Dallas Mavericks: Dennis Smith Jr. denies “Lob City Vol. 2”

During Dallas Mavericks Media Day press conferences, the question of whether or not the Mavs would become the new “Lob City” was asked to Dennis Smith Jr. He didn’t give much time to that question.

When DeAndre Jordan officially signed with the Dallas Mavericks, a series of emotions went over most Mavs fans. Many of us (myself included) eventually got around to the thought of DeAndre catching lobs from Dennis Smith Jr. and Luka Doncic. Add that in to the fact that Dwight Powell is great above the rim and the Mavs become a very interesting team.

I have actually brought up the idea of the Mavs becoming the new lob city in a previous post (which you can read here), but clearly my idea was shot down by DSJ during the press conference at media day.

“We ain’t stuntin’ lob city business.”

This answer is simple and straightforward, but it really does say a lot about what the Mavs want to be this year and how Dennis Smith wants to play. This is a unique team with unique players that play the game in their own unique way. That is exactly how Dennis Smith and the rest of the guys want this team to work.

Lob City was an entertaining team with DJ, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin throwing and catching lobs with each other left and right. The alley-oop became a staple of the offense and everyone got excited when someone was above the rim. Although the Mavs will likely have a number of lob threats on the team this year, the alley-oop is not going to define the team.

Dallas is loaded with versatile talent from the attacking DSJ to the playmaking Luka to the sharpshooting Wesley Matthews, Dirk Nowitzki and Ryan Broekhoff. The team also has isolation talent with Harrison Barnes and Dennis Smith, and a solid bench presence between J.J. Barea, Devin Harris, Dirk and Dwight Powell.

The point is, this isn’t going to be lob city part two because that is not the identity this team wants. The ability to complete alley-oops at a high level will be there for Dallas, but the team can do a whole lot more than that.

There is also the fact that the original “Lob City” didn’t have much success in the NBA Playoffs over the years. There is more to the game than entertainment value and the Mavs want to be a team that has success in the postseason, not just another one-and-done squad.

The NBA season is right around the corner and soon everyone will get the chance to see what kind of identity the Dallas Mavericks want on the court. No matter what it is, you can count on each of these great players being involved and pushing for more success from the Mavs this season.