D'Angelo Russell must fix this fatal flaw to make Mavericks a legit contender

Despite fans wanting the Dallas Mavericks to go trade for a near All-Star point guard this offseason, they opted to go the safer route and signed D’Angelo Russell to the Taxpayer’s MLE. Coming off arguably the worst season of his career, Russell is primed for a bounce-back season on a one-plus-one deal with the Mavericks this season, though it’s undeniable that fans should be wary of this actually happening, especially considering Russell’s 3-point shooting woes last year.

The Mavericks may be limited from a spacing perspective, considering their heavy reliance on playing double-big, so they’ll need their wings and guards to hone in on their outside shooting, and this starts with Russell at the top of the lineup, especially since Kyrie Irving will miss a solid chunk of next season rehabbing from a torn ACL.

Last season, Russell shot 31.4 percent from outside on 6.2 attempts per game, as that percentage was a career low, and his amount of attempts per game marked the fourth lowest average of his career. It’s without a shadow of a doubt that Russell must be more dynamic from a catch-and-shoot perspective from outside, as well as when it comes to creating 3-pointers off the dribble.

Russell has to be more efficient from outside this year in Dallas

Taking into consideration that marksman Klay Thompson could be coming off the bench next season for the Mavericks, Russell may be the only 3-point shooter in Dallas’ starting lineup who has shot above average from outside throughout most of his career, barring P.J. Washington’s uptick in production from outside last season.

It’s not a lofty proposition for Russell to return to form from outside for the Mavericks, but Dallas could be putting themselves in dangerous territory if he’s unable to, as their guards off the bench aren’t proven knockdown shooters by any means. Brandon Williams shot as well as he ever had from outside last season, and Dante Exum has revitalized his shot in Dallas compared to his earlier stops in his career, but both of those guys have a relatively small sample size in terms of being able to be consistent creators from outside.

If Dallas ultimately decides to start Thompson alongside Russell, then Russell’s potential variance from outside can undoubtedly be mitigated, but that would likely come at the expense of Dallas’ point-of-attack defense suffering, as Russell is a minus defender by most metrics and Thompson is maybe a slightly above-average defender at this stage in his career.

The Mavericks obviously have potential pivot points if Russell comes in and lays an egg from an outside shooting perspective, but the Mavericks have limited marksmen on this roster, and they are 100 percent banking on Russell shooting with the same confidence that he did during his best days with the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets. Russell is a huge wildcard this season for Dallas, and if he can thrive from outside, the Mavericks could be on the inside looking out when it comes to their playoff positioning once Irving returns, but it may be the exact opposite if the alternative occurs.