tear is nothing to take lightly.
Phoenix and Dallas tied the season series last season in four games, and I believe that that will probably be the way it will go again this year.
In my sincere attempt to not be a homer, and yet with the understanding that Ricky Rubio is going to make Ayton, Booker, Kelly Oubre, and the list of shooters on the roster better than they were last year, one can actually make a very sound argument that Phoenix will be better that Dallas next year.
That said, I will not go so far as to say that the will win more than two, and will stick with that mild prediction.