DALLAS — The Mavericks’ sudden decision to rest five players before Friday night’s home loss to Chicago could result in sanctions against the franchise, the NBA confirmed on Saturday.
The league also is looking into Dallas’ substitution patterns in the 115-112 defeat. Luka Doncic only played in the first quarter and the opening possession of the second period. Rookie Jaden Hardy did not play in the second half after scoring nine first-half points and sinking a midcourt shot at the halftime buzzer.
From NBA spokesman Mike Bass: “The NBA commenced an investigation today into the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks’ roster decisions and game conduct with respect to last night’s Chicago Bulls-Mavericks game, including the motivation behind those actions.”
Resting players for load management and for the sake of playoff positioning are common practices by NBA teams, but the blatancy of Dallas’ actions caught the NBA’s attention. The circumstances behind the Mavericks’ actions also were difficult to ignore.
Dallas and Chicago entered the game tied for the NBA’s 10th-worst record, with two games left for both teams. The Mavericks’ 2023 first-round draft pick is in the balance because as part of Dallas’ 2019 acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis from New York, one of the two first-round picks it sent the Knicks is top-10 protected for 2023.
If the Mavericks draw a top-10 pick in the May 16 draft lottery, they will keep the pick. But if the pick falls outside the top 10 it will convey to New York. If the pick is not conveyed this year, the Knicks would get a top-10 protected pick in 2024. If not conveyed in 2024 or 2025 (also top-10 protected), New York would instead get Dallas’ 2025 second-round pick.
At 38-43, the Mavericks are one game worse than Chicago’s 39-42. The Mavericks host San Antonio in Sunday’s season finale and Chicago plays 17-win Detroit. If the Mavericks finish with the solo 10th-worst record, they would have 79.8% odds of drawing a top-10 pick in the lottery, but if Dallas and Chicago tie the teams would share nearly identical odds, but the NBA would conduct a random drawing to see which team would get 32 ping-pong balls (out of 1,000 in the lottery) and which team would get 31 balls.
