Dallas Mavericks: Wesley Matthews ranked among starting SF’s

Another day, another ranking. This time, Dallas Mavericks wing, Wesley Matthews, was ranked among the small forwards around the league. Although it is not his natural spot, Wes will likely be considered the starting 3 this year.

FanSided’s Hoops Habit is at it again with the ranking of all starters around the league. So far, they have done a ranking of the 30 starting point guards and shooting guards and yesterday the starting small forward rankings were released. Dallas Mavericks wing, Wesley Matthews, earned the spot as the starting SF for these rankings.

In the point guard rankings, Dennis Smith Jr. earned the 20th spot. I talked about my thoughts on this and how it seemed a bit low for him. You can see the rankings here and you can also read my response post here.

For the starting shooting guard rankings, Luka Doncic represents the Mavs and also earned the 20th spot. Although I think he could be a little bit lower as well, I understand and agree with the reasoning for the ranking. You can see the rankings here and you can read my response post for this one here.

Now we have the rankings for all starting small forwards. To see the rankings, click here.

As you can see, Wesley Matthews earned the 21st ranking out of the 30 starting shooting guards. I agree with the ranking for Wes for the most part, although I do believe he should still be higher than Jonathan Isaac who hasn’t proven hardly anything from his shortened rookie campaign.

Aside from that, the fact is that Matthews is a shell of himself from before the achilles injury he suffered before coming to Dallas. His defensive instincts are still there, but he doesn’t move like the once fearless wing nicknamed “Iron Man”. Although his work ethic is still otherworldly, his production has not been where the Mavs need it or wanted it when signing him to a deal.

On the other end, Matthews is hitting the long ball at a still reasonable percentage (.381 last year), but his streakiness is an issue for a Mavs team that will need more reliable shooters this year. If he could get back to the rate he shot while in Portland, the Mavs would be more than happy to keep him around.

This season will be an important one for Wes Matthews as he heads into a contract year, but I expect to see that the rankings given to the small forwards around the league will continue to show truthful in Matthews ranking at the very least.