Dallas Mavericks: How many players will get regular minutes this year?

It is still unclear who the Dallas Mavericks starters will be, but the general consensus is that they will have a solid bench unit this year. Just how many of those guys will have regular minutes this season?

When Rick Carlisle was asked who the Dallas Mavericks starters were going to be this year, he said it would be irresponsible to make that call at this point, before they have even had training camp. Despite the lack of clarity from the coach, most Mavs fans have a pretty good idea of who most of the starters will be.

Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis will be co-running this Mavericks team from the starting lineup. If at any point you thought one of them may come off the bench, stop. Truthfully, after Luka and Porzingis, there is no other clear cut starter so far. The expectation is that Dallas went and got Delon Wright to be the starting guard next to Luka. That is my guess thus far.

Past Wright, I expect the season to start with Tim Hardaway Jr. manning the other wing spot and Dwight Powell starting at center next to Porzingis. That leaves the Mavs bench unit as J.J. Barea, Seth Curry, Jalen Brunson, Maxi Kleber, Boban Marjanovic, Justin Jackson, Courtney Lee, Ryan Broekhoff, Dorian Finney-Smith and Isaiah Roby, with Josh Reaves and Antonius Cleveland on two-way contracts.

Now pretty much all of these guys (outside of the last three) are players we know because they have been in the regular rotation either with the Mavs or their previous team. This issue of having at least 14 guys that could be in the rotation is not a problem unique to the Mavs, but it is certainly not a bad thing to have either.

Dallas Mavericks

As of now, I would expect to see the Mavs use at least 11 guys regularly this season. The five starters I mentioned will definitely be involved in the rotation, plus Barea, Curry, Brunson, Kleber, Jackson and Finney-Smith, in my opinion. I would expect to see Marjanovic fairly regularly too, but maybe not every single night.

Let’s go through these bench guys and see what their roles with the team may be.

Barea has been a masterful general for the second unit for several years and is the most experienced player on the team, both in years and in championships. There is no way he does not have a regular role on this Mavericks team.

Dallas went out and paid Seth Curry good money to be the sharpshooting specialist on this team. A lot of people tend to get enamored by Curry’s shooting, which is understandable, but he is an excellent all around player and could very easily lead this bench unit in minutes.

Another player the Mavs paid good money for is Maxi Kleber. Maxi is returning to the Mavs as the versatile frontcourt player that can score, defend, rebound and do anything else you may need from him. He is not a superstar, but he certainly is viewed as a very reliable player for the Mavericks.

Jalen Brunson is in his 2nd year and even though he was selected in the 2nd round of the draft, he is already an important piece to this team. The work he has put in this summer has been well documented by Mavs media members, and he is expected to be used in a lot of different roles by Carlisle. He also appears to be the heir apparent to J.J. Barea.

Dorian Finney-Smith is next on the list for me, thanks to his defensive ability and consistency. His shooting has not been great so far in his career, but he is an excellent defender and a workhorse that never takes plays off on either end. He will continue to be a valuable wing in Dallas.

After those guys, I think it becomes a little more murky. I expect to see Jackson regularly in the game because he is young and full of potential, but his shooting needs to be better. Shooting is supposed to be Jackson’s reason for being on the court, but he has not proven to be consistent there. Other areas of his game have improved, but he needs to be hitting his threes.

Boban is a fun player that definitely has reason to be on the court. He is versatile, has good hands and feet and plays European style ball very well. I think the reason he is just outside of the regular guys is because he can be a matchup liability, so there may be some games we just don’t see him.

Next up, I hope that Carlisle is able to find effective minutes for Ryan Broekhoff. Broekhoff may not be the best athlete or best defender, but he is one of the best shooters in the league and could be hitting shots for the Mavs regularly if he can get in the game. He just needs to prove himself to crack into that rotation.

Courtney Lee will likely only get garbage time with Dallas this year again. He is a good player, the Mavs just don’t have any use for him and would like to be able to trade him at some point.

The three younger guys may have a shot at time, but with 13 guys ahead of them that have earned time on the court, I don’t expect to see Roby, Reaves or Cleveland a whole lot. Still, if any injuries hit the Mavs, there are worse options to have at the end of your bench.

The Mavs should be a fun team this year and will have the opportunity to roll out a bunch of different lineups. No matter who Carlisle choose to approach it, there is no doubt that he will at least have some options.