DALLAS — The unofficial end of Summer brings us one step closer to the start of the 2023-2024 NBA season. The Dallas Mavericks will regroup in late September with some fresh faces striving to be one of the 15 players who get to start the year on the roster on a squad hungry to return to the playoffs.
Luka Doncic will be starting his sixth season with the Mavs, eyeing a return to the postseason after a disappointing absence last season. The Slovenian sensation is currently second all-time in playoff per-game scoring (32.5 PPG) trailing only Michael Jordan, and the Mavs front office was tasked with getting him back there after a campaign that ended in tanking controversy rather than a playoff berth.
Crucial to the bounce-back effort will be the secondary scoring of Kyrie Irving, who became the highest-profile star to sign with the Mavericks to date in franchise history, a few months after he joined the team via trade. Plenty of big names have come to Dallas on the tail-end of their careers, but the ankle-taker Irving will be just 31 at the start of the season and remains an elite scorer.
The Luka-Kyrie backcourt will have a full training camp to get their chemistry right to go along with a brand new supporting cast.
With Doncic and Irving being the clear superstar duo, dynamic fresh faces Jaden Hardy and Josh Green will look to expand on their breakout seasons and become stalwarts of the rotation in their own right.
Aussie standout and former first-rounder Green showed that he deserved heavy minutes in the lost season, which should prove dividends in the upcoming campaign as he shot at nearly 54% from the field and over 40% from deep.
2022 second-rounder Hardy looked explosive when he was allowed to cook, something that other NBA teams have noticed as he became Dallas's most attractive trade chip outside of Green. The pair should prove invaluable to Dallas, providing youth and skill on the court or as part of their next big trade for superstar reinforcements.
Newcomer Grant Williams is here to be the glue guy in the room, arriving via sign-and-trade by way of Boston. An absolute stalwart defender, Williams will anchor the Dallas perimeter defense while being a long-range sniper in his own right. A veteran of 60 playoff games in his young career, the 24-year-old H-town product brings toughness to the revamped roster.
Joining Williams as an acquired sharpshooter is Seth Curry, who returns for his third stint in Dallas. Curry holds the third-highest 3-Pt % (.435) among active players and has seemingly become the new Devin Harris, somehow bringing continuity to the roster while continuously being new to it.
Guard Tim Hardaway Jr. being traded in during the offseason seemed to be the most obvious move, outside of finding takers for Javale McGee, but Hardaway returns to the roster for now, which makes for great depth for a backcourt that features long injury histories for both Curry and Irving.
With McGee finally being waived, Richaun Holmes is the new face of the Dallas Frontcourt, joining holdovers Maxi Kleber and – somewhat surprisingly – Dwight Powell. Training camp will offer a look into how quickly first-round rookie Dereck Lively can contribute, but the Duke product will be fighting the veterans for minutes.
Lively will provide the intrigue at training camp for prospective followers. He has a ridiculous wingspan and is primed to give Dallas what is required of centers in the current NBA era. Having Williams as the perimeter safeguard before a team’s best player enters the paint will do wonders for covering up his defensive growing pains.
Joining fellow rookie Lively is 24th overall pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper, who himself features a 6’8” wingspan. The Canadian’s calling card is that of a high-motor guy, someone willing to take charges, and a moldable youngster who will do whatever his coach Jason Kidd asks of him.
There is a common theme brewing at the end of the Dallas bench with Prosper, Australian defender Dante Exum, and UNLV product Derrick Jones Jr. having the athleticism and potential to be leagues above what the bench offered over the last few seasons. There is potential with the bench to contribute to wins when they get a chance to showcase.
While it was thought that the Mavericks could be looking to add an additional big name such as Deandre Ayton, Myles Turner, or Clint Capela, re-signing F/C Markieff Morris likely spelled the
end of the offseason moves for Dallas ahead of training camp. Still, don’t be surprised to see them attempt to land another superstar at some point.
From top to bottom, the Dallas roster is nearing the 2023-2024 training camp with an intriguing and deep pool of players after a season that was too top heavy. General manager Nico Harris, along with Vice President of Basketball Operations Michael Finley, have done their part in amassing more firepower to pair with their superstar guards. Now comes the fun part of seeing if the chemistry can develop across the Dallas rotation.
Do you think the Mavericks will bounce back to return to the playoffs in 2024? Share your thoughts with Irvin on Twitter @Twittirv.