Dallas Mavericks point guard J.J. Barea has been a fan favorite since arriving back in the city after a three-year spell with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The new wave has pushed the 34-year-old Puerto Rican into a minimized role with Dennis Smith Jr. as the starter, yet Mavs coach Rick Carlisle has managed to get the most of his backup point guard despite playing him the lowest minutes he has played in the last four years.

Barea is playing only 19.9 minutes per game this season, but the Mavs point guard has managed to still put up 10.9 points and 5.8 assists per contest — incredible production for a player seeing less than 20 minutes on the court.

According to Tim Cato of The Athletic, Barea is leading the league in assist percentage with a beefy 48.7 percent, which means he's generating nearly half of his team's baskets with his passing when he's on the floor. Coach Carlisle usually opts for lineups with two ballhandlers, but even with Barea on the court without Luka Doncic or Smith, he runs the vast majority of plays.

Barea's magic has managed to stun even his own teammates, despite spending the last four years with the team, as his herky-jerky style of ballhandling and creativity around the rim is enough to make players marvel at his genius. Barea's ambiguous floater for one…

“It happened to me last year,” teammate Maxi Kleber said. “I remember sometimes (thinking), like, ‘Hold on, is that a pass or a floater?’ while it was in the air, and I just left it and it went in.”

“(We’re) joking about it every time on the bench when he drives into the lane and somehow gets a weird-ass layup or a floater, and you’re like, ‘How the hell does he do that?’ He just gives you a bump, and he shoots them even over big guys. He just has a special timing. I don’t know how he does it.”

The veteran's game has transcended his age, as J.J. Barea has managed to be a consistent bench piece for Carlisle, even after being deployed less often than previous years.