5 issues the Dallas Mavericks must sort out during training camp

After a thrilling offseason, where the Mavs reshaped their squad with a bevy of new additions, the pieces will begin to take shape during training camp and preseason. Dallas begins training camp on September 27, followed by preseason action, beginning on October 5.

The Mavs travel to Abu Dhabi to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in a two-part international series. Rather than competing against the T'Wolves just once, the Mavs will square off against Minnesota twice, with the second game played on October 7.

Next, Dallas travels to Spain to take Luka Doncic's old squad, Real Madrid, on October 10th. Finally, the Mavs head back to Dallas to take on the Pistons on October 20.

During training camp and the preseason, the Mavs coaches will closely analyze how the new additions fit together. The Mavs only returned four players who played in more than 1,000 minutes a season ago.

Although the Mavs return nine players, two came over via a midseason trade, Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris, one played in less than half the games, Maxi Kleber, and the remaining two, Jaden Hardy and A.J. Lawson, suited up for Dallas for their first time in their young careers.

Dallas will employ new faces at center, forward, and guard. With all the new pieces in town, there will surely be more questions than answers. Going into training camp, the Mavs must sort out five different issues that plagued the franchise a year ago.

5. Who will start at center and what does the depth behind the starter look like?

Seemingly an age-old question in Dallas. The Mavericks haven't had a starting-caliber center since Tyson Chandler manned the middle in 2015. Dallas has tried multiple different starters from 2015 and on.

Zaza Pachulia, Nerlens Noel, DeAndre Jordan, Willie Cauley-Stein, Kristaps Porzingis, Christian Wood, JaVale McGee, and returning starter Dwight Powell have all been trotted out at the five, albeit with little success.

Powell has been a reliable asset for years, but he does not project as a starting-caliber center on a playoff team. The Canadian big does a lot of the little things well. He sets great picks, does a nice job as a roller, hustles for loose balls, and will take a charge or try to contest a shot at the rim.

However, Powell doesn't stretch the floor, rebound well for a big, block shots, or provide any type of offense besides a dunk or putback. His best role is suited as an energizer off the bench.

Here comes the 12th overall selection, Dereck Lively II. The Mavs selected the uber-athletic Lively II out of Duke as their top choice in the draft. Although Lively II is a relatively raw prospect who only averaged 20.4 minutes per game at Duke, he projects as the future starter in Dallas.

The former Blue Devil may not begin the year manning the middle, but if his development appears to be ahead of schedule, Dallas should trot out the 7-foot-1 center whenever he's deemed ready for the NBA.

Additionally, the Mavs acquired former Sacramento Kings big man, Richaun Holmes, on draft night. Holmes appeared to be a quality starting center in the NBA just two seasons ago, before the Kings traded for All-Star big man, Domantas Sabonis.

At his peak, Holmes averaged 14.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. If Holmes can regain his 2020-21 season form, he'll surely be worthy of starting at the five spot for the Mavs.

If one to guess, Powell would likely start, with Holmes and Lively II vying for minutes off the bench. Forward Maxi Kleber will also likely log time at center, with Williams possibly receiving some minutes at the five, likely in crunch time.

To prepare for the future, the Mavs must prioritize Lively II's time on the floor. As soon as Lively II steps on the floor, he'll be a fantastic rollman, rebounder, and shot-blocker. Something the Mavs have been in search of since Chandler.

4. Who runs the point behind Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving?

The Mavs executed their offseason plan well. They added multi-dimensional defenders, revamped the center rotation, and continued to bring in young talent.

The only part of the Mavs offseason that seemed to go untouched, was the Mavs need for a backup point guard. Of course, Dallas has Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but there will be times when neither Doncic nor Irving is on the court for the Mavs.

Doncic consistently plays more than 60 games but does get dinged up here and there and he has been either first or second in usage percentage since his sophomore season in the league.

And, Doncic's running mate, Irving, hasn't had the best reputation when it comes to staying on the court. Irving hasn't totaled more than 60 games played since the 2018-19 season. Although Irving has endured some injuries, off-the-court issues have typically played a role in Irving's absences.

Despite Doncic and Irving both likely playing more than 35 minutes per game, adding another ball-handler to the roster wouldn't hurt. Players like Cameron Payne, Ish Smith, Kendrick Nunn, and even veteran John Wall are still available to the point.

Nevertheless, if the Mavs do prefer to keep the backup ball-handling duties "in-house," a few players are capable of filling those responsibilities.

The Mavericks signed former-fifth overall pick, Dante Exum, to a contract this offseason. Exum came into the league as a highly-regarded prospect, but his career quickly fizzled out due to injuries and lackluster player. Overseas, Exum revived his career by displaying an improved offensive game.

Exum may be just what the Mavs are looking for if his recent progress overseas translates to the NBA. Aside from Exum, the Mavs have Jaden Hardy, who shined as a rookie but isn't a primary ball-handler.

Hardy is a score-first player by nature. Hardy averaged 1.4 assists per game a season ago and only 2.7 assists per game when given the keys to the offense during the NBA Summer League. It will take drastically improved decision-making from Hardy if the Mavs feel he is fit to initiate off the bench.

3. Does Dallas prioritize a strong offense or defense in the opening unit?

The Mavs have two starters locked into place, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Besides the two All-Stars, the coaching staff has a decision to make.

Will new acquisition and fourth-highest-paid player Grant Williams become a full-time starter for the first time in his career? Will Josh Green improve enough offensively to start on the wing? Will either one of the rookies, Dereck Lively II or Olivier-Maxence Prosper impress enough in training camp to start on opening night? Or will returnees Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, and Dwight Powell once again grace the starting five?

As of now, there are more questions than answers. However, the questions begin with offense and defense. All of the players previously mentioned have been or are quite better on one end of the floor than the other.

A strong defensive opening unit may include Green, Williams, and Powell, or Lively II. While a strong offensive unit would include Hardaway Jr., Williams, and Holmes.

Ultimately, the Mavs may try and go with the best of both worlds. With Doncic and Irving already on the court, the offense won't be an issue as long as both stars figure out how to play off one another.

Having Doncic and Irving on the floor at the same time means defense and spacing are crucial. Thus, Hardaway Jr. and Williams will likely man the forward spots. Hardaway Jr. due to his knockdown shooting and Williams due to his 3-and-D archetype.

As previously discussed, the last spot will likely go to returnee Powell. But, Lively II should soon compete with Powell for minutes. If Lively II were to start, think of these Mavs as the 2017-2022 Utah Jazz. Premier offensive weapons on the perimeter, with a hulking interior presence who acts as a defensive clean-up man, blocking any shot that comes his way.

2. How will the Mavs utilize Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving's minutes?

After acquiring Kyrie Irving in a midseason blockbuster a season ago, he only appeared in sixteen games next to franchise stalwart Luka Doncic. And in those sixteen games, the Mavs only came away victorious in five.

Entering the 2023-24 season, Jason Kidd and co. must figure out the best way Doncic and Irving will coexist. Doncic has only played on-ball throughout the entirety of his career. Over the course of his career, only 13.6 percent of Doncic's two-point field goals and 26.3 percent of his three-point attempts have been assisted.

As for Irving, his assisted field goal percentages are higher, but he is also best with the ball in his hands, as he is widely considered the best ball handler in all of basketball. Luckily for the Mavs and Irving, the former Blue Devil has spent the majority of his career playing next to a superstar.

Irving has shared the court with LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, James Harden, Kevin Durant, and now Doncic. Although the sample size was small a season ago, the results weren't promising playing next to Doncic.

The Mavs re-signed Irving to a multi-year contract in hopes the on-court chemistry between the two stars would change for the better. And, with a full offseason and training camp spent together, the duo should only get better.

With Irving on the roster, his minutes alongside Doncic's will likely be staggered. Irving will get his solo time, while Doncic will get his as well. If head coach Jason Kidd plays it right, there may never be a minute that the lineup won't feature Irving or Doncic as long as the game is competitive.

In order to maximize the duo's potential, Doncic may need to cede touches to his backcourt-mate Irving. But, that doesn't necessarily mean Doncic has to be less involved. Becoming a spot-up shooter every now and then might do wonders for the Dallas offense.

For instance, if Doncic were to up his corner three-point field goal attempts, that would be a step in the right direction.

1. How can the defense and rebounding improve?

The final and most broad question on the list: how can the porous defense from a season ago improve?

The Mavs fielded a bottom-10 defensive unit a season ago. They ranked 24th in defensive rating, which took a toll on the offense. The Mavs averaged 114.2 points per game but allowed 114.1 points per game in return.

Just a season prior in 2021-22, the Mavs recorded a plus-3.3 plus/minus. And Dallas ranked seventh in the association with a plus-3.4 net rating. The offense improved in 2022-23, but the defense took such a massive step back that the team suffered.

Going into the offseason, General Manager Nico Harrison emphasized the need for defense and rebounding to surround offensive stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Following the numerous moves made throughout the offseason, Dallas might have done enough to improve on the less glamorous end. But, time will tell.

Aside from an uninspiring defense, the Mavs were the NBA's worst rebounders. Dallas finished as the only team to record less than 40 rebounds per game. And, Dallas wasn't just bad on one end or the other. The Mavs finished bottom-5 in both offensive and defensive rebounding.

Dallas may have done enough to address the defensive concerns, but rebounding may be a different story. The Mavs return their top rebounder, Luka Doncic, but lack another big who can rebound. Starting center Dwight Powell only holds a career average of 4.5 rebounds per game.

Once again, rebounding will likely be a collective team effort. But the Mavs did spend their top draft choice on Dereck Lively II. As was previously mentioned, Lively II likely won't start, nor play many minutes from the get-go

But, Lively II is oozing with potential, especially as a rebounder. In his lone season in Durham, Lively II averaged 10.5 rebounds per 40 minutes. Bringing Lively II and Richaun Holmes off the bench should help them in that department. The former Kings big averages 5.4 rebounds per game during his career. In his best seasons, 2019-to-2021, Holmes averaged 8.2 boards per game.

If the Mavs continue to struggle on the glass, look for Jason Kidd to make adjustments. Including Lively II or Holmes in the starting lineup, especially if rebounding or defense holds the Mavs back from becoming a top team in the Western Conference.