The Dallas Mavericks have gotten off to a solid start to the 2023-24 season; putting behind the bitter aftertaste of last year's disappointing finish, Luka Doncic and the Mavs have started the season with a 13-8 record, which is good for third at the moment in the Western Conference standings at present.

At this point, however, there are some pundits who are still questioning the Mavs' competitive credentials. After all, the Mavs may be without Kyrie Irving for the foreseeable future due to a foot injury, and without the team's second star, Doncic may find the offensive burden to be exceptionally heavy once more.

But when fully healthy, Jay Williams, in appearance on the Scoop B Radio Podcast with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, the Mavs still may be lacking a few key ingredients to the recipe of mounting a deep playoff run and, perhaps, winning the NBA Finals.

“I think that they’re missing rebounding and I think that they’re missing a three-and-D guy, you know? Those two are so prolific offensively, they need the right pieces around them defensively and rebounding to help go next level because if not, they’re not going to get there,” Williams said.

At the very least, the Mavs have upgraded their center rotation, which was a notable weakness when they collapsed to end the 2022-23 season. Rookie Dereck Lively II is a burgeoning two-way lob threat star, and the Mavs will be better off handing the keys to their interior to the 19-year old.

But the Mavs may indeed still be short a three-and-D guy; they don't exactly have a tenacious defensive presence at the point of attack, and the backcourt of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, structurally, may not be too conducive to putting up a top defense anyway.

Jay Williams contends that, if the Mavs fail to get an upgrade in that regard, they may find it difficult to contend moving forward given the distractions facing the team.

“And we already know what’s going to happen, right? We’re going to start pitting Kyrie against Luka, questions start swirling around if Mark is going to sell the team, is this the right place for Luka? Can they win with this style of basketball?… It's about to come for Dallas!” Williams added.

Only time will tell how the Mavs' season will turn out, especially when they're about to face adversity in light of Kyrie Irving's absence.