ESPN just underscored a pressing Mavericks problem they must address soon

With the NBA offseason winding down, ESPN released its offseason grades on Wednesday, evaluating every team's best trades and signings. The Dallas Mavericks landed in the middle of the pack, receiving a B- grade.

ESPN highlights the Mavericks' biggest remaining weakness

ESPN didn't necessarily laud Dallas for any one move; instead, it highlighted a growing concern that they must fix before next season. The Mavericks have overloaded their frontcourt, which creates a roster imbalance. It also places even more pressure on their backcourt, and more importantly, on Kyrie Irving, who hasn't played basketball in well over a year.

"The Mavericks now have a glut in the frontcourt, where they kept Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II and matched the Knicks' offer sheet for Moussa Cisse," Zach Cram wrote. "But little backcourt depth remains, which makes Kyrie Irving's return from an ACL tear even more important next season."

While shooting has typically been at the forefront of most of Dallas' needs, its backcourt depth is arguably even more pressing. And while the need for additional backcourt reinforcements has been well-known, as ESPN pointed out, Irving's return will be most crucial since he's one of the Mavericks' few proven starting-caliber backcourt options once he returns.

The Mavericks added Marcus Sasser via trade and drafted Sergio De Larrea with the 25th overall pick. Still, they also traded away Ryan Nembhard in the deal that sent forward Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas and haven't re-signed Brandon Williams in free agency. All in all, Dallas is back to square one, with a guard-depleted roster entering next season.

Dallas doesn't have enough reliable ball-handlers

So, that leaves Irving, Sasser, and De Larrea as Dallas' only primary ball-handlers. On a deeper level, that means relying on Irving, who, while a nine-time All-Star, is coming off a torn ACL and hasn't played since March 3, 2025.

Sasser is a capable ball-handler, but he's more of an off-guard than anything, specializing in shooting rather than playmaking. Lastly, although De Larrea impressed in Summer League as a facilitator, he's still a 20-year-old rookie who averaged just 14.8 minutes between the EuroLeague and the Spanish ACB a season ago.

Dallas does have both Cooper Flagg and Naji Marshall — forwards who can handle the ball — but that's still too much responsibility to place on Irving as the team's true lone ball-handler. It's an issue Dallas must resolve, yet one that's becoming increasingly difficult to fix at this juncture.

After matching the New York Knicks' offer sheet for center Moussa Cisse, the Mavericks are now carrying a 16-player roster. More moves are sure to come, but Dallas will have to clear two roster spots if it wants to add another guard, which may prove difficult given its current logjam.

Mavericks must fix the problem before it's too late

Nevertheless, it's a pressing issue the Mavericks must aim to solve in the offseason. Placing such a heavy burden on Irving is a risky proposition, considering he's 34 years old and hasn't played in more than 60 games in a season since the 2018-19 season.

Consequently, Dallas will once again have to rely on Flagg and Marshall as primary initiators, give Sasser more ball-handling responsibility than ever before, or even thrust De Larrea into action much sooner than expected. None of those options are particularly desirable.

While Mavericks fans are well aware that the franchise needs more guard depth badly, the issue has largely been overlooked on a broader scale, especially with recently tabbed president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri's well-known preference for long, versatile wings. Still, regardless of Ujiri's roster-building philosophy, every team needs reliable creators, and ESPN has rightfully highlighted that Dallas is no exception.

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