Predicting Dallas Mavericks stat leaders for 2023-24 season

We're less than a week away before the NBA regular season kicks off.

The Dallas Mavericks begin play against Victor Wembanyama and the upstart San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, October 25 at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

The Mavericks are in for a bounce-back year after a disappointing 2022-23 season where they missed the playoffs altogether. Dallas finished with a 38-44 record, good for eleventh place in the Western Conference.

Predicting Dallas Mavericks stat leaders for 2023-24 season

Going into the 2023-24 season, the lineup will surely look different. Superstar Luka Doncic finally has an All-Star counterpart in Kyrie Irving. Even though Dallas acquired Irving last February, the duo only played in sixteen games together.

After a full offseason together, the dynamic pairing will look to improve upon a poor showing a season ago. And, despite an explosive offense, the duo's defense is questionable at best. To offset the lack of perimeter defense, the Mavs added multiple wing and interior defenders to the lineup.

Grant Williams joins the Mavs via sign-and-trade from the Boston Celtics. Williams is a brute force on the defensive end, capable of handling a wide array of defensive assignments.

And due to the numerous interior struggles that plagued the Mavs a year ago, Dallas revamped the center rotation by adding two big men on draft night. The Mavs drafted Dereck Lively II from Duke and acquired Richaun Holmes from the Sacramento Kings via trade.

The additions of Lively II and Holmes weren't the only new pieces added to the roster on draft night. Dallas drafted Marquette forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper with the 24th overall selection. Prosper is a high-energy player, who could get minutes right away due to his defensive potential.

Additionally, Dallas added Dante Exum, Derrick Jones Jr., and former Maverick Seth Curry to finalize the roster for the upcoming season.

Despite the many new additions, Doncic will likely lead the Mavs in numerous statistical categories for the sixth year in a row. But, some newbies may lead Dallas in a few categories as well. The stat leaders will be predicted for points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, field-goal, and three-point percentage below.

Points per game leader - Luka Doncic

Perhaps the easiest prediction to make, Luka Doncic will lead the Mavericks in points per game barring unforeseen circumstances. Doncic has averaged the most points on the Mavs every season he has played in Dallas.

However, the upcoming season may present his toughest challenger yet. Kyrie Irving will likely average 25-plus points per game. In the 20 contests he suited up for in Dallas a season ago, Irving averaged 27.0 points per game. The former Blue Devil also took 19.2 shots per game.

Although Doncic took three more attempts per contest, Irving has generally been the more efficient player of the two. Irving is a career 47.2 percent shooter, while Doncic shoots 46.6 percent for his career. In recent seasons, Irving has neared 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.

Nevertheless, it's Doncic's team and Irving knows it. Doncic has ranked top-2 in usage rate since his second season in the association. And, he's averaged the most shot attempts per game over the past two seasons.

While Irving is a worthy challenger, Doncic will take the cake as the Mavs leader in points per game.

Doncic's projected points per game: 30.6