MAVS NEWS:

[Dahlsim]

Yeah, these games are tough to watch. 
I was watching PJ on defense in the first half.  He gets lost way too often.   Max is making a run of really ending the season with more question marks.   I think he is taking some bad shots.  

An NBA team without it stars is a team full of role players.  This can be really misleading as to the value and quality of the players if projecting what they would be playing like with legit NBA stars on the floor and in the game plan.  These same players looked so much better for the few games where you could see them all with Anthony Davis healthy and playing.  Course Davis had to go at this point and was the right move given his continued injury profile, but the point is, he still plays like a legitimate star when he's healthy. 

PJ and Max and are likely just falling short of being able to carry a team in the top 3 build the team around role.  
Take most of the top NBA role player supporting cast guys and try to make them the stars of the team, you'll likely get a similar result.   Coop is the only clear star quality player at this point and he's a bit too early to carry the team at just-turned 19 years old.   After that you've got guys like Middleton and Klay that have passed that all star level and will never get back there on any consistent basis. 

In terms of the future, Kyrie's age + injury makes it tough to project consistent star return at 33/34.  Derek Lively appears to be a legit injury concern big man so hard to project star there.  Both guys would change the floor significantly but not sure who the 2nd star really is for Coop short or long term.   Which brings us back to the TANK .... 

The good news is that the Pels are just a game back of us now and should catch us in the next two weeks.

The bad news other good news is that this is turning into a team that doesn't have to go through the "effort" of tanking - they're just plain awful. The really sad thing, as alluded to by Chicagojk, is that Max has shown out as garbage. ... 

Fixed it.  Both are good news.  The tankathon is all that matters at this point in the season.  18 straight losses would not be too many.  Pels being in range is something to root for 

These performances and losses mean nothing. The only concern is the draft, free agency, health and then you need to hope they can turn the switch back on.

Agreed fully.  Realistically, Pels they have a shot at passing up in tank, Utah is a reach and the Nets are a super long shot but would be amazing if they could catch.  Nets aren't going to win enough though in reality  so the dream lives NO and maybe the Jazz.  
https://tankathon.com