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The calendar is fast approaching February, and the Mavericks are entering a tough stretch that will likely dictate how their 2023-2024 season will be perceived.
Matchups against playoff stalwarts and MVP candidates loom early in the second half of their NBA schedule -- and the trade deadline and All-Star game are interspersed throughout.
With a 24-19 record that currently ranks the team as the eighth best in the West, there are still several sizable questions that Dallas must find an answer for if they want to be considered among the favorites in the conference.
Can Kyrie Irving remain healthy?
Mavs guard Kyrie Irving sprained his thumb in the team's loss to Boston on Monday, and he is currently listed as day-to-day ahead of Wednesday's game against the Mavs' hated rival Phoenix Suns -- which is airing, of course, on WFAA. This injury is the latest ailment popping up to slow the budding chemistry between the 8-time All-Star and his superstar backcourt mate Luka Doncic.
While Irving is only 31, he has been in the league since age 19, and he has been plagued with injuries throughout his stellar career. Irving is vital for any chance that Dallas has at advancing in the playoffs, preventing any defensive gang-ups on Doncic and giving the Mavs' superstar a true complementary running mate that can create his own shot and close out games.
To do that, though, he will need to prevent the bumps and bruises that have caused him to miss 16 of Dallas’ 43 games so far this season.
Will Grant Williams be a Mav after the trade deadline?
Mavs offseason acquisition Grant Williams is a really likeable player and person. He’s a fantastic interview, gives articulate and candid responses, and brings a great attitude to the locker room and the bench.
Unfortunately, Williams hasn’t taken the step forward this season that many hopes he would. In fact, he even quietly started to lose minutes in the rotation as the first half of the season progressed.
It can be argued that a midseason addition to the front court roster would open up Williams more to play his style. But the Mavs brought him in on his potential to essentially upgrade the perimeter defense and hit the open-three in the mold of Dorian Finney-Smith. Alas, he has not performed at that expected level in the first-half.
As a result, breakout players such as Dante Exum and Derrick Jones Jr. -- also brought in during the offseason -- have started to siphon away Williams' playing time.
At this point, Williams is likely trade fodder for an upgrade on the wing just one half season into a four-year contract.
Can his season and contract be salvaged? Perhaps not -- unless the team makes drastic upgrades elsewhere and reevaluates the role for the former first-rounder.
Will Dereck Lively II stay strong down the stretch?
Outside of returning to the playoffs, the main goal for the remainder of the year for Dallas should be to continue playing top draft pick center Dereck Lively II as much as they can, and have him take his licks against the league’s interior beasts.
While he has had two injury spells in his rookie year, Lively has stood firm in big matchups. He's been an obvious upgrade for this team -- on potential alone, frankly -- compared to the retread stopgap signings we've seen in seasons past.
Jason Kidd may get the itch to spread out opportunities with Dwight Powell earning minutes during a rash of injuries in December, and with Maxi Kleber returning from his own time off.
But Dallas already knows what those players can give them. If he’s healthy, Lively should be playing the majority of the minutes in the frontcourt.
Can Luka Doncic drive the Mavs' playoff push?
Doncic’s sixth year in Dallas has brought career-high averages across his stat lines.
There's no doubt that he’s a gifted scorer, or that he gives the Mavericks chances to win games they otherwise shouldn’t.
Doncic is a shoe-in to start the All-Star Game this year, and he's also among a handful of names that are true MVP contenders this season. He's certainly delivered all-time performances in the playoffs before too, so a regular-season stat-padder label can be quickly debunked.
Still, it’s imperative that playoff basketball be in Luka’s future in April. And that begins with Dallas figuring things out in the second half.
One of the league’s best players can’t sit out the postseason clash of contenders two years in a row -- not in his prime, lest he be looked at as just a stats guy, no matter how good those numbers may be.
Will Jason Kidd remain at the Mavs' head coach?
It was a pretty bad look this week for a well-rested Mavericks team to lose so extravagantly to a Boston team that was playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
One could chalk it up to just one of those days against a superior team, but head coach Jason Kidd should also be looked at to have his team prepared, motivated and ready to compete.
Kidd has been pretty surly at times in his responses to the press this season, but he still seems to have the room when it comes to his players. And, given that his team is facing a barrage of injuries this season, maybe Kidd should be given the benefit of the doubt with steering the Mavs back to the playoffs.
But what if his team fails to qualify for the playoffs for a second year in a row? We don't yet know what kind of trigger the new Mavs ownership has, but the new brain trust didn't hire Kidd or see him win a title as a player.
Milwaukee just axed former Mav Adrian Griffin as their coach despite sitting as the second seed in the East. Griffin was fired midway through his first season after replacing Mike Budenholzer, who was fired just two years after winning the NBA championship. Both moves were largely made due to that team's ownership losing faith in coaches maximizing their star players during their prime windows.
It’s possible the Mavericks' new owners are truly only worried about making Dallas the new Vegas and running the business side of things as promised, and leaving basketball operations to former majority owner Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison.
But it’s also their first foray into being NBA decision-makers, and the clock on Kyrie’s prime and Luka’s contract is ticking. It's ultimately their call on if Kidd is the right coach for this team. And the second half of this season will likely reveal that answer.
Do you think the Mavericks will rise up the ranks of the Western Conference in the second half? Share your thoughts with Irvin on Twitter @Twittirv.