Statistical diagnosis of the Dallas Mavericks failed season

Rebounding

The Dallas Mavericks were the absolute worst rebounding team in the league this year. They ranked 30th in offensive rebounds per 100 possessions, 24th in defensive rebounds per 100 possessions, and 30th in total rebounds per 100 possessions.

Looking specifically at total rebounds per 100 possessions, seven out of the top ten and 13 of the top 18 teams made the playoffs.

The Mavs per game leading rebounders in order were Luka Doncic (8.6), Christian Wood (7.3), and Kyrie Irving (5.0). If your top three rebounders are your two point guards and a backup big man, that usually isn’t a good thing. Those three guys accounted for 20.9 rebounds per game, while the Mavs only averaged 38.8 rebounds per game as a team.

That means the entire rest of the roster combined to only average 17.9 rebounds per game.

Digging even deeper and looking at each player's total rebounding percentage, which Basketball-Reference cites as "the estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor," the Mavs only had two players who finished in the top 100. Those two guys are Christian Wood (ranked 26th at 16.4) and Luka Doncic (ranked 37th at 13.8).

You have to go all the way down to the 112th-ranked player (Kyrie Irving at 7.7) before you see another Maverick on this list. The only other Mavs in the top 190 players were Reggie Bullock (136th), Josh Green (137th), and Tim Hardaway Jr. (145th).

Even more concerning is the fact that Christian Wood most likely won't be back in a Dallas uniform next season, and the Kyrie Irving situation is up in the air. That means that as far as players who are under contract for next season, the Mavericks have only one player who finished in the top 135 (Luka Doncic).

Rebounding is extremely important. It is how a team finishes off a defensive possession and is a way to get easier baskets on the offensive end. The Mavs were terrible at both of those, and they simply won’t contend until they address this issue.