It's time for the Mavs to lose in order to win. "Organic Tanking'' is the best way to launch the Cooper Flagg era.
DALLAS - It's been decades now since I coined the term "Organic Tanking,'' © and I'm proud to say it's sort of oozed its way into the sports vernacular.
Back then, the concept was about the Dallas Mavericks being so awful that truly trying to win was accomplishing nothing but ruining their NBA Draft lottery chances.
The Mavs didn't like my idea very much then.
But I was right about the Dallas franchise then.
And I'm right about the same application for the Dallas franchise now.
Dallas is 14-25 and in 12th place in the West. They will now be without the fragile Anthony Davis for months as this week he sustained ligament damage to his hand. There is also a new timeline on the rehab return of Kyrie Irving, who has missed all season after knee surgery.
The ridiculous year-ago trade of Luka Doncic to the Lakers created a hole. The lucky No. 1-overall pick of Cooper Flagg might eventually fill it.
But otherwise?
The Mavericks are now a team going almost nowhere - fast.
So why not pick a direction ... and pick up the pace?
As I first envisioned and described it, "Organic Tanking'' © isn't about throwing games or purposely missing free throws. It is about accepting reality and admitting that the system is set up so there can be benefits to being bad.
So good players with injuries? You sit 'em. (Had Dallas chosen this path with Davis in the last couple of weeks, he'd still be tradeable - something he no longer is.)
Young players who aren't quite ready for prime time? You play 'em.
Players with mediocre value and no part of the future here? You trade 'em.
You don't take a dive. But you do take your lumps.
Nobody had a term for it in 1996-97, when No. 1 overall pick (1987) David Robinson got hurt and missed the season, leaving the San Antonio Spurs to finish 20-62.
They knew what they were going. By not fully "trying to win'' in the traditional sense, they earned the No. 1 overall pick again in 1997.
And they drafted Tim Duncan.
Were the Spurs "lucky'' or "smart''? Answer: Yes.
On top of the Mavericks' other problems - so many of them self-created - they don't control their own first-round pick from 2027 and 2031.
So there is one last chance to draft premium talent around here before a six-year drought.
Yup, this next draft will be their last chance to add high-quality talent that fits Flagg's timeline.
The 2026 Draft is said to be a deep one. Finish in bottom-three position in the lottery and you get a Cameron Boozer or an AJ Dybantsa or a Darryn Peterson.
Stubbornly think that "we're establishing a winning culture'' by trying hard and losing?
All that does is harken back to another slogan we used to use, with owner Mark Cuban calling it, "The Treadmill of Mediocity.''
"Organic Tanking'' © is painful. It's embarrassing. It's NBA Hell. And fans will turn away.
But around here, what else is new? How could losing in the short term on the way toward improvement be more painful, more embarrassing and more of a turnoff than what this hellish franchise has been doing for a year?