How Starting Their Young Players Can Return The Dallas Mavericks To Contention
Since their humiliating loss to Golden State in the 2007 playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks have slowly slipped from the NBA’s elite. To see how they can return, we need to look at the last version of the team to experience playoff success—the 2006 Finals squad.
The one constant is Dirk Nowitzki, their seven-foot perennial All-Star, whose size and shooting ability has allowed him to maintain a remarkably high standard of play.
The biggest change since ’06 is the addition of Jason Kidd, the ageless point guard who has developed into a great spot-up three-point shooter to take advantage of the defensive attention Dirk commands.
With their two core players in their thirties, the Mavs start off dramatically less athletic than most of their rivals. So how can they build a roster to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of Nowitzki and Kidd?
As a big man who can consistently create and hit outside jumpers, Dirk creates two huge opportunities for his teammates.
Since his defender, usually one of the opposing team’s bigger players accustomed to playing closer to the basket, can’t leave him open, there is one less man in the paint and more room to drive to the basket. And since Dirk scores so efficiently, there are plenty of opportunities for other players to get a lot of shots off.
In their Finals run, Dirk was greatly complimented by a host of athletic players (Devin Harris and Josh Howard) who could attack the rim. Guys who can run the floor and get to the rim are crucial to maximizing Dirk and Kidd’s strengths. Defensively, these same athletes need to protect them against the younger and sprier teams in the Association.
The problem with the current roster is how much it replicates, instead of complements, their best players.
Their next two offensive threats, Caron Butler and Jason Terry, have become mid-range jump shooters as they have aged. Their other former All-Star, Shawn Marion, never had the ability to create his own shot. And since entering his thirties, he has lost both a step and his three-point shooting range.
No one is taking advantage of the driving lanes to the basket, negating one of the main values of the Mavericks franchise player.
So, as we saw in their first round defeat to San Antonio last year, without anyone who could penetrate and create for others, the offense stagnated as people took turns taking mid-range jumpers, the most inefficient shots in the game.
The end result, a roster full of 30-something nonathletic veteran jump shooters, isn’t competing for a title anytime soon.
The solution—bring in athletic, young wings who can get to the basket, create looks for others, and upgrade the athleticism of the 2 and 3 positions—could potentially be on the roster.
Mavs fans spent the entire season pining for the jet-quick Rodrigue Beabouis, and in the brief playing time he had, he showed why. He’s the perfect complement to Jason Kidd, with the foot speed to stay in front of faster guards while getting to the basket and still spreading the floor for Dirk.
A more difficult decision would be playing the rookie Dominique Jones extensively. An athletic and rugged wing at 6’5", 215 lbs, he was the Big East’s leading scorer at South Florida.
Ranking first in free-throw attempts per minute among all guards in the 2010 draft, he excelled at creating his own shot and getting to the rim. With a 6’9" wingspan, he’s much more physically capable of guarding wing players than the Mavs' collection of older veterans.
With Beabouis and Jones in the starting lineup, Dallas would only have two subpar athletes in the starting five.
Offensively, they would have two guys capable of getting to the basket to take advantage of Dirk’s outside shooting and two finishers who could run with Kidd on the fast break. And while both young players would make mental mistakes on defense, overall, the injection of athleticism would do wonders for Dallas defensively.
The biggest drawback to such a plan would be off-the-court. Could the trio of Terry, Butler, and Marion, with six All-Star appearances and almost $30 million in salary, accept a reduction in minutes?
But the veteran-heavy approach, while maintaining Dallas’ impressive streak of 10 straight 50-win seasons, has accomplished far less in the playoffs. With Dirk’s window closing, the bigger gamble would be taking no risk at all.
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