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If there was a team that shocked the NBA last season, it was the Dallas Mavericks. After not winning a single playoff series since their title in 2011, the Mavs beat the Utah Jazz in the first round in six games. Then, they defeated the highly favored Phoenix Suns, which included a big 33-point blowout victory in Game 7. Unfortunately, Dallas was no match for the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
Although the run did not come with an NBA Finals appearance, the Mavs' 2021-22 campaign was a massive success, and they will look to take the next step to the Finals in the 2022-23 NBA season. While Dallas lost Jalen Brunson to the New York Knicks in free agency, the front office did make some other notable moves to help star Luka Doncic. The Mavs acquired Christian Wood from the Houston Rockets in a trade without giving up any rotation pieces. They also signed three-time NBA champion JaVale McGee and selected former five-star recruit Jaden Hardy in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
It will be interesting to see what Jason Kidd does to mitigate the loss of Brunson. Dallas is set to get Tim Hardaway Jr. back, but Brunson is still a key loss no matter what.
With that being said, here are three bold predictions for the Dallas Mavericks for the upcoming 2022-23 NBA season.
Dallas Mavericks 2022-23 Predictions
3. The Doncic-Wood pairing will be key to success
One position the Mavs definitely improved was center. Adding Christian Wood in exchange for a late first-round pick and salary filler was a steal, especially following the other trades in the league that involved multiple first-round picks.
Last season, the starting center for Dallas was Dwight Powell, who started in all 18 playoff games but averaged only 3.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per night. Coming off the bench, Dallas had Maxi Kleber, who had 8.7 points per contest while hitting 41.6% from beyond the arc.
In his last season with the Houston Rockets, Wood notched 17.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per content, plus a block a night. He also shot 50.1% from the field and 39.0% on 3-pointers.
Wood gives the Mavs an extra offensive threat who can finish close to the rim but also spread the floor. As Wood moves away from the paint, it will give Doncic and the other guards more opportunities to infiltrate and make layups, or at the very least draw shooting fouls. Bringing in Wood helps replace Kristaps Porzingis after last season's trade to the Washington Wizards, giving Doncic a new running mate.
Interestingly enough, while Wood almost exclusively played center for the Rockets, Jason Kidd plans to start him at the 4 with JaVale McGee at center after Dallas gave McGee a nice bag. Kidd will have his options in the frontcourt to mix and match.
2. The Mavs will struggle to find the replacement for Jalen Brunson
Despite all the talk that the New York Knicks overvalued Jalen Brunson with his four-year contract worth $104 million, he will be missed in Texas. Brunson averaged 16.3 points (second-highest on the team behind Doncic), 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds. He also had efficient shooting by making 50.2% of his shots from the field, 37.3% of his 3-point shots and 84.0% from the free throw line. His playoffs numbers jumped to 21.6 points a night as he started in all 18 games, including several without Doncic.
Losing someone like Brunson will hurt the Mavs down the line. The team did not add any new guards other than Jaden Hardy in the second round of the draft, with Goran Dragic going to the Chicago Bulls instead of joining his fellow Slovenian in Dallas. Unless the rookie has a lot of impact right away, Dallas will suffer a big downgrade in the backcourt.
Tim Hardaway Jr. will be returning after missing the entire postseason with an injury, Reggie Bullock struggled in some games and Spencer Dinwiddie traditionally comes off the bench for his career. Right now, it is unclear who will take Brunson's place in the starting lineup, though the assumption for now is it will be Hardaway.
With the addition of Wood, a solution might be adding a more defensive-minded guard like Frank Ntilikina to the starting five. The French guard is still battling to have his place in the NBA, so even this move could take some time to fully work.
Because of that, the Mavs should consider bringing a scoring guard such as Dennis Schroder or Isaiah Thomas to help the team. They are cheap options and would provide an extra offensive weapon to Jason Kidd's arsenal.
1. Luka Doncic will get his first MVP trophy in the NBA
Since his first games in the league, Luka Doncic has been one of the most impressive NBA players. In his first four seasons in the U.S., Doncic is already a three-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA First-Team member, and has broken the Mavs' franchise record of triple-doubles.
Not only that, he is responsible for bringing Dallas to the spotlight once again after a couple of years missing the playoffs. The 2022 postseason run was very impressive and is just a sign of how bright the future can be for this Mavs franchise.
After a great year with averages of 28.4 points, 8.7 assists and 9.1 rebounds, Doncic should have even more control of the ball following the loss of Brunson. Images of him playing with the Slovenian national team this summer and photos with fans have shown him to be in better shape than usual. Improving his conditioning will help Doncic not wear down as much late in games and make him better defensively.
The new-look Luka Doncic is causing waves on social media after being known to let himself loose in the summer.
Does Luka slimming down spell trouble for NBA defenses? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/6xWvrZ4uxQ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 2, 2022
Following a surprising yet impactful postseason, Doncic has already shown he can lead a team to big things in the league. Because of that and all the changes around him for the 2022-23 season, the Slovenian guard has a real shot of winning his first MVP in the NBA.
