Mavericks excluded from Christmas Day schedule reveals more than what fans thought

It's been a tradition since the 2019-20 season. The Dallas Mavericks have played on Christmas Day, largely due to the attraction of Luka Doncic. Now, the NBA has released its Christmas Day schedule, and the Mavericks were not included this season.

It looks like the Spurs have overtaken some of the Mavs' thunder. San Antonio wasn't an attractive team in the early part of the 20s. Now, the Mavericks are back to square one with a new team to look forward to, thanks to Wembanyama taking the Spurs to the NBA Finals last season.

That's exactly why the Mavericks were excluded from the Christmas festivities, and they still have a long way to go.

Mavericks being left off the Christmas Day schedule shows this will be a long-term project team

Doncic was the main reason the Mavs took the headlines for Christmas, but the NBA made an excuse last season when the Mavs played the Warriors in Cooper Flagg's rookie season. Now, it's a much different outlook, and we have to respect that.

Even with Flagg winning Rookie of the Year, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves when setting expectations this season. This is a new team with a new coach and fresh faces. New faces in the front office have been a headline, too, but they have also made some sneaky moves to put the Mavs in a better long-term position.

Even with Sergio De Larrea, Morez Johnson Jr., and Santi Aldama as the new guys who will get lots of action, it's still a new team with no expectations. A team like that isn't going to get a Christmas Day slot or even national TV time.

Johnson Jr. is going to be a physical specimen developing into a defensive force. Once he develops his game, people around the league will be talking about him regularly.

At this point, the Mavs are a potential sleeper team with a chance to make a Play-In spot, but that may be their highest ceiling, if any. But sometimes, the best teams that play loose are the ones without expectations. That's the Mavericks this year.

There's still Kyrie Irving to think about, and it looks like he has no signs of slowing down or getting traded. Dusty May is looking at Irving for guidence, so we can safely assume Irving is in the long haul now.

Some fans may have been surprised, as it is the first time the Mavs won't get a Christmas Day game since the 2019-20 season, but this is all but proof the Mavs still have a long way to go to reach consistent playoff relevance again.

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