10 Biggest early-season surprises for the Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have jumped out to a shocking 6-1 start, but that's not to say they haven't encountered their fair share of surprises in this young NBA season already.

Dallas might as well trademark themselves as a second-half team, as many of their recent outings haven't seen them take control of the game until late into the contest.

For as dry as Dallas has looked in the first halves this year, they've looked extremely efficient in all facets in most of their second halves this year. The trend of Dallas' surprising emergence as a second-half team goes in tandem well with the surprising nature of the start of the season for Dallas.

10 Biggest early-season surprises for the Dallas Mavericks

Many players have taken unexpected roles or aren't playing enough compared to fan expectations, but needless to say, it has been an extremely exciting start to the season for Dallas and their fans.

We could be looking back at this list by the end of the season scoffing at its inaccuracy compared to what Dallas looked like as a finished product this year, but it is worthwhile to catch up on the biggest surprises through seven games this year for the Mavericks.

Nonetheless, here are 10 early-season surprises for the Dallas Mavericks.

10. Richaun Holmes and Olivier-Maxence Prosper are completely out of rotation

When the Dallas Mavericks traded for Richaun Holmes and Olivier-Maxence Prosper on draft night this past summer, there was a lot of skepticism that either of them would even become part of the Mavericks rotation.

However, that narrative changed pretty quickly over the summer. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban called Holmes one of the "most underrated" pickups in free agency during a podcast appearance. Furthermore, Prosper blossomed at NBA Summer League and quickly became a fan favorite as reports surfaced that he was well ahead of schedule in his development leading up to the Mavericks' training camp.

While there was still definitely a point to prove in the preseason for both players, Holmes was very excited to get a fresh start in Dallas and Prosper seemed like he would at least be part of the Mavericks' rotation at the very least. However, both players drastically underperformed comparable to expectations during Dallas' preseason.

Holmes looked out of sorts offensively and was missing routine shots around the rim in the pick and roll throughout most of Dallas' preseason, and he wasn't enough of a deterrent defensively to warrant regular season minutes either.

Prosper just looked well behind the curve from an offensive standpoint, but he still can certainly become an effective player for Dallas in the future if he takes his development seriously and gains more confidence from a shot-creation perspective.

We are only seven games into the season, so we can't write off either Prosper or Holmes becoming part of Dallas' rotation at some point in the season, but it's definitely surprising that neither of them has even cracked the rotation given the notion of both of them heading into preseason.

9. Dereck Lively II is way ahead of initial expectations

When rumors surfaced that Dereck Lively II could become the starting center in Dallas heading into training camp, most Mavericks fans were caught off guard at the proposition of Lively II being ready to battle it out against the best centers in the NBA on a nightly basis.

However, that's not to undermine the intrigue that most Mavericks fans had in regard to Lively II starting after it became abundantly clear he was the best big man on Dallas' roster throughout the preseason.

Lively II has had some rough outings against the likes of veteran All-Star centers like Rudy Gobert (preseason) and Nikola Jokic, but he has looked extremely formidable against most competition. Lively II is building excellent chemistry in the pick and roll with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, as he's leaps and bounds ahead of where he was at during the NBA Summer League in terms of offensive awareness.

He's emerging as a consistent double-double threat if he's able to stay out of foul trouble, and is becoming better at boxing out and learning from mistakes every game. Lively II is a stout enough rim protector against most teams for Dallas to suffice, but he has the tools to be one of the top shot-blockers in the league once he fully taps into his athletic gifts.

Lively II's ceiling extends beyond the roof of the American Airlines Center, but not many fans could've expected that he would be this NBA-ready after how raw he looked at Duke last year even if he still has his fair share of rookie woes.

8. Derrick Jones Jr.'s emergence

Derrick Jones Jr. was definitely someone most Mavericks fans expected to at least have a role on the team after he signed with Dallas for the veteran’s minimum this past August.

However, many didn’t anticipate Jones Jr. being in a position to start for Dallas. While the minute distribution between Jones Jr. and Josh Green has fluctuated on a game-to-game basis depending on who’s producing better, Jones Jr. has performed extremely well defensively for Dallas and has gotten hot offensively in a few games.

Jones Jr. may sift between starting and coming off the bench for Dallas, but through seven games he’s certainly proven that he’s worthy of a role on this Mavericks team. Jones Jr. has been a pretty stout one-on-one defender unless he’s had to defend a size up, and he’s been excellent as a help defender, seemingly always coming in for a block or strip in a key situation for Dallas off of an excellent defensive rotation.

Jones Jr. has flashed some knockdown ability from outside, particularly during his two-game outburst against the Grizzlies and his former team the Chicago Bulls. His shot has looked more shaky in the Mavericks’ other contests, but his ability to get offensive rebounds, actively cut, and run in transition have been staples regardless of circumstance.

Jones Jr. has flashed some uncanny athleticism that the Mavericks simply don’t have otherwise and the more he hits from outside, the more integral he could become to this Mavericks roster. Currently, Jones Jr. is averaging just under 21 minutes per game, but he’s shown that he can be a dynamic wing when given the opportunity thus far.

It will be interesting to see what his role is as the season goes on, but he’s shown enough for fans to believe that he could potentially have a breakout season in Dallas.

7. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Grant Williams' offensive efficiency

Grant Williams has already become a huge fan favorite in Dallas despite his Philadelphia Eagles fandom.

The 24-year-old is shooting an obscene 56.1 percent from outside to the start of the season, and Williams has his eyes set on something even crazier. He wants to shoot above 50 percent from downtown for the year.

His 3-point shooting percentage will likely take a dip, but nonetheless, Grant Williams’ floor spacing this year has been invaluable.

Sure we knew Williams was going to be a threat from outside heading into this season, but if he’s producing at this sort of rate and truly is just that much of a benefactor from the space created by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving on offense, then he may be much more lethal from outside in his first season with Dallas than we all expected.

Williams has done a great job at side-stepping preemptive closeouts to make himself open all the time from three even if the look isn’t always there upon receiving a kick-out pass, and he’s keeping the defense honest by finishing at the rim when he attacks closeouts.

In the same vein as Williams, Tim Hardaway Jr. has been much more effective offensively and shooting-wise than many of us expected heading into the season. Hardaway Jr. is shooting a pretty standard (for himself) 38.5 percent from downtown this season and doing so on a lofty 9.3 attempts per game.

Hardaway Jr. has shot a few head-scratchers this season, but other than that, this might be the best we’ve seen him offensively in Dallas. He’s coming off the bench and initiating offense much more efficiently, as he’s got to his in-between game and has been much more dynamic off the dribble.

Coming off the bench may be Hardaway Jr.’s best role, especially with the amount of offensive firepower in the Mavericks starting lineup. Nonetheless, if he and Grant Williams continue to shoot at this level, Dallas will be drawing a lot of national media attention soon for how good their offense is.

6. Josh Green coming off the bench

After Josh Green agreed to a three-year $41 million contract extension with Dallas right ahead of the season starting, it was assumed amongst most that he was going to maintain his starting position from last season. Green had an excellent preseason and showcased a lot of off-the-dribble shot creation that had many Mavericks fans intrigued about the possibility of him taking yet another offensive leap.

Green also performed extremely well defensively for the Australian national team this past summer and found ways to make his imprint on the game despite his minimized role offensively at the FIBA World Cup, so all signs were pointing toward a breakout season for Green in Dallas.

However, Green has come off the bench to start the season barring a couple of games where Kyrie Irving was out and he objectively hasn't caught stride offensively yet. Green's shot mechanics have still looked good, but he's been much more out of control and sporadic in one-on-one opportunities that he oftentimes saw himself taking advantage of last year.

The Mavericks could admittedly do a better job of getting Green involved offensively by implementing some more curl actions for him and possibly letting him run a few pick and rolls every game as he only attempts to create for himself if he's wide-open because one of Doncic or Irving are trapped.

Green also isn't performing as well defensively though, and is resorting to bad habits that plagued him before last season from time to time such as over-fouling and gambling for steals too often. If Green can harness his athleticism on defense to become more disciplined once again, he may start to turn heads in regard to his spot in the rotation especially if he can generate steals to get out in transition more.

The door isn't closed on Green having a breakout season quite yet, but he'll need to at least prove himself to be more worthy of the definitive starting small-forward spot in Dallas in a potential make-or-break season.

5. Dwight Powell’s defense

Barring a few rough stretches, through seven games Dwight Powell’s defense has been much improved comparable to his previous seasons in Dallas.

Powell is doing a great job as a switch defender when tasked with guarding wings.
He’s also becoming much more adapt to absorbing contact and still being able to contest the shot when he has to rotate over as a rim protector.

Powell is also doing a great job of using his hands and has picked passing lanes multiple times from beating his man to the spot on defense this season. At the end of the day, Powell is never going to become the tried and true rim protector the Mavericks covet, but his defense has ascended to a level that makes him a lot more playable down the stretch of games.

It’s unknown if Powell will be able to maintain this level of defensive productivity on a long-term basis as he’s been a slightly above-average defender at the absolute best throughout most of his career. He also had a pretty rough go defensively against Orlando on the second night of a back-to-back on Monday night, but otherwise, the veteran big man is proving to be an invaluable rotation piece for Dallas this year so far with his rim-rolling ability and defense.

Dwight Powell has once again defied the odds and has become a staple in the Mavericks' rotation this year through his defense, but another Mavericks veteran big man has had quite the opposite effect compared to Powell.

4. Maxi Kleber's struggles

When Maxi Kleber came to Dallas from Bayern Munich in 2017, the then 25-year-old big man brought a very surprising spark of athleticism and defense to an older roster that sorely needed it. Not many Mavericks fans could’ve imagined that the second Wurzburg, Germany, product in team history would still be on the team six seasons later though as he is in his seventh NBA season.

Kleber has displayed a willingness to adapt to whatever role the team needs and has played selflessly on both ends of the court throughout his tenure in Dallas. Kleber has long been coveted for his ability to switch onto wings and guards on the perimeter defensively, but that along with his shooting are skills that seem to be depreciating greatly ever since Kleber tore his hamstring in December of 2022. 

Maxi Kleber has been a good role player, but many Mavs fans would also argue that the team extended him past his limits the last few seasons, as lack of substantial big-man depth on the roster has prompted him to average over at least 24.6 minutes per game in each of the last four seasons. Kleber also was an integral piece to the Mavericks' defense in their 2022 Western Conference Finals run and emptied the tank for Dallas in three taxing playoff rounds.

Whether we should attribute Kleber’s recent injury history and struggles this season to being ran into the ground by Dallas’ coaching staff the past few seasons is up for debate. However, the 31-year-old big man has looked unconfident in all facets offensively.

Kleber rarely rolls hard enough to inflict a presence on the rim offensively anymore like he was able to on occasion the past few seasons, and his ability to stretch the floor by shooting the three-ball is starting to diminish as he’s shot below 35 percent from distance in each of the last two seasons and has struggled early on. If Kleber continues to keep getting injured or can’t get back on track, his time in Dallas may be coming to a close soon.

3. Luka Doncic's defense

Luka Doncic took drastic strides in his conditioning this summer, and the ripple effects of it are slowly paying off through Dallas’ first seven games. The Mavericks are ranked 12th in pace in the entire NBA, and Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Kyrie Irving have all done an excellent job of pushing the ball in the open court the last few games as this Mavericks team is starting to become more acclimated with one another.

Doncic has been hampered with a quadricep injury the last few games but has played through the pain even if it’s noticeably hurting his game sometimes when the injury is re-aggravated throughout game action. It’s caused him to settle a little more on offense as he’s been shooting a lot of 3-pointers to start the season, but Doncic has still been able to get to his spots when the Mavs need it most.

Once Doncic’s injury starts to hopefully heal, this version may be the best we’ve seen of him so far as his defense has been extremely effective this year. Doncic has been much more laterally quick and sound, and he has a big enough body to be able to match up size-wise with most NBA wings. Doncic is averaging one steal per game currently, and that number makes sense based on how much he’s been able to pick passing lanes and make strips on defense when matched up one-on-one on the perimeter.

Doncic may never be an elite defender, as he still has some pretty blatant defensive rotation mishaps every game due to lack of effort, but those have been much fewer and far between this season in Dallas.

If Doncic continues to play perimeter defense at an above-average rate for Dallas this year, then Dallas’ defense will only become more lethal going forward as they tighten up miscommunications and silly early-season mistakes that likely won’t be there come playoff time.

2. Minutes distribution between Jaden Hardy, Seth Curry, and Dante Exum

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd isn’t leaving a lot of minutes to fight for guards not named Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving,  and Tim Hardaway Jr. on this Dallas Mavericks roster. Irving and Doncic are both clocking over 35 minutes per game when they’ve played, and Hardaway Jr. is averaging just a hedge under 30 minutes per game even though he’s coming off the bench.

There was a lot of hype in preseason surrounding Dante Exum, as many had diagnosed him as someone who would be the lead ball handler in the Mavericks’ second unit. However, he along with Seth Curry have played sparingly to start the year for Dallas barring two games that Irving was out due to injury.

Jaden Hardy’s role on this team looked even more obsolete through the first few games of regular season action as he was coming off of an injury to start the season, but the second-year guard has been a solid spark plug in the minutes he’s been granted by Kidd.

Hardy has sort of taken heed of the third ball handler off-the-bench role in Dallas the past few games through his ability to make outside shots in key moments, but his role is far from ensured this early on in the season. Dallas will obviously need Exum’s point-of-attack defense and ability to push the pace a lot more in some games compared to others, but it’s puzzling that he isn’t getting a little more than the 5.3 minutes per game given how well he’s produced in limited minutes.

Curry is sort of the odd man out if Hardy continues to keep proving his worth to head coach Jason Kidd, but Hardy could very well eat up most of the minutes between the three of him, Curry, and Exum if he keeps the turnovers down and stays disciplined on defense.

It will be interesting to see how the minute distribution plays out between the three aforementioned guards going forward, but Kidd will need to recognize that he’ll have to lean on at least one of them a little more going forward so Doncic and Irving aren’t burnt out down the stretch of the season.

1. Kyrie Irving’s offensive struggles

Kyrie Irving’s early season struggles on offense have been well documented in the five games he’s played in so far this season. Irving’s overall process looks excellent on both sides of the ball though, which makes his struggles on the offensive side even more confusing.

Kyrie looks even more comfortable facilitating this year for Dallas, and you can see how the camaraderie he’s built with this group after a full preseason and training camp is translating. Irving has been sneakily good on defense too, as he’s tacked up a lot of steals early on with how savvy he is as a one-on-one defender with his hands, even when out-sized.

Irving is positively affecting the Mavericks from a leadership perspective too, as he can be seen getting hyped for his teammates all the time on the sidelines. Irving offered his two cents in regard to his mentality amidst his shooting slump after Dallas' win against Orlando on Monday night.

"This year is just a focus on basketball and peaking at the right time. You'll hear me say that pretty often. I don't think my accolades are at the forefront either, like making All-Star and making whatever [All-NBA] teams and stuff like that. I think it's just developing as a leader and mature and being able to put one foot in each other in front of the other every single day on and off the court. We're a growing group."

Kyrie Irving

Irving’s early season struggles can definitely be attributed to just a mere shooting slump, and it’s only time before the former All-Star starts converting more on some of his attempts. In the meantime though, he’s still easily the second-best player on the team even if he’s not hitting, so despite his lineup being surprising it shouldn’t have fans too worried.

For all the latest on Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks, stay tuned.