DALLAS — As the end of September nears, at least a third of NBA cities won’t bat an eye to the sports calendar’s rotation. The attention will be fixated on their other franchises closing on pennant races and Monday morning quarterbacking, but Dallas and its Mavericks can once again consider themselves lucky.
Few franchises in the top-heavy NBA have realistic expectations to entertain championship aspirations as they enter training camp, but few franchises boast two of the top guards in the entire league.
The American Airlines Center wasn’t the only thing getting a facelift over summer vacation. The Dallas backcourt, already the most explosive portion of the offense, seemingly improved its standing and looked to close on its weaknesses.
Kyrie Irving returned to the Mavericks after a brief flirtation with entertaining options during free agency period and constitutes the best statistical teammate Dallas has ever acquired in support of the Luka Doncic era.
Now entering their first training camp together, the Mavs’ hopes for the 2023-2024 season hinge on their star backcourt establishing a commanding presence to terrorize opposing defenses.
Irving had the best shooting stretch of his career after the trade to Dallas last February, posting a .585 effective field goal percentage on 19.2 shot attempts. Doncic, meanwhile, also had his highest FG% of his short career in ‘22-’23, shooting .560 for his 22 shot attempts per game.
This bodes well for Dallas as the duo will effectively be taking half of the entire team’s shots going forward, with the Mavs averaging 86.7 attempts per game in Doncic’s five seasons to date since entering the league. Doncic was also the highest qualified guard last season in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) at 28.99, with his superstar backcourt mate ranking 7th at 22.65.
Doncic and Irving seem determined to make their pairing work, but close eyes will follow to see how their chemistry develops after the marriage was unable to salvage last season with the team missing the playoffs for the first time since Doncic’s rookie season in Dallas.
The duo of Irving and Doncic will certainly help in reducing the amount of double teams each player commands, but a championship caliber roster needs available shooters to snipe at a moment’s notice when either of their talented court quarterbacks decide to share.
Of their next four attempts leaders from the previous season, only Tim Hardaway Jr. (11.9) remains in a Dallas uniform. Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith were shipped to the Brooklyn Nets in the Kyrie exchange, and Christian Wood left for the Los Angeles Lakers to kick the tires on the mercurial big man.
Most didn’t expect Hardaway Jr. to survive the summer roster purge either, and he seems destined for the heater role off the bench but don’t be surprised if he ends up trade fodder in a contract swap with a team losing ground in the standings.
Former Boston Celtics wing defender Grant Williams will likely be the third option off-ball in the death lineup. He will, of course, be crucial to the perimeter defense when Doncic and Irving are on the floor, but his three point shot will command respect as well. Supplementing Williams as a shooter is Seth Curry, with whom the Mavs seem determined to make it work in a third stop in Dallas.
Are the Mavs gaslighting or do they really ready to unleash Curry this time?
Expect an increase from the 3.7 three point shots that Williams and Curry each attempted per game last season, and the Mavs will surely expect a return to form from Stephen’s brother, who has the 6th highest 3-Pt Field Goal Percentage (43%) in league history.
Adding Curry and Williams to counter the hot and cold shooting that Hardaway offers will do wonders for the Dallas offense, which also boasts the emerging Josh Green and Jaden Hardy. 2020 first-rounder Green took a leap in his third season, emerging as a dynamic scoring option and shooting 40% from deep. Hardy, meanwhile, performed just as impressively in his rookie campaign, becoming a regular in the Dallas rotation and finishing the year as a 40% three point shooter in his own right.
The addition of either player inserted in with the rotation or as a small ball combination with Doncic, Irving, defensive ace Dante Exum, and Williams will lead to many a frustrating night for opposing defenses.
As camp gets underway on Wednesday, the Mavs will also bring roster options to work on the guard rotations, but opportunity will be limited. The backcourt already has a logjam of established and emerging players needing touches, so don’t expect much upward roster mobility from training camp invitees Dexter Dennis, A.J. Lawson, Jordan Walker and Mike Miles Jr.
This is very much a prove you can do it again season for Green and Hardy -- prove you can give more for Williams and Curry, and prove you can win at a championship level together season for Irving and Doncic. The backcourt will live and die with those players and as the backcourt goes, so goes the Mavericks.
Do you think the Dallas Mavericks have the talent in the backcourt to return to the playoffs? Share your thoughts with Irvin on Twitter @Twittirv.
