Crisis Control: Dallas Mavericks Plan at Point Guard

After JJ Barea injured his calf Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks are in crisis control mode at the point guard position.

The injury bug has made an early trip to the Dallas Mavericks locker room. The Mavs sideline is beginning to look like a group of businessman rather than NBA players with the number of people in suits.

In Dallas’ last preseason game Devin Harris injured his left big toe, sidelining him for the first few weeks of the season. Deron Williams has a nagging calf injury that has caused him to miss four games, and is heavily effecting his ability to perform. Add in Dirk Nowitzki‘s injury, and the Mavs were not a particularly healthy unit coming into their matchup with Boston Wednesday night.

Things didn’t get any better, as in the fourth quarter Mavs fan favorite and talented scorer JJ Barea went down after a non-contact injury. It looked bad at first, as Barea wouldn’t put any weight on his leg and was in a considerable amount of pain. Later it was confirmed that he strained his left calf.

Carlisle didn’t give a time table for Barea’s return, simply saying that he would “be out for a while”. Now, the Mavs are in a truly desperate condition. Three of the Mavs point guards are hurt, leaving the only healthy ball handler being the young Seth Curry. With this in mind, lets look at the plan on how to handle Dallas’ plethora of injuries.

In the Mavs first step to filling the void JJ and the other veterans left, Dallas went out and signed summer league standout Jonathan Gibson, releasing Quincy Acy to make room. Gibson averaged 17 points per game in the summer league, and showed promise as a scorer in camp and preseason. He was one of the last people to not make the cuts for the Mavs final roster.

Gibson will likely be eased into the rotation, as he learns the playbook and develops chemistry with his teammates, but he could grow into a larger role if the Mavs injury problems persist. He has the ability to play a similar role to JJ as a quick scoring guard that can penetrate and knock down the long range shots.

Seth Curry has been underwhelming in his first few games as a Maverick. Despite having plenty of opportunity playing 25 minutes per game, Curry’s numbers have been relatively disappointing so far. He averages only 8.4 points, 2.8 assists, and is shooting a measly 29% from deep.

For the Mavs to break this losing streak and get back to their winning ways, Curry will need to mature quickly and have a bigger impact when he’s on the floor. He has shown flashes of being a real scoring and playmaking threat, but he needs to do so consistently and efficiently.

Another option Carlisle may use in a limited amount is running Justin Anderson at point guard. Simba has an improved handle from his rookie year, and at times has even appeared to be a skilled distributor. It isn’t ideal to have him as the primary ball handler, but in a pinch the Mavs could do a lot worse.

It is worth noting that Deron Williams did play in a limited role last game in Boston, however his health is a continuous concern and I personally am not optimistic that he can be counted on for a while until he becomes fully healthy. In the 9 minutes he played Wednesday night the only statistic he recorded was 3 missed shots, and it was obvious he wasn’t at full speed. Dallas simply can’t bank on him to be ready.

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The Mavs are in a tough spot, and the way Carlisle handles the point guard rotation will be something to keep an eye on, as he tries to keep the fans and front office from going into a full on panic.