Vegas Over/Under: 35.5
Fromal’s Record Projection: 36-46 The Bet: Avoid lean over
To be quite frank, I would recommend leaning no matter in which the line is put for the Dallas Mavericks. And that is for one purpose: Rick Carlisle.
The head coach is a genius in milking talent out of his players, regularly turning castoffs and undesirable pieces into quality turning members. He’s done so year after year, and 2017-18 should be different.
Except it is slightly different. Because while this team might be rebuilding throughout the final couple of seasons of Dirk Nowitzki’s livelihood (assuming the legendary 4 chooses to retire), it eventually has distinct talent at quite a few different positions.
Dennis Smith Jr., Seth Curry, Wesley Matthews, Harrison Barnes and Nowitzki makes for a strong beginning lineup, and the Mavs can mix and match to get Yogi Ferrell and Nerlens Noel on the Ground. That’s much more talent and upside down than the group owned during the 2016-17 campaign, and it went 33-49.
Seasons in the pieces? Barnes with a year of experience in a leading role under his belt? Smith added as a Rookie of the Year danger into the rotation?
Vegas place the over/under aggressively with this roster, but reasons to believe they are sold a bit brief still exist.