Mavericks' roster has a clear imbalance that only a trade will fix

After just one game, it's clear that the Dallas Mavericks still have two glaring weaknesses: a lack of playmaking and a shortage of shooting. Their offseason roster overhaul wasn't enough to fix some of last season's biggest problems, and Dallas' first game exposed why they may need to make a trade to become a playoff contender.

Dallas lost to the Houston Rockets by a score of 128-110 on Wednesday night, and the team's roster imbalance was clear. They have far too many forwards and not enough creators or shooters.

Mavericks still lack valuable playmaking behind Kyrie Irving

It's hard to draw definite conclusions about a team's roster construction after one game, but these were concerns the fan base was talking about all offseason. Even after seeing how poorly the Mavs' backup guards played while Kyrie Irving was out last season, the only moves that Dallas made to get him some help were trading for Marcus Sasser, drafting Sergio De Larrea, and signing Walter Clayton Jr.

Sasser looked great on opening night, and De Larrea showed promise in preseason, but this is nowhere near enough guard depth or shot creation to form a strong backcourt behind Kyrie. Regardless of how good Sasser looked in the Rockets game, the Mavs need to get Irving some more help via the trade market.

Such a move would help get them better shot creation, as they need more self-creators outside of Irving, Cooper Flagg, and Sasser, but it would also give them another table-setter to help generate better looks for Dallas' shooters.

The Mavericks posted a -29.6 net rating when Irving and Flagg were off the court on Wednesday, clearly showing their need for help outside the star duo. Thirteeen minutes isn't a large enough sample to fully analyze how the team looks when Flagg and Irving are off the court, but more struggles could make their need for another creator more pressing.

The Mavericks' shooting struggles remain unresolved

The Mavericks shot 11-for-37 from three against Houston, including going 0-for-14 from beyond the arc in the second quarter, and this team may not have the personnel to be a dangerous 3-point shooting team. While adding a better shot creator at the point guard position would help, it seems like the only way to add more shooting and shot creation is through a trade.

Dallas tried to address this issue during the offseason, as they traded for Sasser, Zaccharie Risacher, and Santi Aldama, and while Sasser has been a bright spot thus far due to his diverse shot diet and ability to create for himself, Risacher still has a long way to go, and Aldama is out of the lineup as he recovers from a March knee surgery.

Dallas has too many finishers and not enough creators

On top of this, many of Dallas' core players who returned from last season are non-shooters. P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall are both going to have prominent roles for the Mavericks as long as they're on the team, but they shot 32.5 percent and 29.1 percent from three last season, respectively.

The Mavericks are overloaded on the wing and down low without the proper guard depth to balance things out, and until they make a trade, some of these problems that were evident on opening night could stick around. Dallas' roster has far too many play finishers and not enough initiators to get them the looks they need, and the Mavs' offense could be in for another down season unless they make some changes.

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