Dallas Mavericks Rankings: Rating Top 10 Players Near Season's Halfway Point
The Dallas Mavericks have been the hottest team in the Western Conference over the last couple of weeks. At 26-10, the Mavs are riding a six-game winning streak and are steadily climbing in the standings.
The recent trade for Rajon Rondo has forced Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle to replace key rotation guys, altering the previously existing hierarchy. As such, it's relatively tricky to gauge the importance of various players as we're nearing the halfway point of the season.
In ranking the roster, various factors have to go into consideration. Total impact over the course of the season, recent surges by reserves and projected influence moving forward are all crucial elements when trying to differentiate between the players.
Several guys who were only sniffing around in garbage time have taken the step up into the rotation. While that's admirable, players who have maintained a high level of play over a longer period still get the edge here.
Four players who miss out on the top 10 are Raymond Felton, Dwight Powell, Greg Smith and Ricky Ledo. Most of these players have barely seen the court throughout the season. Powell isn't quite NBA ready, Ledo mostly plays in the D-League and Felton's injuries have limited him to just four brief appearances in the 2014-15 season.
Smith has stepped into a backup center role and done an acceptable job, but a small sample size of games isn't enough to earn him top-10 honors.
10. Al-Farouq Aminu
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Al-Farouq Aminu started the season as somewhat of a pet project for Carlisle. The hope was that he could develop into a solid-enough shooter to space the floor, while learning how to maximize his physical tools on the defensive end.
Unfortunately, Aminu’s shot still looks flat, and he has slowly drifted out of the rotation. Carlisle tends to get the most out of his players, but Aminu has had a chance to be a starter with the New Orleans Pelicans for two seasons prior to joining the Mavs, and it’s questionable how much more he can improve.
He is a tenacious rebounder, has the physical tools to be a great defender and is a good cutter. However, Carlisle’s offense needs spacing in order to reach its full potential, and Aminu simply can’t produce enough to earn significant playing time.
It’s possible that Aminu could find his way back into the rotation, but the competition in the West is stiff, and Carlisle is unlikely to experiment too much.
9. Charlie Villanueva
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Charlie Villanueva was a tricky player to rank. On one hand, he has only stepped up into a bigger role recently, while Aminu was a consistent rotation player for a decent portion of the season. On the flip side, Villanueva’s skill set is more likely to earn him playing time over Aminu as the year progresses.
Villanueva’s ability to space the floor was always an intriguing piece to the Mavs offense, but his defense was so dreadful that Carlisle simply couldn’t justify playing the 6'11" forward.
While Villanueva still isn’t a great defender, he has actually been trying and getting a block or two every now and again. He still gets abused in the post regularly and can’t move his feet very well, though.
When Villanueva is making his shots, Carlisle has a pretty decent weapon to throw out there for a couple of minutes every game. However, when the threes aren’t going in, Dallas often gets diminishing returns with him on the floor.
8. Richard Jefferson
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Richard Jefferson has been a relatively constant feature in the rotation, especially since the Rondo trade. His production doesn’t always exceed that of Villanuva or Aminu, but he carries a lesser risk factor, which is why Carlisle has utilized his veteran on a regular basis.
Jefferson, 34, has displayed some of his former athleticism lately, making cuts and driving to the basket with reasonable success.
He is also knocking down his threes with great accuracy. Jefferson is connecting on 43.1 percent clip from beyond the arc, his highest figure since the 2010-11 season. That type of reliable shooting is what has helped the veteran retain a relevant role, while pushing Aminu out of the rotation.
Considering the fact that Jefferson looked pretty much done when riding the bench with the Golden State Warriors a couple of seasons ago, it’s nice to see that he can still fill a purpose on a title-contending team.
7. J.J. Barea
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The Mavs surprisingly stumbled into J.J. Barea when he was waived by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he has once again thrived upon his return to Dallas. He has a great relationship with Carlisle that was formed during the 2011 championship run and has had no problem accepting whatever playing time he gets.
It’s a lot easier to stomach a limited role when playing for a title-contending team, and Barea has done well as the spark plug off the bench.
Barea’s tiny frame allows him to navigate around screens very well, and he has great synergy with Dirk Nowitzki. He is also shooting a career-high 37.5 percent from three-point range and has managed to play both on and off the ball as a result.
The Puerto Rican still has a tendency to dribble around a little too much, but he is comfortable in Carlisle’s system and provides some much-needed bench production.
6. Devin Harris
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Devin Harris has been the bridge in the backcourt rotation for the Mavs this season. He is versatile enough on both ends of the floor to play next to Rondo, Monta Ellis or Barea, which provides Carlisle more freedom to craft creative lineups.
Harris is also connecting at a career-high clip from three-point range. Rather than being the streaky shooter he has been most of his career, Harris has been reliable when left open around the perimeter.
He might not get many Sixth Man of the Year votes, simply because Dallas relies so heavily on its starters, but his skill set has been essential to the Mavs’ success.
Harris fits right into the prototype of what a wing player has to possess in order to thrive in Carlisle’s offense. He can drive the ball to the basket, shoot and pass. When he is playing next to several players who possess the same skill set, he is an excellent fit.
5. Rajon Rondo
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Ranking Rondo was very tough. He has just nine games under his belt as a Maverick, while Harris has been a constant presence on the team throughout the season. Ultimately, the production-over-time factor has to take a back seat considering how crucial Rondo will be to Dallas moving forward.
In the nine games that Rondo has been with the team, the Mavs have statistically been one of the best defensive teams in the league. Individually, he hasn’t necessarily been the lockdown defender Dallas hoped he would be, but Rondo is slowly shaking off the rust on that end of the ball.
Offensively, Rondo has helped the Mavs become more clinical in transition, although his poor shooting has also brought issues to the half-court game.
His free-throw shooting remains mind-bogglingly terrible, but Rondo’s excellent passing skills also open a lot of creative doors for Dallas.
As the newest addition to the team, Rondo hasn’t quite done enough to knock any of the other four starters down a spot.
4. Chandler Parsons
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Chandler Parsons had his fair share of struggles early in the season, going through what he described as the worst shooting slump of his career. Even though his touch seems to come and go in certain games, he has done an admirable job climbing out of that dark hole.
His numbers have slowly returned to what they were last season with the Houston Rockets, but his impact on the Mavs offense goes beyond the statistical department.
There are very few small forwards in the league who can shoot, pass and put the ball on the floor at an above-average level for the position. Parsons has all those skills, and that versatile threat has helped the Mavs become the best offensive team in the league.
Despite the intangibles, Parsons lands at a fourth place. Three players have been a little bit more impactful, although it’s very hard to accurately measure the importance of the starters.
3. Tyson Chandler
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Ranking Tyson Chandler and Parsons feels like splitting hairs. Parsons' presence is crucial for the offense to function, while Chandler holds together what would be an even more disastrous defense without him.
Even though Chandler only averages 1.3 blocks per game, he alters a ton of shots and communicates well defensively. But his presence is not only felt as a rim protector.
Chandler's rolls to the basket and synergy with just about every ball-handler on Dallas' roster adds another threat to an already-lethal offense. When the guards are driving the ball, Chandler always lurks close to the basket, waiting for a perfect opportunity to leap for a lob or grab a dump-off pass. He is an expert at catching tough passes in traffic and finishing above the rim.
Among qualified big men, Chandler ranks second in the league in field-goal percentage. Without the now-departed Brandan Wright, Chandler's importance to this team will be even more significant moving forward.
2. Dirk Nowitzki
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Separating the top two players of the Mavs on a list like this is almost impossible. Nowitzki and Ellis both have similar on/off numbers, are essential to the offense and are having good seasons.
Nowitzki is still undoubtedly the most-important player on Dallas' roster. His ability to space the floor and compromise a whole defense simply by touching the ball in the post area is one-of-a-kind. Without Dirk, Dallas' offense wouldn't even be close to what it is.
But Nowitzki hasn't quite been the best this year. His three-point shot has been unusually off, as he is connecting at a 34.7 percent clip from long range. The stroke appears to be slowly rounding back into shape, but that is Dirk's lowest accuracy since the 2006-07 season.
Ever since Rondo joined the team, Carlisle has looked to get Nowitzki more touches in the post, something he initially appeared to be saving for the playoffs. Even though the spacing has suffered lately, Nowitzki's presence is enough to maintain an elite offense.
1. Monta Ellis
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Again, it's impossible to go wrong with either Ellis or Nowitzki at No. 1, but Monta has been truly special this year.
Ellis' numbers aren't that much different from last year, although he has assumed a bigger offensive load while maintaining his efficiency. His ability to adjust to his new teammates has also been admirable.
It took Monta virtually no time to develop chemistry with Parsons and Chandler while continuing to terrorize defenses in his two-man game with Nowitzki. Although the pairing with Rondo looked questionable on paper, he has managed to remain the same player.
Ellis ranks second in the league in points on drives, and his ability to blow past defenders and kick out the ball to the perimeter fuels Dallas' offense. He is able to beat opponents off the dribble on pick-and-rolls and is absolutely unstoppable when working the handoff game with Nowitzki.
With several clutch performances in his bag already and an overall consistent 2014, Ellis clinches the top spot in these rankings.
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