NBA Season Preview 2019-20: Every team’s biggest question

Dallas Mavericks: Can Kristaps Porzingis return to form?

Amidst all the chaos of this summer’s free agent feeding frenzy, the Dallas Mavericks were uncharacteristically quiet. That’s because, in essence, their offseason happened eight months ago, when they acquired disgruntled star Kristaps Porzingis from the New York Knicks in exchange for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and two first round picks. It’s no secret that Mark Cuban has been trying to find a star frontcourt player for years, and just as one sweet-shooting Mavericks star headed to retirement, they seemingly found another.

But the question here isn’t difficult to divine: Porzingis hasn’t played a minute of NBA basketball since tearing his ACL halfway through the 2017-18 season. Finally scheduled to make his return to the court this year, what kind of player will he look like? At his peak, Porzingis could be a stellar complement to Luka Doncic in Rick Carlisle’s offense, as a high-volume scorer with a sweet shooting stroke (39.5 percent from 3 in 2017-18), and he’s a lockdown defender in the paint who will make the kind of impact around the rim that the Mavericks hoped Jordan could last season.

Even in a best-case scenario, it will take Porzingis time to readjust to NBA basketball. The problem is that in the short-term, it’s hard to chart a course for Dallas to make the Western Conference Playoffs without Porzingis at 100 percent. The Mavericks have a number of nice complementary pieces around their two stars, but none of them really has a ceiling higher than “role player.” Who is the third-best player on this roster? Seth Curry? Dwight Powell? Tim Hardaway Jr.?

For their part, the Mavericks demonstrated their confidence in Porzingis this summer when they handed him a five-year, $158 million contract. They hope to pair him and Doncic together for the next decade of Dallas basketball. It’s a tempting plan, but it could be one that requires patience for the immediate future.