The Whiteboard: How the Mavericks can rebuild for an NBA title run
By Wes Goldberg
A clip from the Lakers win over the Clippers on Tuesday night made the social media rounds. LeBron James streaks down the center of the court on a give-and-go, dunks and hits his trademark shoulder shrug. He looks over to the bench where his new teammate, Luka Doncic, is clapping. The message was clear: This is what we can do.
There’s been a lot of talk – understandably – about how LeBron and Luka will play together. It’s a duo unlike anything we’ve ever seen: A 40-year-old, capital-L Legend with an all-time resume teaming up with a 25-year-old scaling the same mountain. This is like if Michael Jordan in 1997 teamed up with Penny Hardaway.
A lot less ink has been spilled on what happens in Dallas. It’s a wild, incomprehensible, potentially franchise-crumbling trade, but the Mavericks still have work to do.
Anthony Davis is a good player. He transforms the Mavericks in a material way, alters their style of play, and raises the ceiling of their defense. (Please do not read this as it makes them better. It doesn’t. But that’s not the point here.)
“When you get an All-NBA player who’s also a first-team All-Defensive player, we think that’s gonna help us where we need it the most, on the defensive end,” Mavericks GM Nico Harrison explained during his press conference this week.
Depending on how Dallas builds around Davis and Kyrie Irving, the Mavs should remain a factor in the Western Conference.
In Davis and Irving, the Mavericks have a pair of players who have won a championship with LeBron. Now, neither has LeBron to play off of.
Defense will be Dallas’ backbone. Between Davis, Daniel Gafford, Derrick Lively II, P.J. Washington, Max Christie, Dante Exum, Naji Marshall and Caleb Martin (acquired Tuesday for Quentin Grimes), half of the Mavericks roster consists of good-to-great defenders.
On offense, there are questions.
Irving is at his best when used as a secondary playmaker. As a primary, he has struggled to carry offenses to deep playoff runs, whether it was with the Boston Celtics or Brooklyn Nets before the arrival of James Harden. Without Doncic, Irving assumes the role as the Mavericks’ lead guard. Assuming the starting lineup is Irving, Klay Thompson, Washington, Davis and Gafford/ Lively II, he’s really the only natural playmaker.
Davis, meanwhile, may want to play power forward, but he’s at his best when used as a center. Playing him with another, non-spacing 7-footer will have to be accounted for. Davis is a career 29.7% 3-point shooter and hasn’t shot better than 30% since helping lead the Lakers to a championship in 2020. Perhaps being forced to space the floor will unlock a dormant 3-point stroke. The Mavs will need it.
When Gafford and Lively are healthy, Davis has the option to play power forward full-time. This is different than his most successful year in LA, when the Lakers started with a center beside Davis but their best lineups featured AD at the 5. There’s time for coach Jason Kidd to experiment, but not much.
As evidenced by Tuesday’s trade for Martin, the Mavericks aren’t done reshaping the roster. Maybe nothing else gets done before tomorrow’s trade deadline, but the offseason begins in four months.
This was a roster built around Luka, now it must be rebuilt around Davis and Irving.
Is Washington, a career 35.7% 3-point shooter with a hot-and-cold streak, the right wing on a team that needs spacing? Is Klay Thompson, not much more than a spot-up shooter at this stage, the right guard next to Irving? Do the Mavericks need both Gafford and Lively, or does one of them suddenly become expendable?
As Harrison said, this massive trade was aimed at winning now. Davis and Irving will turn 32 and 33 next month. As Dallas showed, everything is on the table, all at once. There is still work to do.
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NBA news and rumors roundup
- End of an era: The Bucks traded Khris Middleton and rookie A.J. Johnson to the Washington Wizards in a deal for Kyle Kuzma. Giannis and Middleton played 12 full seasons and 738 games together, shared three All-Star games, won a championship in 2021. Now, Middleton heads to the Capital while Kuzma will pack his sweaters for Milwaukee.
- The New Orleans Pelicans agreed to trade center Daniel Theis and draft compensation to the Oklahoma City Thunder. New Orleans gets under the luxury tax, and the Thunder add some depth at center. Nice piece of business for both.
- All eyes are on Kevin Durant. League chatter is picking up that Durant could be on the move, with the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat the teams mentioned as potential destinations.
3 players to watch before the trade deadline
De'Andre Hunter, Atlanta Hawks: There’s been some scuttle about the Cleveland Cavaliers targeting Hunter to bolster their wing rotation. The Cavs had previously been tied to Nets forward Cam Johnson.
Brandon Ingram, New Orleans Pelicans: The Pelicans no longer need to make a move after the Theis deal got them under the tax, but they are still reportedly shopping Ingram, whose contract expires at the end of the season. The Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks are the teams most tied to him.
Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat: The Heat remain highly motivated to find a home for Butler, but Phoenix’s failure to find a new team for Bradley Beal has impeded their progress. Milwaukee had been rumored as a potential backup Butler destination, but that seems to be off the table after the trade for Kuzma. Memphis and Golden State have yet to make major moves and could be in the mix. What happens with Durant could determine what happens with Butler, who is on indefinite suspension by the Heat.
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