The Mavericks’ roster for the 2020-21 season is set.
Well, almost set.
After a whirlwind week with the draft and free agency days apart, Dallas has 16 players on guaranteed contracts heading into the start of training camp — one more than NBA rosters hold during the regular season.
That means the Mavericks will have to make a move, whether by waiving or trading someone, to trim their roster between Dec. 1 and Dec. 22. Expect competition for roles in the Mavericks’ now-deepened rotation to be fierce.
As The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this week, the Mavericks’ current depth chart will look similar to this:
Point guard: Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Trey Burke, J.J. Barea
Shooting guard: Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, Tyrell Terry, *Nate Hinton
Small forward: Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Wesley Iwundu, #Devonte Patterson
Power forward: Maxi Kleber, James Johnson, *Tyler Bey, #Freddie Gillespie
Center: Kristaps Porzingis, Dwight Powell, Willie Cauley-Stein, Boban Marjanovic
*Players on two-way contracts. #Players on Exhibit 10 (nonguaranteed) contracts.
With that in mind, here’s the breakdown of four of the most important battles over the next few weeks.
Jalen Brunson vs. Trey Burke
The importance of depth behind Luka Doncic became especially apparent last winter when Doncic missed two stretches of at least four games with ankle sprains. He also dealt with other ailments in the weeks leading up to the mid-March coronavirus suspension.
Doncic’s physical style as the feature player and primary ball handler in the Mavericks’ offense exposes him to contact and purposeful fouls from struggling defenses.
Who will be his first backup?
Brunson has served as a primary backup since his and Doncic’s rookie season in 2018-19 and has averaged at least eight points and three assists in each season as a steady rotation player. Brunson should be fully recovered from March shoulder surgery to start training camp.
In Brunson’s stead during the restart this summer, Burke transformed from a roster substitute to playoff starter alongside Doncic. Burke’s familiarity with the Mavericks’ offense, dating to his 2019 arrival in Dallas as part of the Kristaps Porzingis deal, gave him the comfort to showcase his speed and confidence in the Disney World bubble — and earn a long-term contract last week to remain with Dallas.
With veteran champion and Doncic mentor J.J. Barea also in the mix, the Mavericks should be better built to weather possible Doncic absences in the condensed 2020-21 season.
Dorian Finney-Smith vs. Maxi Kleber
The two emerged as the Mavericks’ primary defenders against the Clippers’ stars in last season’s playoff series.
Now, they could combine for time in the area the Mavericks need options most: in the frontcourt, especially as Kristaps Porzingis misses the first few weeks of the season while rehabbing from meniscus surgery.
Finney-Smith, who’s developed into one of the Mavericks’ most consistent 3-and-D players, slots more as a small forward. But the draft-night trade for small forward Josh Richardson from the 76ers makes Finney-Smith’s versatility a bonus as Dallas turns to an uncertain frontcourt group early in the season.
Kleber, who also played some center last summer in Porzingis’ absence, started throughout the playoffs.
The 28-year-old just recorded, by far, his best season of his three in Dallas, averaging 9.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks a game with some of his best defensive performances coming against some of the NBA’s biggest names. Zion Williamson isn’t likely to have forgotten the trouble Kleber gave him at the rim last March.
With Porzingis coming off knee surgery, the Mavs will need reinforcement in the frontcourt.
Willie Cauley-Stein vs. Boban Marjanovic
The Mavericks will also be short-handed at center to start the season.
Porzingis played his best when lining up at the five last season. Dwight Powell is also a natural fit there, but he’ll be just 11 months removed from right Achilles surgery when the season starts in late December, so the Mavericks could be cautious with working him back into live competition.
That leaves Cauley-Stein and Marjanovic as two options to see an early increase in playing time.
Marjanovic shined against some playoff-bound competition last season. Who can forget his career-best 31-point, 17-rebound show against the Nuggets on March 11?
The Mavericks have turned to Marjanovic when the matchups benefit his size and offensive style. They may have to be less selective to start the season if Cauley-Stein’s development doesn’t outpace Marjanovic’s.
Cauley-Stein joined the Mavericks last January via trade from the Warriors to help fill the void from Powell’s injury. But he played just 13 games with Dallas, including two starts, because of a personal matter in February and his decision to opt out of the restart this summer.
The former first-round pick has the potential to be a strong fit in the Mavericks’ spaced offense and on pick-and-rolls with Doncic.
Josh Green vs. Tyrell Terry
In the NBA’s most chaotic offseason, the Mavericks’ top two rookies, along with the rest of their 2020 draft class, will have to navigate the quickest professional introduction in history.
Green (No. 18 overall) and Terry (No. 31) won’t play the same roles if and when they earn time in the Mavericks’ rotation.
A freshman out of Arizona, Green is known for his defensive prowess and athleticism. He struggled at times shooting from 3 in college, but Dallas coveted his upside and maturity in the first round.
Terry, meanwhile, was one of the strongest shooters in the draft. He made 48% of his catch-and-shoot 3s as a Stanford freshman last season and shot 40.8% from 3 overall.
Whether the two emerge as potential contributors early in the season probably will depend on whether they can acclimate to the NBA level without summer league or the traditional weeks of pre-training camp scrimmaging.
Still, the development of two promising young players on one of the Western Conference’s most talented young rosters will be key to the Mavericks building the depth and diversity they hope will propel deeper playoff runs.
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