Assessing the Dallas Mavericks Final Roster

With the report today from Shams Charania of The Vertical that Gian Clavell will receive a two-way contract from the Dallas Mavericks, the Mavs’ final roster is complete. Here I’ll take a deeper dive into the roster make-up and the team’s potential rotation.

The regular season begins Wednesday for the Dallas Mavericks and the final roster is officially set for opening night. The Mavericks waived Maalik Wayns, P.J. Dozier, and Jameel Warney yesterday and converted Gian Clavell’s deal to a 2-way contract earlier today thereby finalizing the roster for the new season. Let’s get started breaking down what we think we know about the rotation so far:

The Starters

As it stands right now, the starters for the 2017-2018 season will be:

PG: Dennis Smith Jr.

SG: Seth Curry (upon return from injury)

SF: Wesley Matthews

PF: Harrison Barnes

C: Dirk Nowitzki

One thing that immediately stands out about this group is that it is smaller than your traditional line-up. Rick Carlisle has clearly made the decision to embrace the small-ball revolution with this starting group playing Matthews, Barnes, and Nowitzki all up a spot from their NBA-listed positions.

This group will be exciting to watch offensively but may have their fair share of struggles on the defensive end and on the glass. The Dallas Mavericks need to make a concerted effort to improve their rebounding after finishing last in the league in that category last season. All in all, the offense should be above average and the defense shouldn’t be too bad with this group. If they can make some modest gains in the rebounding department, the starters should be just fine.

The Heavy-Minute Bench Players

From what I can tell, four guys will be constants off the bench with the remainder of the reserve players consistently fighting to win Carlisle’s approval. Those four players are:

C: Nerlens Noel

PG: Yogi Ferrell

PG: J.J. Barea

PG/SG: Devin Harris

Obviously, this is where we run into some problems. Don’t get me wrong, I like all four of those players and they all still belong as contributors on NBA rosters, but that’s three point guards, no true shooting guards, definitely no small forwards, and no power forwards either.

Rick Carlisle will break out his fan-divisive, controversial three guard rotation early and often this year with it being more out of necessity than anything else. Devin Harris will play A LOT of small forward this season which should lead to an even faster-paced offense than the first group that struggles even more on defense.

Luckily, Nerlens Noel will be in the middle to hold things down on the defensive end and some of the starters will often be mixed in with this group. Noel will surely benefit offensively from having three pick-and-roll ball-handlers to throw him lobs at the rim where he can flash his elite hops for a big man.

These four will somehow be loads of fun and incredibly frustrating to watch all at the same time. Whether or not this wacky science experiment will be effective on the court, however, remains to be seen.

The Bench Players Duking It Out for Minutes

At least one or two of these guys will be playing some significant minutes at all times during the season, but if we’ve learned anything from Carlisle’s past, they’ll probably interchange throughout the year. Here is how I’d rank them from most-to-least likely to get minutes:

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SF: Dorian Finney-Smith

PF: Dwight Powell

C: Salah Mejri

C: Jeff Withey

Finney-Smith and Powell definitely have the fast track to minutes here because they play positions of need for the team, Finney-Smith in particular. If either can prove to be consistent from three-point range, expect them to earn consistent minutes in the rotation. The Mejri vs. Withey battle for minutes could be fun. Expect Mejri to have the early advantage due to continuity, but Withey’s ability to stretch the floor could make things interesting.

The Developmental Prospects

These three players likely won’t see a lot of meaningful action this year as they probably need time to develop before being able to contribute:

PF: Maxi Kleber

SG: Gian Clavell

PF: Jonathan Motley

Kleber has the best chance in this group to earn regular season minutes since he is the only one of the three on the 15-man roster. Kleber is a 25-year-old stretch four from Germany with a beautiful stroke and an NBA-ready body. Clavell is probably next in line for minutes after setting the preseason on fire. His outside shot has also looked fluid and he appears to be a natural playmaker with the ball in his hands.

Finally, Motley is a hard-working big man out of Baylor that crashes the glass hard and provides defensive toughness inside. All three of these players are rookies and Motley and Clavell are under two-way contracts. This means they will play for the Mavs’ G-League affiliate Texas Legends team but the Mavericks have the liberty of calling them up to dress for regular season games as they see fit.

Next: Mavs Reportedly Award Gian Clavell Two-Way Contract

The Dallas Mavericks should be an exciting team to watch this year as their younger players continue to develop and find their way. Dirk Nowitzki will still be the face of the franchise, of course, and will assuredly provide us with plenty of memorable moments in one of the final seasons of an illustrious career. If Rick Carlisle can find a way to juggle the minutes of this unique roster just right, the Dallas Mavericks could be right in the thick of the playoff race come April.