The Dallas Mavericks 2017 “offseason” recap

It’s official, the National Basketball Association doesn’t have an offseason anymore.

In 2013 the NFL tried to become a “12 Month Sport” when they moved the draft back two weeks. But the NBA messed around and got an entire year of NBA talk out of all of us.

After the Finals in June, the league was carried by the draft, Summer League, free agency, and several All-Star trades that almost seemed strategically placed to draw interest.

• June: Chris Paul trade
• July: Paul George trade
• August: Kyrie Irving trade
• September: Carmelo Anthony trade

(I’m not saying, I’m just sayin’)

Stephen Curry added an exclamation mark to the week of the Carmelo trade when he said he would not attend the White House with his title-winning Warriors. Not 24 hours later, the President himself retaliated, LeBron James responded with a record-breaking tweet, and finally it was NBA Media Day across the rest of the League.

Between the draft, free agency, Summer League, player movement, and off-the-court affairs there is no offseason—it’s more of an “awayseason.”

For the Dallas Mavericks, the offseason has been alternately uplifting and confusing, but generally quiet after what felt like an early start. At some points during the 2016-17 season, it seemed as if the awayseason had already begun, especially with starting lineups that included Nicolas Brussino or Dwight Powell. Finishing the season with a 33-49 record and missing the playoffs for just the second time in 17 seasons, the Mavs couldn’t shake the season quick enough. Once that dread season was over though, what happened?

Here’s what the Dallas Mavericks did this awayseason:

Hundreds of ping pong balls decided that the Mavs would maintain the No. 9 pick in the NBA Lottery.

It seemed inevitable that the Mavericks would draft French point guard Frank Ntillikina. Especially after owner Mark Cuban visited him on vacation and this photo surfaced.

It could be called “a lapse in judgement,” but deciding to pass on two higher quality guards in the draft is just another day in the office for the New York Knicks. Because of that, Dennis Smith Jr. became a Dallas Maverick and Coach Rick Carlisle uncharacteristically projected him as the starting point guard.

After the draft, free agency refreshingly came and went with nothing to write home about (but that’s what we do best).

Dirk Nowitzki signed a deal so unrealistic that fans eventually started picking up his tab.

The Orlando Mavericks won more games in Summer League than the Dallas Mavericks did in their first 21 games last season (upside down face emoji).

A.J. Hammons was dumped traded for Josh McRoberts, a pick, and Scrooge McDuck’s bathing material of choice.

When everyone wasn’t talking about Lonzo Ball, Dennis Smith Jr. turned heads in Las Vegas Summer League…

…wait, whatever happened to Ding?

Oh yeah, Nerlens Noel still hadn’t signed at this point and the saga continued with a fireable bluff.

Nike replaced Adidas as the NBA’s jersey provider and the Mavs decided that was enough change for one day.

The Mavericks 2k All-Time Team came to light and made some terrible choices.

Nerlens eventually signed the qualifying offer, and the joke’s on his bank account.

Why Noel signed that deal is unclear, but this is what happened.

Or if you’d rather, here’s what the Nerlens Noel negotiations would have been like on Shark Tank.

J.J. Barea’s native Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria and still needs help; here’s the story on Barea doing his part.

Then all of a sudden it was Media Day and Rick Carlisle decided he wasn’t sure if Nerlens would start. (Did we already do the upside down face emoji?)

A few days ago, the Mavericks opened a new night club, and we’re caught up to the present.

There weren’t empty promises of Big Names or multi-year max contracts shelled out, but because of that the Mavs’ offseason was enjoyable. Now with the awayseason behind them and Dennis Smith Jr. in tow, the Dallas Mavericks are ready to begin the 2017-18 season.

Let’s Basketball!