The Dallas Mavericks are following the NBA youth movement

With the Mavericks having signed multiple young players including Delon Wright and Seth Curry, the average age of the team has dropped, but the talent level has stayed strong.

Over the years, the Mavericks have pretty routinely had one of the oldest rosters in the league, with the average age often close to 30. Since the 2017-18 season however, the Dallas Mavericks have continuously gotten younger with the acquisitions of Dennis Smith Jr., Maxi Kleber and many others.

During the 2018 NBA offseason, the Mavericks managed to draft current ROY Luka Doncic and second round pick Jalen Brunson. That added multiple players to Dallas that were under the age of 25.

This season the Mavs have continued to get younger, acquiring former Grizzlies guard Delon Wright, lethal three point shooter Seth Curry, as well as re-signing others such as Dorian Finney-Smith and Kristaps Porzingis. As Dallas has obtained young players, they have let some of the older guys go, such as 36-year old Devin Harris and 33-year old Salah Mejri.

Though it may have been quite sad for Mavs fans to see Dirk Nowitzki retire after an outstanding 21 seasons in the NBA and with the Dallas Mavericks alone, it also lowered the average age of the team. With the 41-year old legend hanging them up for the last time, the only Mavs over the age of 30 are J.J. Barea, Courtney Lee and Boban Marjanovic.

Usually, title contending teams tend to have a very low average age. According to herosports.com, last year, of the eight teams that made it to the NBA conference semifinals, the Houston Rockets were the oldest at 28.6 years. That was the highest average in the entire NBA. The Golden State Warriors were next, at 27.76, followed by the Toronto Raptors, at 26.95.

The last five teams that made the conference semifinals, the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Denver Nuggets, all were in the top 15 in average age in the entire league.

The Mavericks last year weren’t any younger than the Rockets. They had an average age of 28.08, which was the fourth oldest in the league. It may have been because of the multiple veteran presences including Dirk, Barea, Devin Harris, and Wesley Matthews. To start the season, in fact, the Mavericks had 6 players over the age of 30. That doesn’t seem so promising for a team that went 33-49.

This year has taken a different turn. According to hispanosnba.com, the Mavericks currently have an average age of 26.9. That is almost a two-year difference compared to the start of last season. While they still may not be one of the youngest in the NBA, it is a fantastic start to see the team get younger, but remain very talented.

A 20-year old Luka Doncic and a 24-year old Kristaps Porzingis as leaders of a promising, young Mavericks team are a great start. There are still more steps to go if they want to achieve a Finals contending roster, but the steps are moving in the right direction.