We’ve dreaded it for years. We’ve written long-form, teary-eyed Dirk Nowitzki psuedo-obituaries over how this season would finally arrive and, before we even knew it, the decade-plus of postseason births and 50-win campaigns would be over. The long struggle for the Dallas Mavericks to forge a new identity would begin.

Dallas sits at 1-10 and 1-20 is a very real possibility. Have you seen the schedule? As far as the eye can see, there are 2016-17 playoff contenders (with the exception of Brooklyn). The Mavericks, though not quite as beset by injuries as last season, Seth Curry notwithstanding, are just as ill-equipped to handle the rigors of such a gauntlet.

Dennis Smith Jr. is barely, but admirably, keeping his head above water. After a rough start, Harrison Barnes is producing like a foundation piece for the Mavericks, but the rest of the roster is a complete and total mystery. Dallas has needs everywhere.

We can discuss the Nerlens Noel debacle at a later time, but if you’re going to christen your shiny new 23-year old center after a former big man (who might solely be almost as responsible as Dirk for delivering Dallas a title) you might want to play him more than 15 minutes a game.

Nowitzki is 39 years old and the situations Dallas is putting him are just flat unfair. What’s worse, the Mavericks are literally making Dirk a part of the problem, something he’s expressed over and over again that he doesn’t want. The Mavericks don’t have the personnel to compete with a small-ball lineup featuring Dirk at center no matter what the floor geometry metrics tell you. The imbalance at the other end of the floor is too great to overcome.

On what planet is this a good idea? Dirk can barely run up the floor, he’s struggled shooting the ball so far this season and he’s regressed as a rebounder. He’s never been anything remotely resembling a plus defender (even less so now as he nears 40). There’s “playing small” and there’s out-thinking yourself. The Mavericks are mucking this up.

When it came to envisioning Dallas’ official torch-passing campaign, many of us NBA watchers had this vision of Dallas with its new foundation pieces already in place with some kind of blueprint ready to be followed. The move, albeit sentimentally painful, would be more or less seamless from a basketball standpoint because, let’s be honest, no one is expecting another 50-win campaign anytime soon with the West being what it is. A down year or two would be expected, but with an outside push at the playoffs for the young guys.

But this? Dallas doesn’t even know who it is. It’s following blind, feel-good allegiance to savvy veterans like J.J. Barea and Devin Harris (God bless them) instead of committing fully with the youth movement around Barnes, Noel and Smith Jr. Earlier this week, the Mavericks were down 28 in the third against Minnesota and Dirk was still in the game. Who benefits from that? This goes back to the final game of last season when Dallas inexplicably played Harris in a game that could’ve cost them a chance to draft Smith. Thankfully, it didn’t.

Also, I don’t think it’s too much to ask that Dallas at least try to move in a direction where they’re not perennial doormats in the rebounding category. Where is Johnathon Motley? If there’s one thing he can do, as we saw in college and Summer League, it’s clean the boards. Do the Mavericks really think Dwight Powell is going to be Tristan Thompson? He’s looked utterly lost on defense and on offense.

I don’t know if Rick Carlisle is just being stubborn with his lineups (though it’s hard to rule that out) or if he and Donnie Nelson have a long-term plan that the rest of us don’t see yet. The man is a warlock and managed to take a roster with Jose Calderon and Mike James on it to a 41-41 record, but something needs to be done to set an identity.

Smith has said all the right things so far during this early-season struggle, as he should, but I’m curious how upbeat he’ll be if Dallas continues on a 15-win pace. Dennis is a fiery competitor, not unlike the rest of his Mavericks’ teammates, and it’ll be a true testament to Dallas’ chemistry if they can keep the ship afloat if the wheels completely come off.

I’ve been concerned all along with the message the Mavericks are sending not only to Smith with their treatment of Noel, but to the entire team. Noel didn’t do himself any favors when he essentially told Dallas to shove their reported 4-year, $70 million offer, but the optics of this aren’t good. Dallas isn’t obliged to develop a talent like Noel if they consider him long gone at year’s end anyway, but add to that this stubborn fixation on, you know, not committing to their youth movement, what exactly are you telling your franchise cornerstone? Smith needs to see now that the Mavericks have a vision for the next five years.

It’s still possible the Mavericks go on a Miami-esque run late in the season, but everyone knows the likelihood of Dallas turning what has so far been a disastrous start of the season into a playoff berth are slim to none. It’s time to set the tone for the future and to play it at the same time.