Dallas Mavericks: Time for Wes Matthews to hand over the reins

The Dallas Mavericks are three games into the 2018-19 season and things are looking good. Still, some things need to change for the team to be as successful as they can be.

There are very few players that come to the Dallas Mavericks and don’t garner a fanbase. One of those players might just be Wesley Matthews, a Mavs guard who many fans would love to see traded at some point this season. Matthews really is not a bad player by any means, statistically, but numbers can’t show everything he was doing on the court.

Wes was the leading scorer in the most recent win for the Mavs against the Bulls. He scored 20 points and is averaging 18 points per game through the first three contests of the year. This may sound nice, but again it does not show things that aren’t numerically based.

One of the biggest downsides to Matthews’ game is his ball-handling. Wes is terrible when dribbling the ball and gets himself into corners and making bad plays all the time because of it. If he would stick to catching and shooting, things would turn out significantly better.

In the past two games, Wes has shot the ball more than anyone else on the roster. He is shooting a combined 38% including 34% from three. Both of these percentages are much lower than his career averages.

Last year, the Mavs were looking for offense wherever they could find it. Dirk was getting older and Harrison Barnes couldn’t do it all himself. Wes was able to play a big part of the offense thanks to limitations from other players.

Those limitations are as good as gone now, as the Mavs have Luka Doncic, Dennis Smith Jr., Harrison Barnes and DeAndre Jordan manning the starting lineup alongside Matthews. Simply put, it is time for Matthews to forget the idea that Dallas needs him to create on offense.

There is no longer an excuse for Wes to be the leader in field goal attempts for the Mavs. There’s still value in having Matthews on the court for Dallas, but it comes behind the three-point line on offense and everywhere he needs to be on defense. Otherwise that starting spot could go to someone else.

The sooner that Wes understands that, the better. Dallas looks like a team that could really win some games this year. With Luka playing well and Harrison Barnes not even active yet, Dallas will keep improving more and more with each passing game. Once we get DSJ involved, then people will really see the potential this team carries.

Wesley Matthews is doing pretty good so far this year, despite his flaws. That said, I would rather see his scoring numbers go down than see his field goal attempts stay constant. The reins are ready to be passed, now Wes just needs to loosen his grip.