Mavericks' Future Looks Brighter Than Ever After West Runner-Up Finish

The Dallas Mavericks surprised the NBA landscape when they took down the Phoenix Suns with a gallant effort in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, but they ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the Golden State Warriors.

Against the Phoenix Suns, oddsmakers had the Mavericks as plus-245 underdogs to win the series and plus-800 odds to take the series in seven games.

Those numbers were indicative of how the team with the best record in the league was so heavily favored against the fourth-seeded Mavericks, but it clearly did not matter to them as an internal collapse by the Suns allowed them to come back and take the series in seven.

The Mavericks had slightly better odds to beat the Warriors as they were now plus-200 underdogs.

Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic was going to need the entire Mavericks team to take a big step in their game if they hoped to upset the Warriors similar to how guys like Jalen Brunson, Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith, as well as sharpshooting big men Maxi Kleber and Davis Bertans, caught fire late in the Suns series.

However, the Warriors have a multi-time championship winning core in the form of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green plus emergent guard Jordan Poole coming into his own stifled Dallas’ momentum.

Saying that the Mavericks had no chance to win the series is a massive disrespect to their talent because the fact that they made the Western Conference Finals showed that they were worthy of competing at the highest level.

Despite not making the Finals, this experience will prove invaluable for them next season, especially for a young star like Doncic.

The Mavericks' front office will now have the task of bringing in high-caliber talent to complement this core, especially some forwards and a reliable post presence.

According to Spotrac, there is a multitude of big men that they can target this offseason like Jusuf Nurkic, Thomas Bryant and even JaVale McGee, who has excelled in his one-year stint with the Suns.

McGee would be the ideal pick-and-roll partner for Doncic to play with while also having the length to lockdown the paint.

Other players they can target include Montrezl Harrell, Derrick Jones Jr. and Ben McLemore to give them depth on the wings and upfront.

Falling to the Warriors is nothing to be ashamed of simply because they were overmatched for the better part of five games.

The ballclub's management needs to make big moves this offseason to raise this team’s floor talent and ceiling to make them an even more credible threat in the next playoffs.