What’s Wrong with the Dallas Mavericks?
Over the last two seasons, the Dallas Mavericks have been one of the most exciting, young teams to watch in the entire NBA. We’ve been able to see the birth of NBA superstar Luka Doncic, who has electrified the league with his limitless offensive capabilities and his ability to elevate the play of his teammates. Kristaps Porzingis finally got back on the court in 2019 after a devastating knee injury a few years earlier, and instantly created a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses with his incredible shooting ability and towering frame.
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Last season, the Mavericks finished with the 7th seed in the Western Conference. Even though they got eliminated in the first round, this young team flashed their potential to grow into a perennial contender behind both Doncic, Porzingis and their unstoppable offense. Fast forward to 2021, the Mavs are 16-16, Doncic has struggled to maintain efficiency in volume shooting, and Dallas is openly shopping Porzingis.
What happened?
The Mavs do not look anything like the team we saw last season. As a team, they have regressed in nearly every statistical category. The Mavs are in the bottom half of the league in scoring, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks.
Of those statistical categories, some stand out more than others when it comes to what has gone wrong for the Mavs. In 2019, the Mavs were 4th in the NBA in total rebounds, 2nd in assists, and 3rd in scoring. This year they are 29th in total rebounds, 26th in assists, and 17th in scoring. In just one year, the Mavs went from being elite in those categories to being absolutely abysmal.
Forget any individual player, when a team that prides itself on offense and rebounding fails in both those regards, they are bound to lose. They are shopping their 7’3” star center Kristaps Porzingis because they recognize that something is fundamentally wrong with their team. Whether it’s in the personnel or in the coaching staff is still being decided, but what they have decided on, is that they need to make a change now.
Porzingis has posted solid numbers this season, averaging 20.5 points per game, 8.2 rebounds while shooting a little over 47% from the floor. These are respectable numbers for any player, however, his plus-minus proves a different theory, as teams outscore the Mavs by an average of 3.6 points per game while Porzingis is on the court. None of the Mavs players have a great plus-minus ratio, even Luka Doncic is not having a positive effect on his team with a plus-minus of 0.
Is trading away a player once touted as “the Unicorn” a solution to solve all of the problems the team has had? Or will it be a bandaid that will inevitably peel off leaving the Mavs looking for answers elsewhere?
It is evident that something is wrong with the Mavs. Whether it’s the coaching or whether it’s the players is hard to say, but they are looking to make serious changes now, and will only be able to evaluate which decisions were correct as the season continues.
