DeMarcus Cousins’ arrival in New Orleans means that the Dallas Mavericks’ climb for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference just got a lot steeper, but it doesn’t mean that they’re giving up hope.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reports on Monday that the Cousins deal won’t impact Dallas’ approach to Thursday’s trade deadline and that they haven’t abandoned their pursuit of that No. 8 seed. But MacMahon also adds that the Mavs could still make a trade, just not a veteran fire sale.
Dallas’ mindset for the entire year has been to compete, and they enter the second half of the season just three games out of the playoffs. Still, with some of those veterans attracting healthy trade interest, the Mavs could still find themselves as small-time sellers in the final days and hours of trade season.
