Bleacher made their season over/under prediction. They put Mavs at 44.5, a jump from 38 wins they managed last season. They have 5 West teams (Denver, GSW, LAC, LAL, Memphis) higher than Mavs. Mavs are in a group of 5 teams (Sacramento, Minny, OKC, NOP) with same prediction.
I think the prediction is pretty realistic. All of the teams listed above had better result than Mavs last season and none of them could be considered as considerably worse after the summer. All of them kept their cores together. Denver and GSW lost some important role players, but they are also counting on development of their young guys. Just like Mavs. Of course things will go wrong, there will be injuries and other things that might impact results of some teams. But, that could also happen to Mavs.
I don't think Mavs added enough to be considered higher than where they put them. Unless some of the rookies really surprise us, most of the changes were actually at the bottom of rotation (spots 10-15). Mavs had many different starting fives, but we can say Powell, Irving and Luka were regular starters and it seems this will stay the same. The fourth spot was either Green or THJ (not counting Holiday episode), which will stay the same. Williams replaced Bullock in the starting five. Second unit we can say that Hardy, THJ and Maxi are same as last year. They have Holmes (or Lively) instead of Wood and someone (Exum, Curry, Omax or DJJ are possible candidates) instead of Holiday. Lets say he was in the top 10 rotation in the last part of the season. Bottom part of the team was changed more or less in full, with McGee the only guy left. These guys seem better on the paper than last year, which could help in games where guys from top10 part of rotation will be missing. But in general, these guys won't see much minutes.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1008...le-release
I think the prediction is pretty realistic. All of the teams listed above had better result than Mavs last season and none of them could be considered as considerably worse after the summer. All of them kept their cores together. Denver and GSW lost some important role players, but they are also counting on development of their young guys. Just like Mavs. Of course things will go wrong, there will be injuries and other things that might impact results of some teams. But, that could also happen to Mavs.
I don't think Mavs added enough to be considered higher than where they put them. Unless some of the rookies really surprise us, most of the changes were actually at the bottom of rotation (spots 10-15). Mavs had many different starting fives, but we can say Powell, Irving and Luka were regular starters and it seems this will stay the same. The fourth spot was either Green or THJ (not counting Holiday episode), which will stay the same. Williams replaced Bullock in the starting five. Second unit we can say that Hardy, THJ and Maxi are same as last year. They have Holmes (or Lively) instead of Wood and someone (Exum, Curry, Omax or DJJ are possible candidates) instead of Holiday. Lets say he was in the top 10 rotation in the last part of the season. Bottom part of the team was changed more or less in full, with McGee the only guy left. These guys seem better on the paper than last year, which could help in games where guys from top10 part of rotation will be missing. But in general, these guys won't see much minutes.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1008...le-release