The Dallas Mavericks have committed themselves by trade to their supposed new franchise player and are thus facing a new era. Dirk Nowitzki could give his farewell tour – in a new role. On Friday the Mavs will play the Philadelphia 76ers (live on DAZN) in China at 1.30 pm.
The Mavs “only” got the No.5 pick in the Lottery, but that didn’t stop them from getting the player they wanted: This pick was traded together with a top 5 protected first round pick to the Hawks for the No.3 and thus Luka Doncic. The future pick would be 2023 unprotected if Dallas were always in the top 5 or top 3 (2021-2022) until then.
With a second draft day deal the Mavs also sent Shake Milton to Philly and got Ray Spalding and “Greek Freak Jr.” Kostas Antetokounmpo back in return. Point Guard Jalen Brunson was also drafted with his own No.33 pick.
In the Free Agency DeAndre Jordan was the biggest new commitment, the center signed for one year and 22.9 million dollars and this time refrained from a withdrawal. In addition, Dallas engaged Ryan Broekhoff (2 years, 2.26 million) and prolonged with Devin Harris (1 year, 2.4 million) and Salah Mejri (1 year, 1.6 million) – and a perspective player named Dirk Nowitzki (1 year, 5 million).
There were also some retirements: Seth Curry moved to Portland, Doug McDermott to Indiana and Nerlens Noel to OKC. Kyle Collinsworth was fired and went to Toronto, Johnathan Motley was traded to the Clippers and Chinanu Onuaku, who had been fetched by trade before, was quickly fired again.
Yogi Ferrell was initially agreed with, but then he withdrew for a short time and switched to the Kings instead.
The Mavs have chosen Doncic as the player to lead them into the next era, so two important assets in the form of picks have been invested for him – and the rest of the transactions should also benefit him, especially Jordan. The Slovenian has great strengths in pick’n’roll, Jordan is one of the best rim runners in the NBA and could do even better with the Mavs than Tyson Chandler once did.
The Mavs generally want to play faster, which should suit Jordan as well as Doncic and Dennis Smith, the other cornerstone of the future. That’s why it made sense to get Nowitzki off the bench from now on – in tandem with J.J. Barea, the 40-year-old had the most fun last season anyway, so you can combine the two even more.
Coach Rick Carlisle generally has much more room for experimentation at his disposal again. This is embodied by Doncic, who in the preseason was primarily a point forward and can nominally occupy any position from one to four. Dallas also has a colourful mix of veterans and talents, especially Nowitzki should give the Slovenian as much knowledge as possible in his last season.
The Mavs were among the top five slowest teams in the league last season, and were too seldom able to score easy fastbreak points. Their semi-field open was good thanks to the cleverness of Carlisle, Dirk and Barea, but the Mavs had problems generating easy points. The focus on higher speed, especially thanks to Smith and Doncic, is now supposed to change this a lot.
The Mavs also put their money on the two free throws – last season the Mavs earned the second least free throws, which reveals another major problem: Dallas has(te) no go-to guy to whom one could regularly give the ball with the announcement to think of a solution. That’s another reason why Dallas lost more tight games last season than almost any other team.
For Harrison Barnes, that wasn’t the right job profile – it might also be good for his efficiency to run again alongside two dynamic offensive players and playmakers, alongside whom he can (mostly) function as Option No. 3.
Jordan is also supposed to eliminate some weaknesses. Dallas had hardly any credible rim protection last season, and due to the team’s slowness, they didn’t even try to get offensive rebounds, but trotted back into their own half early.
It will be interesting to see if Jordan and also Dwight Powell or Maxi Kleber can now search for second chances more opportunistically. Athletically, the potential for this is now given again, at least after a long time.
Normally this isn’t the modus operandi of the Mavs, but for Doncic they ignore it – the way the notorious rookie “enemy” Carlisle raves about the wunderkind, for example, makes you sit up and take notice. The Mavs are firmly convinced that they have got the best player of this drafts and their future franchise player.
Doncic is already under enormous pressure, especially since the draft has given rise to a heated debate about him, which is increasingly being turned into a referendum on European basketball. His performances are silly already in the preseason permanently measured against those of Ayton, Young and Co..
The advantages for Doncic: He had to process a lot of experience for his 19 years and knows printing as a professional better than all his peers. And the conditions in Dallas are good: In Nowitzki, the Mavs have someone running around who has experienced similar situations – and in Carlisle, one of the most creative NBA coaches is still there to make the most of Doncic’s very unusual talent.
Something like euphoria has finally emerged again in Dallas. The draft trade has already paid off, especially since Doncic has very little bust potential (you can argue about his superstar potential earlier). It’s going uphill again and the Jordan commitment is also a very good one, despite the high price and the prehistory.
Dallas had the money available anyway and if it worked well, DJ could be kept a little cheaper next summer given the good will shown. Depending on what happens there: The Mavs have coming season 57 million dollars, in summer 2020 only 17 million in the books stand. Then Free Agents can be hunted again.
But in contrast to earlier years, if someone like Jordan 2015 or Dwight Howard 2013 were to sign somewhere else, not everything would be broken – thanks to Doncic and Smith, the rebuilding in Dallas is on a more solid footing. For the first time in a long time there is at least the impression that a future without Dirk is no longer a horror scenario.
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