Sounds like something Dallas would do, even if it doesn’t make sense.
Dillon Brooks will be a member of the 2023-24 Dallas Mavericks. How can I know? I do not know that, but I feel it in my bones. It’s part of the existential fear that exists in my fandom these days when it comes to the Dallas Mavericks. Missing the playoffs with a player as good as Luka Doncic just doesn’t happen…unless, of course, you’re the Dallas Mavericks.
Enter Dillon Brooks in the off-season discussion. Before going any further, it is worth noting some facts as things stand, around midnight on May 5, 2023:
Knowing all of that, it seems foolish to say that Brooks will be a Maverick next season, doesn’t it? Brooks is a chucker, taking between 13.5 and 16.5 field goal attempts per game over the past four years. It’s unclear what a “bigger role” means, because that’s a LOT of shots, and over the past four seasons, the players who’ve taken that many per game or more: Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyrie Irving. That’s the whole list. He’s a historically horrible offensive player and he does NOT make up for it with his defense.
Also, Dallas has no space to sign Brooks, far from what he would have wanted. So all this should be done. Why am I still writing about this?
Well, there are two things. First up, this FanDuelTV clip of Chandler Parsons, where he says “I like it in Dallas with Kyrie and Luka”:
There’s still a relationship between Parsons and owner Mark Cuban (Tim MacMahon has told many stories about the two) and there’s a lot of banter that he’ll one day be Dallas’ general manager. There have been quite a few things that have said he had a roster contribution when he was with the Mavericks and it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if he’s an informal Cuba adviser to this day, although there is nothing behind it except my instinct.
Then the early betting odds have Dallas as the third most likely team to end up with Brooks, at +500.
Where there is smoke, people should look for fire. It’s too early in the offseason to be sure and yet there are facts I can’t ignore. Like when I don’t want a player, that player becomes a Dallas Maverick. The initial example was Harrison Barnes in the summer of 2016. I didn’t want Kyrie Irving either and talked about it a lot on the podcasts leading up to the exchange. So it would make sense if they find a way to sign a player I really, really don’t wantalthough it is quite difficult to do so.
Now, if you’re someone who’s come this far and says, “Kirk! The Mavericks can’t turn down talent! Alright, that’s an interesting discussion! Do me a favor and without looking first, write down what you think Brooks is shooting from the field and from three, and keep in mind the high volume of shots he takes. Here are his numbers. And don’t give me the “Dallas can fix it” speech. Maybe they could! But he’s not a guy I want to support.
It is now 12:30 p.m. on May 6. I wrote rambling and obsessed because I can’t get rid of this feeling that it will be on the slate for opening day in October. This could be an elaborate attempt at a reverse curse. Since I’m in charge, I’m going to post this and see how long it will take our staff to realize I’ve done it. Let’s just hope my instincts are wrong on this whole idea.
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