5 reasons Dallas Mavericks can win the NBA Finals

They can play small 

The biggest trend in the NBA currently is small ball. The Heat started it, the Spurs nearly perfected it, and the Warriors took it on a historic run over the past two years. It has everyone wanting to go small, and the stretch four is now a must-have player on your team. The Mavericks just so happen to the greatest stretch four in NBA history on their side.

Nowitzki is the definition of stretch four in the dictionary. He isn’t as fast as he once was, and it kind of hurts the point of his position, but with that, they have a piece that can match up with what the elite are doing. Aside from Nowitzki, this is a team that will rotate in five guards from a nine or ten man rotation.

The names of Ray Felton, Deron Williams, JJ Barea, Devin Harris and Wesley Matthews typically do not strike fear into the hearts of teams, but with a master like Carlisle, the mix and match of the crew can be scary.

They can essentially run lineups with three guards, Nowitzki and Pachulia, or if they wanted to can run lineups with three guards, a guy like Justin Anderson or David Lee and Nowitzki as a stretch center. Most teams would not have a strong answer for a lineup with Nowitzki at center, and if they can get out and run on teams, it will at least be tougher to take them down than years before.

Next: They avoid the Warriors until Conference Finals