Dallas Mavericks: Is Josh McRoberts Going to Play?

The Dallas Mavericks made a trade shortly after the moratorium period ended this summer that many people began to question immediately. Will the addition of Josh McRoberts change the way the Mavs set their rotation?

When you take on a contract worth $6 million, it wouldn’t seem to make much sense to then let that player ride the bench all year. Investing that much money in a player is definitely a risk, but there generally seems to be a reward in place from the player’s production.

I am not so sure that is the case with Josh McRoberts.

On the surface, this trade looked a little bit like a catch and release type deal where Dallas would get rid of McRoberts before he even made it to Texas. However, aside from that appearing to not be an option, the Mavs knew that this investment was very short term. With only one year left on his contract, the reasoning for his signing was clearly all about cap flexibility in 2018.

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That being said, McRoberts is not a bad player. He has had his moments of great play but has never really struck anyone as a big time threat on the court. He can stretch the floor fairly well but does not stretch outside of the three-point line very often. His usefulness will come with his mid-range scoring mostly.

Dallas does not have anywhere near what would be called a logjam at the power forward position, but McRoberts is presumably third at the position on the depth chart, behind Dirk Nowitzki and Dwight Powell. The distaste that fans have for Dwight Powell is no secret and people are probably wondering if McRoberts will get him off the court more regularly.

If you ask me, I do not believe that McRoberts is going to take a big chunk of Powell’s minutes. Although Dwight has not gotten to the level he should be at yet, his skill set fits what the Mavericks need much more so than McRoberts. I don’t think that he will ride the bench all season, but I think that his value on the court is less than people would expect from his contract.

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Don’t expect to see too much from McBob this season, as he has found only a temporary home in Dallas.