Making a bevy of moves this offseason, the Mavericks believe they will return to the floor better than last year’s squad that finished with the sixth seed in the Western Conference and a 42-40 record. However, preseason prognosticators are pessimistic about the Mavs’ chances of returning to the postseason in a stacked and ever-changing West. But despite seeing that they were picked to finish 9th in the conference and on the outside looking into the playoffs in ESPN.com’s summer forecast series, the Mavericks are motivated to prove their critics wrong when the season gets underway.
“It really has no bearing about how we feel and how we can play,” 12-year veteran guard Devin Harris said while addressing the preseason prognostication during a live-streamed appearance on the team’s Facebook page last week.