Mavericks' overlooked offseason moves are already costing them big time

Last season, the Dallas Mavericks emphasized playing faster.

In the 2022-23 season, Dallas ranked 28th in the NBA in pace. This was not going to cut it if they wanted to win a championship, and Jason Kidd tasked Luka Doncic and the rest of the squad with the challenge of playing faster.

Doncic and company answered the call, and they improved to being ranked seventh in pace in the league. The Mavs' emphasis on playing faster worked wonders for the squad, as they were able to partially change their offensive identity and make a run all the way to the NBA Finals.

Doncic and Kyrie Irving being on the same page really helped with this, and the team's improved defense after the trade deadline propelled them to a deep playoff run.

Mavericks' decrease in athleticism is unnoticeably hurting them

Despite being 3-2, the Mavs have yet to play a full game of great hoops. The offense seems clunky, and the team's losses of Derrick Jones Jr. and Josh Green over the summer are coming back to bite them already.

Dallas' pace is ranked 23rd in the NBA this season, and part of their slower pace could be due to the athleticism that the Mavs lost from Jones Jr. signing with the LA Clippers and Green being traded to the Charlotte Hornets. Both of those players were excellent in transition in their own way, and their departure has been felt through the first few games.

This isn't to say that Dallas didn't do a good job of replacing them, as they traded for Quentin Grimes and signed Naji Marshall, but neither player has been able to hit their full stride just yet. Marshall is coming off his best game against the Houston Rockets, as his defense and energy were felt late, but Grimes has yet to find a consistent role.

Both players were widely believed to be upgrades over Jones Jr. and Green, but the team's decreased athleticism is evident when watching so far. Dallas made the trade of sacrificing Jones Jr. and Green's athleticism for the increased skill of Marshall and Grimes, and that could end up paying off in the long run, but the team's athleticism and hustle were tested against Houston earlier this week.

The Rockets out-hustled and out-muscled Dallas in the paint, and the Rockets' clear edge in athleticism was one of the more under-the-radar storylines by the end of it. You can see Dallas' quiet lack of elite athleticism just from watching them, and the Mavs have to find a way to adjust since they don't have the Green hustle plays and Jones Jr. high-flying slams on the break anymore.

Part of the reason the eye test shows Dallas' athleticism going down could be due to the lack of dunks, and defenses taking out the lob game has put the pressure on the Mavs' shooters to hit shots on the perimeter.

Last season, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, Jones Jr., and Green combined for 411 dunks. They were all in the top five on the team in dunks along with P.J. Washington, and any of them could make opponents pay in the half-court or transition. Lively II and Gafford were both in the top 11 in the league in total dunks, but the same can't be said this season.

So far, Gafford and Lively II have combined for 18 dunks, and are ranked 24th and 11th in the league respectively, but their impact in the pick-and-roll game is nowhere near what it was last season. Teams are clogging the paint and not giving them the opportunity to finish lobs, and Gafford has missed multiple dunks already.

Washington has also done his part in the dunks department, as he has five dunks through the first five games, but no one else on the Mavs has more than one dunk. These plays ignite energy into the team, and they haven't been available at the same rate that they were last season.

With Dallas' sacrifice of athleticism for skill, the shooters are going to have to step up. Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson are carrying the load in this area, but no one else outside of the big three has sunk more than six threes on the year. The Mavs emphasized adding more shooting after losing the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics, but it hasn't come around just yet.

Once Dallas' offense gets rolling and the shooters begin hitting shots more consistently, the lob game should return. Lively II and Gafford are elite in this area, and defenses won't be able to neutralize those skills for an entire season. Despite all of this, the team's decreased athleticism is something to keep an eye on.

They have to be a bit better on the defensive glass, and time will tell if the athleticism concerns will disappear once the offense starts to click. The team has a new identity due to the key changes within the rotation, and Doncic and company should be able to get the offense rolling.