Dallas

Mavericks ROSTER

The 2019-2020 Dallas Mavericks were a special unit, at least offensively. Through the leadership and play of both Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, Dallas climbed their way all the way to the top and tallied a 115.9 offensive rating, which was the league's best. Someway and somehow, the tandem of Doncic and Porzingis was able to outdo other incredible duos like James Harden and Russell Westbrook of the Houston Rockets, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers, and even LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the eventual NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers. The incredibly efficient 2019-20 Mavs offense was able to surpass the fiery offense from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors, who tallied 115 points per 100 possessions in the 2018-2019 season.

Both Doncic and Porzingis had enough room to work thanks to the team's three-point shooting, which was second-best in terms of three-point shooting percentage (45.7%) next to the Rockets. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the team with 204 made threes in the regular season, which ranked seventh in the NBA. The Mavs also enjoyed the hot shooting from Seth Curry and Trey Burke, though Dallas traded Curry to the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason.

Obviously, the Mavs have to ride their fiery offense to win, with Doncic leading the fray. Doncic is on track to be in the MVP conversation again after yet another impressive season as Dallas' floor general. The Slovenian ended the 2019-20 regular season nearly averaging a triple-double with 28.8 points per game, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists. Doncic also spearheaded the way for the Mavs in his first ever playoff appearance, where he constantly etched his name in the history books with quite an incredible debut.

Defense is something that the Mavs need to work on if they want to build on the momentum they gained during the 2019-2020 season. Although their offense has played at an elite level (best in the league last season), they paired it with a lowly defensive rating of 111.2, 18th in the NBA. Although their defense in the paint was decent, the Mavs really struggled staying in front of their opponents and stopping the ball. Dallas ranked second to last in steals (6.1 per game) as well as their opponents’ points in transition (16.4 points off the fast break per game).

The Mavs were able to salvage their defense thanks to Kristaps Porzingis and Maxi Kleber, who did their thing down low to protect the paint. With the likes of Dwight Powell and Willie Cauley-Stein coming back, the front court defense is at the very least decent. What they need is to complement this by increasing their defensive intensity in the backcourt. Luka Doncic has been a beast offensively, but defensively he's been sub-par. If the Mavs want to stand a chance and compete for a title in 2019-20, they need to drastically improve on the defensive end, even if it means sacrificing their offense a little (which could be the aim of the Josh Richardson-Seth Curry trade).

Early in 2020, the Mavs signed Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who has been known as a lockdown defender for most of his career. Although he made most of the minutes he got in his first season with the Mavericks, surely the Mavs front office needs more than just MKG to help aid their defensive woes. Yes, the Mavs' top-rated offense was able to bring them to the postseason, but a defense which ranked second-worst in the playoffs also helped them leave the bubble early.

Head Coach Rick Carlisle has been the lead tactician for the Mavs since 2008. The 61-year-old former Coach of the Year with the Detroit Pistons has successfully brought the Mavs to the playoffs eight out of 12 years and he is arguably one of the best coaches in the league. Carlisle is one of the few people to win a title both as a player (1986) and as a head coach (2011). After 17 seasons in the league, Carlisle has earned a .546 win percentage ahead of the 2020-21 season, racking up 794 wins out of a total of 1,453 games coached, including 513 wins in Dallas. He is 30-34 in the playoffs with the Mavs, which was highlighted by a 16-5 run in the 2011 postseason where they ended up winning it all.

Helping Carlisle in all his coaching duties are four assistant coaches: Darrell Armstrong, Jenny Boucek, Jamahl Mosley and Mike Weinar.