Dallas ranked as 7th best off-season by The Athletic

David Aldridge of The Athletic ranked Dallas as having the seventh-best off-season this year. Aldridge stated that Dallas got the ranking due to their improvement with “limited pieces”, their acquisition of “one of the top” free agents in Grant Williams, and their retention of superstar Kyrie Irving. He concludes his ranking by saying that Dallas is “deeper and more versatile going forward.”

Dallas had a good off-season. They made the right moves after a disappointing season and turned their roster over in a lull year for free agents. With respect to the rest of the league, Boston’s acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis and Phoenix’s trade for Bradley Beal exceed Dallas’ deal with Grant Williams. Neither of those adds more value than Dallas’ retention of Kyrie Irving, but both of them were ranked higher than the Mavericks. Cleveland was also put ahead of Dallas, whose big off-season acquisition was forward Max Strus. The Spurs got the first-place ranking because of Victor Wembanyama, which seems a bit unfair. You don’t get to choose your draft pick and the Spurs were not the only team that got their guy. All things considered, Dallas was given the short end of the stick by Aldridge.

They retained their stars, built for the future, and added depth while simultaneously losing few key rotation players. In a year where free agency was slow and teams seldom made big splashes, Dallas stood out among their peers. Seventh is a bit low for as good of a job as the Mavericks’ front office did, and a top-five or even top-three placement would have given Dallas the recognition they deserve.