After spending four days at UNLV’s campus, the Dallas Mavericks ended their Las Vegas training camp on Oct. 4
With the preseason schedule up next and the regular-season schedule starting within the month, what are the biggest questions the team faces ahead of the upcoming season?
How does Klay Thompson fit into the offense?
Though there will have to be adjustments in how he plays, Thompson’s fit with the Mavs offense is ideal as a big guard who can space the floor and play defense.
With the Warriors, Thompson thrived in a motion offense predicated on constant movement and screens while the Mavs’ offense is a more ball-dominant isolation-heavy system that plays into the strengths of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Last season the Mavs had the second-most isolation possessions in the league while Golden State had the sixth-fewest. However, Doncic and Irving excel at creating open three-point shots for their teammates and Thompson will get some of the best looks of his career playing next to the duo.
Thompson is coming off his first season scoring under 20 points since the 2013 season and shot the second-lowest (38.7%) three-point percentage of his career. However, his three-point shooting is still elite given his volume (9.0 attempts per game) and he should receive more open looks on this Mavs with the offensive talent surrounding him.
How does the guard rotation shake out?
The Mavs have a glut of talented NBA guards with Doncic, Irving, Thompson, Quentin Grimes, Dante Exum and Jaden Hardy on the roster.
With Irving and Doncic’s roles secured that leaves four players competing for playing time after they averaged 29.7, 20.1, 19.8 and 13.6 minutes per game in 2023-24.
Thompson’s history, championship pedigree and his three-point shooting prowess should mean he sees at least close to the minutes per game he received last year with Golden State.
Grimes is the best defender of the remaining three but is coming off a career-worst year from three where he shot 33.8%, however inconsistent playing time with the New York Knicks and adjusting after being traded midseason to the Detroit Pistons after the trade could be responsible for the downtick in shooting. His defensive ability could be especially useful with the loss of Derrick Jones Jr.
Exum, in his return to the NBA, had one of his best seasons averaging 7.8 points, 2.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds while shooting a career-high from the field (53%) and from the three-point line (49%) all while also showing solid defensive skills. On Oct. 4, The Atheltic’s Shams Charania reported that
Exum had suffered a serious wrist injury that would sideline him and could require surgery and that treatment options were being evaluated.
Hardy is the youngest of the group and showed flashes throughout his sophomore season and is in the final year of his rookie contract and will be looking to showcase his skills. Last season he averaged 7.3 points, 1.5 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game
The Mavs could be inclined to trade one of these guards at some point during the season to improve the team at another position or acquire more assets.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said there would be competing among the guards for roles.
“On paper, we got a lot of starting guards, starting centers. We got a lot of starters and so I think we look at training camp and you just talk to the guys before I came out, we’re going to instigate competition in training camp,” said Kidd, “To make each other better, to make the game easier, and so we’ll see how that pans out.”
How do they replace the defense of Derrick Jones Jr?
Last season the Mavs’ defense turned into one of the team’s greatest strengths in the back half of the season and the playoffs and a big reason why was the defense of Derrick Jones Jr. who was one of the league’s best and most versatile premier defenders.
Jones Jr. left in the offseason to join the Los Angeles Clippers so how will the Mavs replace him?
To help offset his departure the Mavs signed former New Orleans Pelicans forward Naji Marshall another defensive-minded player. Last season according to NBA.com, Marshall was the fifth-best player at defending three-pointers, among players who played at least 50 games, allowing makes on only 29.2% of shots.
Marshall will also provide elite defensive versatility similar to Jones Jr., according to the Basketball Index his 89.04 defensive versatility score, which measures how often a player guards different positions, is ahead of Jones Jr’s 2023 score of 82.71.
The Mavs also signed Quentin Grimes a 6-5 guard known for his defensive acumen, allowing them to switch up matchups based on the type of player they are facing. The team also still has PJ Washington who has the ability to guard larger forwards.
Do young players continue to improve
PJ Washington and Dereck Lively II were huge reasons for the team’s deep playoff run last season. If those young players can continue to improve, the Mavs could become more dangerous.
Lively has said he has worked on his three-point shot and if the Duke product developed a functional three-point shot he could assume a role similar to the one Brook Lopez plays with the Milwaukee Bucks as an elite rim defender and shooter while also being an elite roll man in pick and rolls.
A three-point shot could make his pick-and-roll partnership with Doncic and Irving even more deadly by giving Lively another option to punish defenses.
Washington’s three-point percentage has gone down in each of the last three seasons and if he can return to his peak (38.6% from jn 2020) and find consistency from behind the arc, it will further open up his offensive game and Mavs offense. On defense, Washington will play a huge role in replacing Jones Jr. and the Mavs will need him to be able to defend the opposing team’s best perimeter option at times.
Fans will be able to get their first look at the Mavs at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7 against the Memphis Grizzlies at American Airlines Center.
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