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The Dallas Mavericks: NBA Team

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Several NBA teams made notable changes this summer, hoping the additions and subtractions could bring them closer to a championship. The Dallas Mavericks are one of those teams.

With their playoff run ending early against the Thunder in May, Dallas reacted by making some big moves in the offseason. First, they made sure starting point guard Deron Williams and franchise player Dirk Nowitzki returned to the team. The Mavericks then, with Chandler Parsons no longer on the roster, signed two ex-Warrior Harrison Barnes to a max deal and traded for ex-Warrior Andrew Bogut. Lastly, they strengthened their bench by signing Seth Curry.

Keeping Williams was a great move, while there was little doubt Nowitzki would be back, as he has shown his loyalty…show more content…
Williams is composed, calm, almost never forces a contested shot and has great court vision. Even though he needs to be a little more aggressive on the court like he was during his days in Utah, his decent shooting and basketball IQ can make him a force on the court.

It’s true that Williams and Wesley Matthews weren’t really the best backcourt duo in the NBA last season, only averaging 26.6 points per game, but in the backcourt is where Dallas’ bench can be of great help. J.J. Barea is contributing 14.8 ppg this season, and has shown he can produce scoring outbursts when Williams is absent. The addition of the younger of the Curry brothers, who is only playing in his third year in the league, gives Dallas a lot of room for its bench to develop. Speaking of the bench, there are two other young players that have the potential to be potent contributors in the near future — Justin Anderson and Dwight Powell. Powell displays great athleticism and Anderson is still working on his outside shot and passing abilities, but both have great potential. With Nowitzki becoming more and more limited on the court due to his age, Anderson and Powell’s minutes and contributions may only…show more content…
In his first four games as a Maverick, Barnes is averaging 18.5 points per game, even though Dallas has come up short in all four games. Barnes has clearly improved his scoring abilities, shooting just under 50 percent from the field and 36 percent from beyond the three-point line. If he can keep up his current pace, the amount of his contract may not seem so ridiculous.

The other Warrior that came with Barnes was big-man Andrew Bogut. His scoring hasn’t been as good as it was with Milwaukee, but during his days with the Warriors, Bogut showed his great court vision and ability to grab rebounds, and his knack for setting up screens for cutters, runners and shooters. His addition should help Dallas run the floor for open shots.

The Mavericks have yet to win a game this season, and with tough competition in the Western Conference, it could be a difficult season for the Mavs with aging star players and inconsistency shooting the ball. Hopefully, they can build chemistry, or at least improve in that department in comparison to last year.

Teams like Dallas can be hard to beat, as the team is usually among the underestimated. But they need to prove themselves when chances come; otherwise, their 2016-17 campaign will just be another disappointing season with nothing
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