Dallas Mavericks Power Rankings: Evaluating Full Roster After 1st 6 Weeks

As the first six weeks of the NBA season round to a close, the Dallas Mavericks are looking good at 13-5, and after all the shuffling of players in the offseason, the structure of the team is starting to become clear.

With a ridiculous offense that scores a league-best 109.1 points per game and a middling defense that ranks 18th in NBA with 100.1 points allowed per game, Dallas is an exercise in capitalizing on strengths. Instead of bolstering its defensive personnel in the offseason, it decided to upgrade its offense, hoping to outscore just about anyone.

And so far, the scoring is working rather well.

Thanks to the stellar play of Dirk Nowitzki and Co., through 18 games, the Mavs are averaging 115.8 points per 100 possessions, a full 1.4 points better than the second team in the league.

Dallas' ball movement and basketball IQ are top-notch, but the defense struggles. Opponents have made a league-best 186 shots from deep at a near 40 percent clip.

Which brings us to the power rankings. Now that we know how the team operates and where its strengths and weaknesses are, we can more accurately determine each player’s importance.

Think of this as a ranking of whom the Mavericks could least afford to lose or which player’s absence would be the most damaging.

End of the Bench

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

15. Ricky Ledo 

Ledo showed some scoring chops in summer league and even in the preseason to an extent. But given the logjam ahead of him at both guard spots, he won’t see meaningful minutes this season.

14. Raymond Felton

Felton will certainly get decent minutes when he finally joins the regular-season rotation, but what kind of minutes those will be remains to be seen. JJ Barea has been signed since Felton came over, and that makes four points who deserve to see time.

If Felton is as bad as he was last season for the Knicks, the Mavs can easily cut him out of the rotation. But the hope is that he can provide quality minutes, and considering he’s only a year removed from being a competent starter for a playoff team, that hope isn’t too far-retched.

13. Charlie Villanueva

Villanueva is tall and he can shoot. But he can’t really do much else at a passable NBA level, so don’t expect much more than spot minutes from him.

For my money, I’d rather see Greg Smith get minutes should an injury happen, but it might be more of a timeshare with Villanueva using his length and touch to warp a defense.

12. Greg Smith

The big man hasn’t really been needed with the stellar play of Chandler and Wright, but given the fact that those two bigs have a lengthy injury history, Smith will probably see some run at some point.

He’s pretty skilled and athletic for someone who’s down this far on the depth chart, so when he plays don’t be surprised to see a guy who can really do some things on an NBA court.

11. Jae Crowder

Crowder has a skill that no other Maverick really has: He can play perimeter defense.

There was hope that Parsons could be serviceable, and so far that hope isn’t totally unfounded. But Crowder can actually play some real defense, something that is sorely lacking on this team.

10. Richard Jefferson

USA TODAY Sports

Richard Jefferson was kind of like Al-Farouq Aminu insurance. In case the Aminu experiment was a disaster, the Mavs knew what they had in a 13-year vet like Jefferson.

But Aminu is playing well, so Jefferson has only played more than 10 minutes in six games this season. And considering Jefferson is only 4-of-16 from deep this season, he’s not exactly forcing the coaches to give him a look with his play.

At this point, he’s depth. Jefferson is a “break in case of emergency” player, who will be serviceable when he plays. In four of his last five seasons, he’s hit more than 40 percent from deep, and there’s a place on this roster for a smart 3 who can shoot.

The only issue is that since there hasn’t been an emergency or anything that has made coach Rick Carlisle turn to his veteran swingman, his impact has been minimal. Without much of an impact, he cannot make much of a mark on these power rankings.

9. Jameer Nelson

USA TODAY Sports

Before the season started, Jameer Nelson probably would have ranked in the top five on this list. As a veteran point guard with a reputation as being both a great distributor and shooter, it seemed that he would be very important to Dallas’ success.

Instead, it almost seems as though the Mavs are 13-5 in spite of him.

Nelson’s shooting has been confusingly bad. He’s shooting just 35.9 percent from the field for the season and 34.3 percent from three in the month of November. That’s way down for a guy whose career averages are 44.1 and 37.4 percent, respectively.

His assist-to-turnover ratio is the worst of the three-headed point guard monster that includes Barea and Devin Harris, despite playing the most minutes.

Honestly, it doesn’t add up.

Nelson isn’t taking as many tough shots as he was when he was a member of the 23-59 Orlando Magic last season. He’s getting more open looks and is simply not converting.

It’s troubling for a player whom many thought would be the relatively undisputed starter at point, but his play thus far has opened that position up for serious competition.

Similar to Parsons, Nelson has a track record of being a better shooter than he’s currently displaying. It could just be an adjustment period, where he needs to get comfortable with his new surroundings.

But, his last two seasons in Orlando showed a decline in shooting efficiency. So only time will tell if this is just a slump or if Nelson has really lost his touch.

8. JJ Barea

Ned Dishman/Getty Images

There’s only so much Barea can do for a team. Those who remember his run during the 2011 playoffs know his ceiling. He was quick and elusive, carving up defenses to the point of frustration. But now he’s 30, and his quickness and bounce aren’t quite as eye-popping.

So what does he bring to the table?

In only 17.2 minutes, he’s averaging 4.4 assists. He can still slice through a defense, only now, he lets someone else finish the looks he creates.

Barea also leads the team with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.8, so he’s a sure-handed vet when Harris or Nelson need a break.

This kind of offense also suits him. Barea is at his best when the offense flows well and the ball rarely stops, allowing him to get in the seams and find the weak spots in a rotation. So this is a great match.

But, as great of a fit as it is, he’s one of four point guards who are in play for minutes. So his value gets deflated thanks to a lack of positional scarcity.

He’s an honorary member of the “What More Do You Want From This Guy" group, as he’s getting the most out of his limited role. But that limited role hurts him on this list.

7. Al-Farouq Aminu

Glenn James/Getty Images

He was an experiment—something the Dallas brass figured it’d take a shot on. Maybe it could be the franchise to cash in on the potential two other NBA teams couldn’t quite bring out of him.

He might not be a star, but signing Aminu is working out pretty well for the Mavericks so far.

He’s still not a great shooter at 27.3 percent from deep; that hasn’t changed. Neither has his ability to look great one second and then horrible the next—that’s still the same, too.

But what has changed is his role.

Aminu is playing fewer minutes. The team isn’t relying on him to produce, and he’s being asked to do less. And maybe most of all, the pressure of performing to the standards of a top-10 pick is starting to go away.

The Mavs don’t need Aminu. They simply don’t need him like they need Chandler. He wouldn’t have ruined the season if he didn’t sign here, and he’s only playing 17.1 minutes per game.

But, he’s one of those players on this roster who can do things nobody else can.

Aminu is a crazy athlete, a guy who can seemingly look down into the rim on a dunk. He gets rebounds he has no business getting, and he saves loose balls that few others could. He plays with a great motor and does things that simply make people go “wow.”

He can play some 4 thanks to his tenacity and 6’9” frame, but he’s seen most of his time at the 3 this year. He serves as a weapon for Carlisle to deploy whenever he sees fit, a player who creates mismatches wherever he goes.

Aminu might not be a typical wing, but Dallas doesn’t need a typical wing. It has those. It wants a guy like Aminu.

6. Devin Harris

USA TODAY Sports

Harris is a player whose stats don’t tell the whole story.

At first glance, he’s a 31-year-old point guard who averages 8.6 points and 4.4 assists while shooting less than 40 percent from the floor. He seems like nothing special.

But Harris fills a vital role for this Mavs team. Carlisle likes to use him as his sixth man—a guy who can change the pace and the flow of a game. Harris’ best skill is his slashing, and Carlisle likes to put him in a position to use that ability.

He can be something of a Monta-lite. Both players are quick and put pressure on defenses with their ability to get to the rim. Obviously, Monta Ellis is better at this, but Harris is very similar in his function on the court.

But Harris is also a distributor. The way Dallas plays, nobody consistently racks up gaudy assist numbers. What counts for Harris is his 4.4 assist-to-turnover ratio, a testament to his ability to run the point.

Up until recently, his shooting numbers were fine. In the last five games, Harris has hit only 12 of 39 shots. That will drag anybody’s numbers down.

He’s the best point guard Dallas has going right now. He doesn’t make mistakes, he forces defenses to guard him and knows how to play with Nowitzki. He’s not exactly indispensable like Chandler or Nowitzki, but he’s an important piece to the Mavs this season.

5. Chandler Parsons

USA TODAY Sports

It’s not exactly an insult to rank Parsons below a player whose player efficiency rating (PER) is better than all but four players in the league, according to ESPN.com. But it’s not a ringing endorsement either.

Parsons’ Mavericks career hasn’t started how he planned.

He’s shooting worse from the field and from three than he ever has before, and it’s not very close. He’s also averaging fewer assists and rebounds than he did in his last two seasons playing for the Houston Rockets.

It hasn’t always been pretty, especially when he shot an abysmal 14-of-52 over a four-game stretch in early November.

All that being said, he’s still an important part of this team.

Though he’s not converting right now, he’s an extremely talented offensive player. Parsons is versatile, as he can be both a slasher and a playmaker, allowing Carlisle more flexibility with his lineups.

Parsons is one of the rare players who can tailor his game to those around him, something that is incredibly important with this specialized roster. He’s essentially a crazy-good glue guy.

As a player whose career averages are 46.8 percent from the floor and 36.5 percent from deep, Parsons will find his shooting groove soon. Maybe it’s a slump, maybe he’s still finding his way in the offense. It probably won’t happen immediately, but he’ll find his stroke again.

And when that day comes, he’ll climb up this list.

4. Brandan Wright

Glenn James/Getty Images

To put Wright’s hot start in the proper perspective, he is shooting a full 2.8 percentage points better from the floor than Parsons is shooting from the free-throw line.

Parsons is hitting 71 percent from the charity stripe.

According to ESPN.com, he’s also posting a PER of 27.7, good for fifth in the league. That’s ahead of players such as Chris Paul, LeBron James and even Nowitzki.

Of course, Wright is playing half the minutes of some of these NBA stars, and he is asked to do probably one-third as much as they are, but he’s certainly making the most of his opportunities.

He only takes smart shots, and he really only scores in two ways. Either as the beneficiary of an assist, as 74 percent of his makes come from an assist, or as a putback of one of his 2.1 offensive rebounds he snags per game.

Wright has become the perfect bench big. He defends well by using his length, and he performs admirably when he replaces Chandler. Then, on offense, he simply doesn’t make mistakes.

It’s safe to say that he’ll be due for a nice big contract when his current deal expires after this season. He's only making $5 million, and should his current PER hold, this would mark two years in a row that he ranks in the top 15. There aren’t too many players like him running around in the NBA, and he’ll get a nice offer from someone, so it’s up in the air whether or not he’ll be back.

In other words, enjoy him while you can.

3. Monta Ellis

Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images

The first three players at the top of this list are in an exclusive group. It’s the What More Do You Want From This Guy group.

Ellis leads the team in minutes, points, assists and steals. He’s shooting 46.4 percent from the floor—the best percentage he’s posted since 2008—and is one of the pieces that makes the offense tick.

This is about as well as anyone can expect Ellis to play.

As the primary beneficiary of Dirk’s picks-and-rolls, he’s become deadly as the ball-handler. And with an improved mid-range jump shot, he’s become an offensive weapon.

This year, he’s progressed as his role has expanded. Firmly established as Dirk’s sidekick, he has a better feel of when to attack and take charge, something that was inconsistent last season.

Ellis will still make the occasional head-scratching play—it’s part of his DNA at this point—but he has been superb thus far, and nobody else on this team knows how to use a pick-and-roll with Dirk quite like Ellis.

2. Tyson Chandler

USA TODAY Sports

For all things defense, this team relies on Chandler.

He’s more than just a big man in the middle. Dallas has experimented with various iterations of that strategy over the years, and none have had much success.

Chandler is one of those rare 7-footers who can not only play to his size, something that is surprisingly uncommon, but also move around the court like someone six inches shorter.

It’s a rare blend and one this Dallas team needs.

Chandler has been very good about protecting the rim without fouling, averaging only 2.2 fouls per game. He does this while also playing excellent pick-and-roll defense, which goes to show just how versatile he is.

And if you take him away, things get dodgy real quick.

No other Maverick can do the things he does. Wright has played phenomenally thus far, but he’s just not capable of being Chandler.

As Nowitzki is the backbone of the team, Chandler is the key to the defense. He’s a huge reason the Mavs are only 18th in points allowed, rather than in the back end of the 20s.

Then, there are all the dunks he accumulates and the 4.1 offensive rebounds he gets per game, and imagining life without Chandler becomes very scary.

1. Dirk Nowitzki

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

This ranking was tougher than it seems. Chandler was begging to snag the top spot, but it would be a combination of heresy and lunacy to say that anyone but the big German should be here.

A whole article could be written about just what Nowitzki does for this team. Clearly, there’s the leadership, which is apparent any time you watch a game. Then, there’s the 19.4 points per game on 49.6 percent shooting. That’s also quite obvious.

But then, there are the little things: His screens on a pick-and-roll that allow Ellis to pick apart a defense, his isolation buckets that the Mavs so heavily rely on and the momentum-shifting trailer threes. There's also the notion that fouling him almost guarantees two points or how he willingly passes up a shot to get a teammate a better one.

In other words, that would be an awfully long article.

Nowitzki is the sun around which the rest of the Dallas Mavericks rotate—just ask Chandler. In an interview with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Chandler had nothing but praise for his teammate:

"

You know, when I first got here, I remember coming back late at night to try to get a lift in or work on free throws and this and that. And every single time that I got there he was there, putting up shot after shot after shot. And it just shows that, you know, he is never going to settle, he doesn’t want to settle, he only wants to win and he’s willing to do whatever it takes. … You know, a lot was made about what I did and what I accomplished the year that I was there, but he’s the man. And when you have the top dog leading that way, you can’t help but fall in line.

"

To put him anywhere but at the top of this list would be impossible.

All statistics, unless otherwise noted, are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.