Dallas Mavericks: Jalen Brunson will play versatile role this year

Despite the fears of how the Dallas Mavericks will balance their point guard minutes, I expect Jalen Brunson to be a key player for the team throughout the year.

There has been a lot of work put in by several Dallas Mavericks players this summer, in the weight room, on the court, in the community, etc., but one name has been brought up a lot as the player who has had the single most impressive summer. This is over players like Kristaps Porzingis aka Ivan Drago, Dwight Powell who’s shoulders are a foot wider than they were last year and Luka Doncic and his alleged six-pack.

Jalen Brunson looks great right now. You can tell that he has put in a lot of work to get into NBA shape and he looks healthier and more agile than last season. When asked about him at Mavs Media Day, Rick Carlisle said that he trusts Brunson on the court in any moment. He also talked about how he believes that Brunson is a good enough defender to guard multiple positions.

This year is going to be an interesting one for the second year, guard. Last year, Brunson was a key part of the rotation largely because J.J. Barea was down with an injury and we didn’t have Delon Wright yet. However, in his 22 minutes per game last year, he really played an important part on the team.

With that knowledge and the expectation that he will be even better this year, it seems crazy to think that he should be on the outside of the rotation. Strangely enough, that is just how deep this Mavs team is. With four guys capable of playing point guard and only so many minutes in the game, how do the Mavs find a spot for Brunson?

My guess is that we could see JB playing some point guard, some shooting guard and even some small forward this year. It will likely only be when facing small ball lineups, but there are enough of those in the league to think that he would still get some run time there.

Brunson is too valuable of a piece to be riding the bench this season and Carlisle is too smart of a coach to not be able to find him the minutes he deserves. At some point, the Mavs will have to recognize that Brunson is one of the better players on this team. Whether they find it out sooner or later will determine just how quickly he cracks the rotation.

We will get one more chance to see Brunson play in the preseason tonight against the LA Clippers. The game is being played in Vancouver and will have a 9:30 CT start time. The game will be available to watch on NBATV.