Dallas Mavericks: How NBA rule changes impact the Mavs

The NBA is expecting to pass three rule changes for the upcoming season, but what impact will the new rules have on the Dallas Mavericks?

The Dallas Mavericks are ramping up for comeback season of sorts.  They are hoping to contend after two straight down seasons.  Fans have that excitement brewing after their offseason additions, and that alone should make for a fun year.

The NBA appears likely to pass three rule changes for the upcoming season.  Today, we take a look at each new measure and how it could impact the Dallas Mavericks.  Let us roll right into it.

Clear-path rule changes

The league is putting in a new language to make a clear path foul easier to detect for the referees.  The punishment for an infraction of two foul shots plus possession remains unchanged.

Impact on the Mavs

The effect on the Mavericks is small here.  Players will have to adjust to the new way the officials are calling it, but overall clear path fouls do not happen that often.  The new rule likely increases them slightly early in the season, but everyone will adjust to curtail the usage.

Broadening a definition

The NBA is expanding the definition of a “hostile act” this season.  Before it could only be between players, but now it is with anyone in the arena including fans that can trigger an instant replay and possible ejection.

Impact on Dallas

There should be no impact here.  The Mavs do not have a lot of players that get rowdy, but fans could see it pop up once or twice throughout the long season.

Shorter shot clock after offensive rebound

This rule was surprising.  The league is now going to reset the shot clock to 14 second instead of 24 after an offensive rebound.  Obviously, they are searching for more and quicker shot attempts, but penalizing a team for completing a successful act seems odd.

Impact on the Mavericks

Expect a significant impact here on the Dallas Mavericks.  They were the worst offensive rebounding in the NBA last season, but they added DeAndre Jordan who finished third in the league in that category a year ago.  The Mavs averaged 8.1 total per game and Jordan averaged 4.3 himself.

Expect Dallas to vault into the top ten in the league in that category.  The shorter shot clock will be an adjustment, but the Mavs have plenty of ball handlers who can create a high percentage shot in 14 seconds.  Fans will see it a lot, but the impact on the team should be small.

Final thoughts

The NBA is expecting to make three rule changes for the upcoming season, but the impact on the Dallas Mavericks should be small.  The team should have most of the kinks worked out during the preseason.  All three rules still need to pass a September vote by the board of governors to be implementing this season.

DeAndre Jordan creating four extra possessions per game for the Mavs offense is going to make a massive difference.  That is an underrated impact of his game and that will win Dallas a few close games this season.  Expect to see an improved Mavericks team on the court.  How much better will determine if they make the playoffs or not.

The Smoking Cuban continues to be the one stop shop for diehard Dallas Mavericks fans, so please check back with us daily for all the opinions and analysis that you desire.  Thank you for reading.