Wesley Matthews, Mavericks Both with Much to Prove as Dallas Eyes Post-Dirk Era
It was a long night for the Dallas Mavericks, another one of many they've had in recent years against the Los Angeles Clippers.
They moved the ball. They got good shots. They played together. But Dirk Nowitzki (6-of-15 on the night) wasn't knocking down his looks at his usual clip, and without Wesley Matthews, Chandler Parsons and Deron Williams, Dallas was short on shotmakers.
As head coach Rick Carlisle put it, "We couldn’t hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle."
That game, on Oct. 29, ended with a 104-88 defeat for Dallas—its 10th in 14 meetings with the Clippers since Chris Paul arrived in L.A. almost four years ago. The count could look much worse when factoring in the fallout from DeAndre Jordan's free-agency saga from this past summer.
For Nowitzki, that kind of clock-cleaning doesn't qualify as a rivalry.
"Usually in a rivalry, we need to win our fair share," he said after the game to a crowd of reporters huddled around his locker, his shirt drenched in sweat, his post-game shower awaiting him.
This is what it's like for Nowitzki on most nights. Win or lose, he's the last one to talk, the last one to dress, the last one to leave.
Some day soon, that job will belong to somebody else, if it belongs to anybody. At 37, Nowitzki is nearing the end of a pro career that's spanned 21 years and two continents, if you include his four seasons as a teenage phenom in his hometown of Wurzburg, Germany.
A future without the Bavarian big man awaits the only NBA franchise from which he's ever drawn a paycheck. Parsons could be a prominent part of it, if he doesn't opt out of his contract after this season. Williams would be, if the 31-year-old former All-Star wasn't already a shell of his former self.
It's practically by default, then, the bridge between Nowitzki's twilight and the Mavericks' long-term future runs along Matthews' tender heel—at least for the time being.
If all you read were headlines, you might think the Mavericks came away from their summer with an 0-fer in the free-agent column. Losing out on Jordan hurt, but that didn't deter Dallas from splashing some serious cash on the market, with Matthews as the chief recipient.
He gave his word to the Mavericks before Jordan changed his mind, and stuck to it afterward, with more millions added onto what became a five-year, $70 million deal.
"I’m sure he liked that," Nowitzki quipped.
So did Cuban, who took to CyberDust to praise Matthews for his commitment.
Dallas liked him enough to more than double his previous yearly salary, despite the fact Matthews was recovering from a torn Achilles tendon—an injury he suffered in March against the Mavericks, no less.
"Honestly, when he went down, I didn’t think we’d see Wes until midseason, maybe, so it’s remarkable," said Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who, like Matthews, played college ball at Marquette. "Just tells you who he is. He’s a worker."
He was a vocal leader for the Portland Trail Blazers, the franchise's all-time leader in three-pointers and a staple of one of the steadiest starting fives around. In the bigger picture, he was among the league's premier two-way perimeter players on an elite team in the treacherous Western Conference.
If anyone could turn "3-and-D" into a term of endearment, rather than one of role-specific limitation, it was Matthews.
"I've defied every odd, and this was just another one," Matthews told NBA.com's David Aldridge. "It was another obstacle for me to overcome, to push myself that it's another challenge. I defied it, being undrafted, then making in a rotation, then starting, then getting a good deal, and living up to it, and getting another one. To me, it was just nothing. It was another test, another something I can tell my grandkids about sometimes."
On that test, Matthews proved to be an exemplary student. He worked tirelessly and precisely in Madison, with his physical therapist Marc Sherry; in L.A., with his surgeon, Dr. Richard Ferkel; and in Dallas, with Mavericks head trainer Casey Smith.
"When we’re doing things and he gets fatigued or he has some bad reps or he doesn’t do it the way we want to, he wants to redo it," Smith said. "He holds himself very accountable and is driven to do it exactly right, exactly the way we want him to do it."
With dogged determination and meticulous attention to detail, Matthews returned to the court ahead of schedule, just in time to chip in nine points during Dallas' 16-point win in Phoenix to open the 2015-16 season.
"I’m no doctor, but from what I’ve seen, it’s remarkable," Carlisle marveled. "It really is. It’s an example of an athlete with a very strong focus, very strong willed, extreme work ethic. He was hellbent on making it happen on opening night."
Matthews may be a regular in the lineup again, but he's not out of the woods yet. The Mavericks will continue to monitor the 29-year-old's minutes on the court and put him through his paces off of it. The goal isn't just to get him back up to speed, but also to support him in his quest for self-improvement.
"We think he can be physically better," said Smith. "Obviously we do if we committed [that much money to him]. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if we didn’t think that."
On that front, Matthews remains a work in progress. Behind the scenes, his voice booms next to Dirk's.
"He’s a warrior," said Nowitzki. "He’s already so far the way he works, the presence he has in the locker room. He’s always talking. We love to have him. As he gets more healthy and healthy, he’ll get better and better."
Added Devin Harris, now three seasons into his second stint in Dallas: "He’s definitely a personality. Very tough minded, a guy that kind of sets the tone for us, especially on the defensive end."
It's early, but the Mavericks, with Matthews' help, have made strides in that regard. They've cut down considerably on the points they've allowed per 100 possessions compared to last season, per NBA.com.
| 2014-15 | 103.7 | 18th | 72.2% | 29th | 50.3% | 21st |
| 2015-16 | 99.2 | 14th | 80.7% | 3rd | 47.5% | 13th |
The offense has been a bit slower to come online, for both Matthews and the Mavericks. The once-and-former "Iron Man" has hit just 34.9 percent of his field goals so far, but is shooting a sturdy 37 percent from three and seems to be moving around the floor without a hitch. On the whole, Dallas is merely middle-of-the-pack in offensive efficiency, though the framework is there for this team to be formidable, with a master craftsman like Carlisle at the controls.
"I like our chemistry. I really like the vibe that the team has," the coach said. "They really like each other as a group. They help each other.
"I think we know who we are, and it’s early to really understand that. But we know we’re a team that’s dependent on one another. We have knowledgeable, skilled, veteran guys that know how to play the game. We understand that collectively is the only way we’re going to get it done."
With Matthews on mend, the Mavericks have in place but one surefire building block (no offense to J.J. Barea and Devin Harris) who's locked in beyond this season. As much as Matthews might contribute once he's back in tip-top shape, Dallas will need more to solidify its base for the dreaded day when Nowitzki hoists his final shot.
"I don’t think it can be one guy to replace him," said Harris. "I think it will be done by committee."
There's no easy way to make up for a once-in-a-lifetime talent like Nowitzki. Shooting is all the rage these days, but the ranks of seven-footers who can post up, loft one-legged jumpers in the lane and drain threes without a second thought remain thin.
Piece by piece, the Mavericks are assembling a group that—they think, they hope—can keep Nowitzki in contention through his twilight and leave the franchise with stable footing when the giant German calls it quits.
"We’re starting to build a core to go forward, guys that can spend years together," Cuban said during his courtside pregame pow wow.
So far, that road has been a bumpy one for the Mavericks.
Monta Ellis came and went after two solid campaigns running pick-and-pop with Nowitzki. Parsons got off to a strong start last season, before a knee injury knocked him out of the playoffs and sidelined him to begin 2015-16.
More recently, the Mavericks already went for broke to lift Nowitzki, who took a massive paycut during the 2014 offseason, back into title contention. First, they traded a trio of valuable role players (Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson) and a first-round pick to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Rajon Rondo last December. Then, this past July, they put on a full-court press to lure in Jordan.
Both moves went bust in a hurry. The Rondo experiment cost the Mavericks many of their most fungible trade assets. Jordan's about-face left Dallas to scrounge for the likes of Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee at center.
But they did land Matthews, who has the makings of a major foot soldier in the Mavericks' new army.
"Oh, that’s lightyears ago. That’s over," Carlisle reiterated, when asked about Jordan for the umpteenth time. "Our franchise moved on from that months ago. I like the moves that we made. We like our team as it’s presently structured. We’ve got guys that go hard, like playing together and like the challenge of the NBA every night. These are the guys we’re going to war with."
For more than a decade, there's been a constant churn among the supporting cast of which Matthews is now an important part.
By and large, the Mavericks' reliance on depth and flexibility over certainty and stability has paid off. They've been to two Finals, won the franchise's first championship and seen Nowitzki take home the Maurice Podoloff Trophy while rotating the likes of Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Shawn Marion through a revolving door at the American Airlines Center.
Since that championship run in 2011, though, Dallas has become more of a launching pad for NBA vagabonds than a landing spot for those in search of a more permanent home. In fact, this year's roster features eight players who'd never before worn a Mavericks uniform.
| Wesley Matthews | Portland Trail Blazers | five years, $70 million |
| Deron Williams | Brooklyn Nets | two years, $11 million |
| JaVale McGee | Philadelphia 76ers | two years, $2.7 million |
| John Jenkins | Atlanta Hawks | three years, $3.2 million |
| Zaza Pachulia | Milwaukee Bucks | one year, $5.2 million |
| Justin Anderson | University of Virginia | four years, $7.1 million |
| Jeremy Evans | Utah Jazz | two years, $2.3 million |
| Salah Mejri | Real Madrid (Spain) | three years, $2.4 million |
"That’s the nature of the game," said Nowitzki. "In my 18 years, I’ve probably played with a thousand teammates. It is what it is."
Matthews could be something of an anomaly. He could be around until the summer of 2019, and if his original commitment is any indication, he won't be agitating for a way out anytime soon.
At some point, the Mavericks hope to bring that constant churn to a screeching halt. That's what their annual forays into free agency, targeting the biggest names with the most impactful games, have been about.
They've come close to landing a big one, but have yet to reel in the kind of catch who can keep them and their fans well-fed long after Nowitzki is gone fishing. Right now, Dallas doesn't have much of a choice but to keep exploring the market like a serial dater desperate for a steady relationship because of its lack of appealing trade pieces and presumed absence from upcoming lotteries.
Prior to the Jordan saga, Cuban entertained the idea of "tanking," but, as Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding wrote, wasn't ready, willing or able to risk the team's hard-won culture to do so:
"After Jordan changed his mind, Cuban ultimately couldn't follow through with it. It felt fundamentally wrong in the world of competition, and Cuban returned to his core tenet from all these recent years: Nowitzki, especially with Carlisle coaching him, was too good for the Mavericks to be that bad.
"
That's not to say Dallas can't or won't slip into mediocrity by the way of injury (knock on wood), but a winning season would better serve Dallas' pursuit of free agents next summer. Just about every team will have significant cap space during the coming bonanza. What figures to separate the best from the rest, in the minds of free agents in search of success, is the ability to win right away.
The Mavericks, with a productive Nowitzki and a healthy Matthews, could offer that. If Parsons opts out of his contract, they could have enough cap room to lure in two max-level players, with a slew of big names ready to soak up that scratch for themselves and put Dallas back on the basketball map.
| Current Team | Status | |
| Kevin Durant | Oklahoma City Thunder | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Dwight Howard | Houston Rockets | Player Option |
| Al Horford | Atlanta Hawks | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Mike Conley | Memphis Grizzlies | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| DeMar DeRozan | Toronto Raptors | Player Option |
| Harrison Barnes | Golden State Warriors | Restricted Free Agent |
| Al Jefferson | Charlotte Hornets | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Joakim Noah | Chicago Bulls | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Hassan Whiteside | Miami Heat | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Jordan Clarkson | Los Angeles Lakers | Restricted Free Agent |
| Roy Hibbert | Los Angeles Lakers | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Timofey Mozgov | Cleveland Cavaliers | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Nicolas Batum | Charlotte Hornets | Unrestricted Free Agent |
Therein lies the silver lining of Jordan's about-face. Had he followed through with his initial decision, the Mavericks would've been hard-pressed to create the space needed to sign even one major free agent next summer.
"I think we came out way ahead," Cuban insisted. "Different people have different responsibilities. It’s better to find out when they don’t match up before you do a deal than after."
The Mavericks haven't had a steady core that fits together since the early 2000s, when Nowitzki roamed the hardwood—and the top of the Western Conference standings—with Steve Nash and Michael Finley.
"When Steve and Mike and I first started, we thought that we were going to finish our careers together," Nowitzki said.
That dream went out the window in 2004, when Nash went to Phoenix, and 2005, when Finley headed south to San Antonio. Both are retired now, the former serving as a consultant for the Warriors and the latter as Cuban's right-hand man.
Instead, Nowitzki will have to call it quits in the company of a newer, younger core—preferably one capable of keeping the good times rolling in the Metroplex.
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
