The Smoking Cuban
FanSided

Dallas Mavericks: Ryan Broekhoff is a sneaky good acquisition

By Kohl Rast

BERLIN, GERMANY. MAY 15, 2016. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar's Ryan Broekhoff (front) dribbles past and Laboral Kutxa's Adam Hanga (L) in their 2015/16 Season Basketball Euroleague Final Four third place match at Mercedes-Benz Arena. Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS (Photo by Stanislav KrasilnikovTASS via Getty Images)
BERLIN, GERMANY. MAY 15, 2016. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar's Ryan Broekhoff (front) dribbles past and Laboral Kutxa's Adam Hanga (L) in their 2015/16 Season Basketball Euroleague Final Four third place match at Mercedes-Benz Arena. Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS (Photo by Stanislav KrasilnikovTASS via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

It’s time for Dallas Mavericks fans to meet their newest sharpshooter that will help us get over the losses of Seth Curry and Doug McDermott in free agency. Here is a quick look at Ryan Broekhoff, the newest Aussie NBA player.

The NBA loves shooters. The NBA loves shooters so much that they teach everyone to shoot no matter what their skillset. NBA fans around the league continue to say that players like DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard are becoming obsolete, while guys like Doug McDermott and Kyle Korver are on the up and up even though all they can do is shoot.

These are the changes that are happening in the NBA and, although I don’t fully agree with them, the need for shooting on each team is obviously great. That is one reason why the Dallas Mavericks signing a 27-year old Australian basketball player is a really good addition.

It’s easy to be upset about the loss of Doug McDermott and Seth Curry. Both of these guys had incredible shooting numbers (especially three point) while with the Mavs. They have both been heralded as three-point specialists before coming to Dallas, but the skill really came through under Coach Carlisle. For this reason, the Mavs should be even more excited about Ryan Broekhoff.

Broekhoff was born in Melbourne, Australia in the year 1990. After staying in Australia through high school, Broekhoff decided to play ball in the NCAA at Valparaiso University. He played in almost every game during his 4 years there and was a regular starter for his last three years. Broekhoff was known then for exactly the same reason he is known now: shooting the three.

During his four years at Valparaiso, Broekhoff shot a slash line of .464/.408/.818. He averaged 13.6 points per game through his three starting caliber seasons and pulled down over 7 boards a night. He was also a decent defender, recording 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per game through his final three years.

Ryan Broekhoff did not get signed by anyone in the 2013 draft, so he decided to go overseas and play for a team in the Turkish league. After that, he played for the Denver Nuggets summer league team but then went on to play in the Russian based VTB United League. It was then that he really began to shine from deep. He has shot over 44% from three-point during his time overseas.

Here are just a few of his highlights.

Broekhoff’s ability to catch and shoot is going to be mightily important to the Mavs this upcoming season and, although we will miss Curry and McDermott, this guy should give all MFFLs more hope for the upcoming season. Welcome to Dallas, Ryan!