Dallas Mavericks Will SHOCK The NBA Soon

Dallas Mavericks Will SHOCK The NBA Soon

The Dallas Mavericks are one of the most interesting teams heading into next season. Headlined by rookie sensation Cooper Flag. And unlike most number one picks from day one, he probably will be in the postseason. The biggest question mark is of course health with this team. Their season could easily be destroyed because of that, but if Anthony Davis plays enough games, they will consistently win games and be in the pack fighting for a playoff spot. Davis played 56 games in 2023, 76 games in 2024. I think the goal and hope is he gives you a number in the middle of that for next season. But as we know at this point in his career, it’s just a tossup healthwise. And the same goes for Kyrie. Unfortunately, he will be sidelined for most of this season, but supposedly he should be back around January or a little after that. In my opinion, with Anthony Davis, Cooper Flag, and all their size, I truly believe they have the makings of being a top five defense, maybe even better if everything goes right. They can be the best defense in the league. That’s how I see them winning, getting carried by that end of the floor because offensively, I think it will be a work in progress. They certainly have potential on that end with Kyrie and AD as a duo. without Kyrie DLo and AD can be a great pick and roll tandem. Anthony Davis has nights where he’s the best offensive player on the court and they’re going to need that out of him. But also, there’s nights where he doesn’t want to be a number one or can’t be. But he’s a guy who can draw double teams. Same with Kyrie when he’s on, which will help. And potentially the same can be said for Cooper Flag. Probably not right away, but towards the end of the year, I suspect him being a big part of their offense. Then you got sharpshooters like Klay Thompson and DLO who hopefully feed off the gravity of those three. Their offense will be inconsistent. There’s not much shooting on the roster or reliable three-point shooting. So spacing could be very funky at times, but I think defensively they are built to lock up teams inside and out consistently, even the great ones. And you saw teams like OKC, Minnesota, and the Rockets in the Western Conference thrive in the regular season with that very identity. I will prove that they have the capability of being a top defense with the help of basketball index, a tool used by NBA front offices around the league. Starting off with their rim protectors, Anthony Davis, one of the best interior defenders in the NBA when healthy. He has an A minus or better grade in all of these categories. Rim disruption, help defense, rim deterrence, post defense, screen mobile defense, screener rim defense. Every time he’s on the floor, you have a top 10 defense right away. And if you surround him with plus defenders, having the best defense in the league is possible. Also graded A+ as a defensive rebounding talent, a minus for offense as well. They’re going to be a great rebounding team on both ends. You can see Derek Lively’s chart looks pretty much the same. A minus or better all around. And for a big man, he’s uniquely good at extending and switching on the perimeter in a pinch if needed. Perimeter isolation defense, they gave him a B minus. Not bad for a big man. Also an A minus defensive and offensive rebounding talent. And lastly, Daniel Gaffford. A’s everywhere besides rim deterrence. Bminus defensive rebounding talent, but an A minus offensive rebounding talent. When healthy, this is one of the most talented center groups in the league. I don’t see any team with a better one outside the Thunder with Chad, Isaiah Hartinstein, and Jaylen Williams. Speaking of the Thunder, they played a lot of double big and Anthony Davis liking the power forward position and the double big lineup growing in popularity around the league. Don’t be surprised if you see two on the court at times next season. Also, keep in mind Cooper Flag is pretty much 6’10. They listed him at 6’9 online, but I don’t know, he looks 6’10 to me. I believe as a rookie, he’s going to be an above average defender. Last season at Duke, he tried hard on that end. Easily could have just slacked off because he was the number one pick. I think he’s going to be useful on the perimeter and also as a secondary rim protector. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. They got PJ Washington, 6’8, another solid secondary rim protector for his position. He can guard pretty much any position in the NBA for defensive positional versatility. He was ranked ninth out of 569 players. He’s mostly been a power forward, but with all this size, he might play small forward the most of his NBA career. That’s something to watch for. Overall, scoring at the rim on this team is going to be very annoying and that definitely will be their game plan and gold. Just funnel everything to the rim. Their size should just overwhelm most teams. In terms of perimeter defense, they got Max Christie. He will be key because he accepts the tough matchups and willingly picks up ball handlers wherever. Sometimes even presses them. You saw OKC and Indiana do that all postseason long. per basketball index. Last season, he ranked 41st out of 569 players in terms of matchup difficulty. Also was A minus for perimeter isolation defense, B+ as a ball screen navigator and A as an offball chaser. He’s strong on the ball and will face guard when his guy doesn’t have the rock. Another elite perimeter defender they have is Caleb Martin. Yes, he still is out there. As a Sixers fan, he was really bad for us offensively especially. But I’m going to be real, so was everyone on the Sixers. It was pretty clear the injury he was dealing with screwed up his shot. He was trying to play through it and it kind of ruined his season in my opinion. Hopefully he comes back healthy. One thing I will say, the defense and effort was always there. He can guard one through four. A as an ISO defender, B+ as a ball screen navigator, and B as an offball chaser. Also B for passing lane defense. There’s definitely the Miami Heat version of Kayn Martin in there somewhere. Hopefully the Mavericks can get it out of him. Lastly, Naji Marshall, a minus in all three of the most important perimeter defense categories. Also another defender who can guard multiple positions on the perimeter. Even their quote unquote negative defenders are still capable of holding their own on an island. Clay ranked B as a perimeter ISO defender. He really struggled navigating screens and rotating when the defense was broken down. But if you hide him, he can be fine. Kyrie Irving most will think is a negative defender because of his size. And at times he can get picked on because of that, but on most nights he’s fine and competes hard on that end of the floor. Honestly underrated as a defender. A’s all around in the most important perimeter defense categories. Both DLO and Kyrie become a problem on defense when they have to guard a talented onball point guard or shooting guard, but with the Mavericks, that won’t be an issue. They can hide just fine. And in that role, they can be serviceable or useful on most nights. Now, of course, you don’t want to see too many DL and Kyrie lineups, but I don’t think Jason Kid has that in mind when everyone’s healthy in serious games. I will say I do like the DLO signing for the regular season. He’s a great regular season player. Hopefully he can figure it out in the playoffs at some point, but in the right ecosystem, he’s very useful offensively. The Mavs provide that for him. They also need him. Kyrie is out most of the year. DLO will have ample on ball responsibility with great lob threats. I think he will do a great job providing a scoring burst and providing spacing. Since Luca left, they were desperately missing a high usage guard who can generate offense on the ball. Even with Kyrie healthy, they still need that. And honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if Ryan Nemhard got some minutes in year one for that very reason. Jaden Hardy finally having a breakout year would be nice because they need help offensively from the one and two spot even with Kyrie healthy. It’s not like he’s going to be on the court for a full 48 and when he comes back he’s probably won’t be as lethal for the first month and a half. But yeah, I definitely do see the potential of this Maverick’s team. They are definitely going to need to get lucky healthwise to really reach their potential. But my goodness, if they do get that benefit, I I can’t wait to see what they look like defensively. That’s all I got. Let me know your thoughts below. Do you agree? Do you disagree?

Dallas Mavericks Breakdown & News

Social Media
Twitter- https://twitter.com/OfficialRomp