Mavericks poised to jump from worst to first in key area overnight

From the day that the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis until their final regular season game on April 13, Dallas ranked dead last in the NBA in rebounds per game at 40.3 per game, and their new-look squad will put them in the perfect spot to rise the ranks and potentially become the best rebounding team in the NBA.

It must be remembered that Anthony Davis only played in nine games after arriving in Dallas after suffering an injury in his Mavs debut, and Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford missed significant time, but still, their rebounding at the end of the season was inexcusable. Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and San Antonio Spurs joined the Mavericks at the bottom of the totem pole for rebounding during this time span, and their mission to take a step in the right direction will begin on October 22 when the Mavs battle the Spurs in their first game.

Lively II, Davis, and potentially Gafford (ankle sprain) all being cleared to play in the first game of the year should help them significantly, and the Mavs are going to have a new identity that the NBA hasn't even realized yet.

Dallas is primed to take over the NBA on the glass

Dallas is going to be massive.

Huge, to say the absolute least.

The Mavericks' starting lineup will likely be D'Angelo Russell, Klay Thompson, Cooper Flagg, Davis, and Lively II, which gives them incredible size from three through five, but if Jason Kidd decides to try out a lineup that he teased earlier this summer, they'd be even bigger.

Kidd talked about playing P.J. Washington alongside Flagg, Davis, and one of the bigs, and this starting five would easily be the scariest defensive unit in the entire NBA. It would be filled with high-level rebounders, as Washington is one of the best rebounders in the league at his size, Flagg is a great rebounder (7.5 rebounds per game as a freshman at Duke, and Lively II and Davis are both big bodies who have a knack for snagging the ball as it comes off the rim.

Davis has averaged double-digit rebounds per game for the last three years (10.7 rebounds per game for his career), and having him as the power forward next to Lively II or Gafford will help the Mavericks build a nearly impenetrable wall around the basket on both ends of the floor any time that a ball bounces off the iron. Dallas' problems securing the basketball after a miss from the end of last season will be no more, thanks to their size and tenacity, and the team will have a new feel to it that will please Mavs fans in the best way possible.

They're going to be nasty, they're going to play as hard as anyone, and they're going to play hard-nosed defense and throw the first punch.

Dallas isn't going to let teams be the aggressors. They are going to dominate with their size down low, tire out their opponents, and potentially control the glass and prove that the end of last year was a fluke.