The Mavericks have new jerseys and I have mixed feelings

With all the NBA uniform rumors flying around today, it was like Christmas morning for those of us who are not just sports fans, but also fans of the general aesthetics of sports. It started with the leak of the mockups for next season's special Christmas day uniforms, and then the onslaught continued as a number of bloggers and uniform enthusiasts began releasing screen shots from next season's Adidas catalog. There's some interesting stuff out there (particularly for Atlanta Hawks fans), but I, like most readers of this sight, was most interested in seeing what is in store for our Dallas Mavericks.

According to the rumors, the Mavs will have two major uniform-related changes next season. One we already knew was coming, since Cuban had a big press event to announce it before this season began. The Mavs' beautiful navy blue alternate uniforms (seen above on possible starting point guard Raymond Felton) are being retired in favor of a new, fan-designed navy alternate.

Full view of the new Mavs alternate uni for next season (cc @UniWatch @sportslogosnet @PhilHecken): pic.twitter.com/FL6DEcRrUT

— Conrad Burry (@conradburry) May 13, 2015

I have to be completely honest and admit that I am extremely underwhelmed by these. The Dallas skyline is an interesting concept, since Dallas has one of the more interesting and unique skylines in the world, but the execution here is mediocre at best. I honestly expected that the Mavs would take the fan concept and have a design company develop a more polished and professional version. But this looks almost exactly like the original fan design. The skyline is far too condensed, the striping looks bland, and the numbers look out of place in the front. While I like the asymmetrical design of the shorts, having the team name across the side of the pants/shorts of a uniform has always seemed a bit tacky to me.

Overall, these aren't the worst uniforms ever, but they aren't good. And I can't help but compare them to the alternates they will be replacing. I love the current alts, so it hurts a bit to see them replaced with something so pedestrian.

However, there is also good news: retro jerseys!

for some reason, the 2nd pic is too small. here's a larger version: pic.twitter.com/NoBChJxVW3

— Conrad Burry (@conradburry) May 13, 2015

I know there are a ton of Mavs fans out there who have been desperate for a return of the color green in some form or another. Personally, I think retro jerseys are exactly the way of doing this. First of all, green and blue is a great color scheme that stands out because it is unique in the NBA (though the Bucks will be incorporated a hint of blue into its new green and cream scheme next season). I don't love the understated western theme of the Mavs' original 1980s look, but as a retro change of pace uniform--only worn a few times a year--they are perfect.

It appears that these are nearly identical to the green road uniforms worn in the '80s, with a couple of slight differences.

The two major differences I can see are the number font and the waistband. The '80s jerseys had more rounded western-style numbers, rather than the generic block numbers next year's retro jerseys appear to feature. This is an extremely unfortunate downgrade from the originals, so hopefully this is just an error in the mock up process.

The other difference is the waistband, which is solid blue rather than blue-and-white striped. I'm not sure why this change was made, since the striped waistband matches the collar and shoulders of the jersey and the bottoms of the shorts. Maybe the Mavs were just looking for some slight way to modernize the jersey so it isn't a perfect reproduction of the original. Who knows?

(Also I'm sure with the new Stance socks deal, the accompanying green and blue socks won't be quite so simple as they were in '80s.)

One last interesting note: this isn't the first time Dallas has busted out green retro jerseys. Back in 2005, the Mavs wore the retro jerseys for one home game as part of 25th anniversary celebration. Hopefully the newest iteration will look a little better on Dirk:

Mavs have a great history with alternate jerseys, though. Dirk scored 53 in the P Diddy green. And we have this gem pic.twitter.com/jxjUMenKAo

— Bobby Karalla (@bobbykaralla) May 13, 2015

Overall, I love the idea of adding a retro jersey, especially since retro gear is already extremely popular among the Mavs' fanbase. And we all know that Chandler Parsons will look plenty handsome in green.

So the uniform rumors today were something of a mixed bag, at least in my opinion. How does everyone else feel about it? Vote in the poll and talk it up in the comments.