At 15-6 The Dallas Mavericks sit fourth in the western conference and you love to see it. Why? Dallas has been one of those teams that always gets in the lost season by the skin of their teeth. After missing the playoffs this past season A LOT has changed for the Mavs. Luka Doncic has been a year putting up near triple double statistics — 30.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 9.6 assists. If we take a step back and look at last season he’s +7.4 in points, +1.6 in rebounds, and +2.9 in assists. A huge step forward as Doncic is the youngest player to do a lot of things. To many accolades already out on his resume and the kid is 20 years old.
His 6’7″ frame comes off as mediocre from how you see him move. He’s not the fastest guy on the floor, but he gets to his spots on the floor, hits the open man with ease, and creates for himself. He’s a lot like Paul Pierce when it comes to this aspect of his game. Doncic is doing this whole being of the slower guards in the league. Imagine if he had Kyrie like agility. Mark Cuban picked out a diamond in the rough and showed his true owner card with the trade in acquiring the Slovenian prodigy.
Now how does a guy change the culture of a franchise in just one year? You have to bring in the right Calvary.
Kristaps Porzingis: coming off of an injury we didn’t know where KP would be mentally and physically, but he’s fitting right in with Dallas. Averaging 17.2 points, 9.2 rebounds on 44% from the field he’s the perfect counterpart to Luka.
The rest of the roster is deep with depth. Guys like Dorain Finney-Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr., Seth Curry, and Delon Wright can go for a good 15+ points a game on any given night. What I’m not sold on is their rebounding and paint presence down low. Kristaps leads the way averaging 9.1 rebounds a night and outside of him I don’t feel comfortable with Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber, or Boban down low. If I’m the opposing team I’m force feeding the ball in the paint and making Dallas get loose on the glass. The Mavericks are 16th in the league for rebounding at 45.3.
Overall, the Mavericks are legitimate contenders for a title this season despite the criticisms and with a young star in the making in Doncic, this team could potentially be playing in June.