Mavs' Bogut: Time is running out for us to salvage season

The Dallas Mavericks have been synonymous with the NBA playoffs since the dawn of the new millennium, only failing to qualify once (2012-13) since 2011. What we're seeing now with the current roster, though, is perhaps the demise of the Mavericks as we know them, having won just three of their first 18 games.

Center Andrew Bogut, who was traded to The Lone Star State over the offseason from the 73-win Golden State Warriors, is well aware of the doomsday clock counting down on Dallas' 2016-17 campaign.

"We probably honestly genuinely got about a month left to try and salvage this season," Bogut said prior to his team's home game against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Dwain Price.

ESPN's BPI Playoff Odds currently has the Mavericks finishing the year with a 27-55 record, with just a 0.3-percent chance of advancing to the postseason.

In the team's defense, the roster has just been bombarded with injuries to several of its key players, including 13-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, who head coach Rick Carlisle is shutting down "indefinitely" as he deals with a right Achilles strain.

Bogut has missed four games himself due to a combination of both personal reasons and injury, including a sore upper calf. He joins Nowitzki, Devin Harris (toe), J.J. Barea (calf), and Deron Williams (ankle) as players who have been out for significant stretches.

Carlisle discussed the team's bleak situation with owner Mark Cuban recently, ensuring him that the Mavericks aren't going to throw in the towel.

"We're going to slug this thing out," he said, according to Mavs.com's Earl K. Sneed.

Following Saturday's meeting with the Bulls, Dallas will play three of their next five games against teams currently possessing losing records, which is as good a time as any to start putting some wins on the board.