How Dallas Mavericks Milestones is played

Every card in this deck carries a hidden value on the same scale — release years and dates — and the run is one long sorting problem. The first card is dealt face up. Each card after it goes into the gap where you think it belongs, and the value only shows once it lands. Get it wrong three times and the run ends with whatever you had placed.

This deck can also be shuffled together with any other deck measured in release years and dates — tick several on the deck tree to build one longer timeline out of them.

What's in the deck

27 of the 27 cards you could be dealt. The values stay hidden until you place them.

Mavericks play their first NBA season The expansion franchise debuts at Reunion Arena
Drafted Mark Aguirre first overall Took the DePaul star with the top pick
Made the playoffs for the first time Reached the postseason in only their fourth season
Reached the West finals against the Lakers Pushed the Lakers to seven games in the conference final
Endured an 11-71 season One of the worst records in NBA history bottoms out the team
Drafted Jason Kidd second overall Took the Cal point guard high in the lottery
Traded Jason Kidd to Phoenix Dealt the young point guard away midseason
Acquired Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash Two future stars arrive in draft-night and trade deals
Mark Cuban buys the team A dot-com billionaire takes over as owner
American Airlines Center opens The franchise moves out of Reunion Arena downtown
Dirk, Nash and Finley reach the conference finals The young core breaks through in the West
Steve Nash leaves in free agency The point guard departs for Phoenix
Avery Johnson named head coach The 'Little General' takes over on the bench
Reached the NBA Finals for the first time Blew a 2-0 lead and fell to the Heat
Dirk Nowitzki named MVP as the top seed is upset A 67-win season ends in a first-round shock to the Warriors
Traded to reacquire Jason Kidd Brought the veteran point guard back from New Jersey
Traded for Tyson Chandler Added the defensive center who would anchor a title run
Won the 2011 NBA Finals Dirk earns Finals MVP in the upset of LeBron's Heat
The DeAndre Jordan free-agency saga A committed center changes his mind and stays in L.A.
Dirk passes 30,000 career points The forward joins the exclusive scoring club
Traded for Luka Doncic on draft night Sent Trae Young's rights to Atlanta for the pick
Dirk Nowitzki plays his final game The 21-year Maverick retires as a franchise legend
Luka posts a triple-double in his playoff debut The young star shines in the Orlando bubble
Reached the West finals behind Doncic Doncic leads a run past the top-seeded Suns
Traded for Kyrie Irving Paired the star guard with Luka at midseason
Returned to the NBA Finals Luka and Kyrie lead a run that falls to Boston
Traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers A stunning deal sends the franchise star to L.A.