ROWDY TIME SPORTS

Rick Carlisle appears to be one of the few NBA coaches out there that has the full confidence from management, so it seems likely that, no matter if certain radio hosts accuse him of having “the personality of a knife,” he will be on the Mavericks’ sidelines for quite a while longer.

That means he has the freedom to help make sure his roster is primarily contained with players he trusts to play. So there won’t be a ton of young players wearing Dallas jerseys for the time being, as it’s clear Carlisle doesn’t put a lot of trust in them – see the playing time of Shane Larkin and Ricky Ledo for that.

So it shouldn’t be that surprising that the Mavs’ coach has flat out said he’s not concerned with how the Mavs’ return to the playoffs will almost certainly cause them to be a non-factor in this year’s NBA Draft.

If the Mavs finish with one of the top 10 records in the league, they lose their first round pick to Oklahoma City as part of that infamous Lamar Odom trade that all parties are wanting to forget as soon as possible. And the dearth of good teams in the East makes that almost a given even if the Mavs finish with the eighth seed in the West.

Carlisle’s response, according to the Star-Telegram?

“Who cares? This draft ain’t that good. It’s more important to be playing this time of year and competing than worrying about the 20-something pick in the draft. That guy ain’t going to help us much next year, regardless.”

Rick, I love you even more.

Carlisle just blurted out what I have been saying for a while now. Everyone has been talking about how supposedly so much more loaded this upcoming draft is, especially compared to last year, which resulted in three of the top five picks failing to score even five points a game (yeah, yeah, beating a dead horse). How oh so convenient it is that this would be the year the Lakers would bottom out and be in position to find the next Kobe and, once again, why the Mavs would be more proud of a supposed first-round exit over getting some young gun guaranteed to shine alongside Dirk and single-handedly turn the Mavs back into championship contenders.

Why? Because the Mavs have a better chance of making the Finals with the eight seed than finding the next Dirk in this or any draft for the foreseeable future, and that’s just the truth.

I have people saying that nowadays, you’re not getting an impact player if you aren’t in the top three to seven picks. I’d argue not even those picks are a guarantee. Regardless of what the hype machine at ESPN says, this is still a draft loaded with freshmen out the wazoo. And that’s not a good thing.

Most players that have NBA caliber dominate in high school with almost no real competition. Whether it would be coming straight out after that or after just one year in college, that’s simply not enough of a playing resume to completely determine if someone truly has what it takes to make it at the highest level. Because it’s not just about what you have, it’s about having the intelligence and maturity to know how to use it to your full potential.

And the truth is that almost all of these freshmen come in thinking they’re going to dominate the NBA just like they dominated high school, thinking there will be no need to put in extra effort. And they find out too late that their toughest high school opponent wouldn’t be a 12^th man in the NBA, unable to recover and turning into yet another basketball version of David Clyde.

Just ask Michael Beasley, who, after leaving Kansas State after one year, has been cut by one team and traded twice in six years and now wonders if he in fact made the right decision.

The days of getting Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing or even Tim Duncan are long gone. You’re far more likely to end up with a Michael Bennett or Greg Oden than a Kevin Durant.

Hence why there is very little turnover nowadays between the teams in the lottery and in the playoffs. The Hornets and Kings are once again looking at ping pong balls while an aging San Antonio roster is again looking at the top seed in the playoffs.

This is why new commissioner Adam Silver is highly considering changing to a two-year rule. I would personally prefer finding a way to turn the D-League into a true minor-league development system.

Either way, Carlisle has the right mindset for now. With a seemingly ageless Dirk playing alongside Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon, the Mavs are a playoff team and would have a top seed if they were in the East. They admittedly still need to find another Tyson Chandler-like presence in the paint to seriously be a title contender again.

But they’re more likely to find that through an off-season trade or signing after whatever happens to them in the postseason.

They’re not likely to find that in a class of 20-somethings most likely to be bust over boom.

Filed under: articles, Mavericks | Tagged: basketball, dallas mavericks, draft, nba, playoffs, rick carlisle |