Slight P.J. Washington tweak will make the Mavericks unstoppable next season

As the Dallas Mavericks head off to training camp, everyone in the organization is feeling the good vibes, as the Mavericks are trying to formulate a new and distinct identity with this being the first season since 2017-18 where Luka Doncic won't be on the opening day roster. With Kyrie Irving out of the lineup due to a torn ACL until the latter part of this upcoming season, the Mavericks will definitely need to fill the offensive void that he and Doncic have left behind.

While up-and-coming shot creator Brandon Williams and newly-signed D'Angelo Russell will both be up to the task to fill some of Dallas' shot creation void, the Mavericks will have to get offense from both of their two most coveted wings in P.J. Washington and Cooper Flagg.

Given Flagg's ball-handling repertoire, he'll get his fair share of opportunities to create offense for himself, but the Mavericks will need Washington to create his own offense as well, and this could come in the form of more post-up opportunities, especially after his contract extension this summer.

Mavericks need to look for P.J. Washington in post-up scenarios more

Washington thrived in the post last season for the Mavericks, as he has an elite ability to front smaller wings and guards off switches en route to being able to bully them at the rim for easy points. Washington excels with his spin move and footwork in these scenarios, and he's a big body that has the size to finish over smaller bigs if need be.

There are other potential areas of improvement for Washington within his offensive game still, such as his 3-point shooting and ball-handling ability, but his post-up touches have proven to be efficient and less turnover-prone compared to his perimeter looks, so this is a wrinkle that the Mavericks and head coach Jason Kidd need to explore more this season.

With as much size as the Mavericks already have, Washington will likely already find himself matched up with smaller wings and guards in lots of the lineups the Mavericks run, especially when they are going double-big, so he's going to have the size advantage in plenty of post-up scenarios this season.

Even if Washington expands more on his perimeter shot creation game like he said he would at media day, this is undoubtedly something the Mavericks should try to do more often, as Washington is already far better at posting up compared to most wings, and Dallas has a bigger lineup compared to almost every team in the league.

Both Flagg and Washington are bigger-bodied wings that will be able to win out in more post-up scenarios than not, but Washington is easily one of Dallas' strongest wings on their roster, and he's proven time-after-time that he can finish through contact at an elite level, hence why Dallas' guards will need to look for him more in the mid to low-post this coming season.

As aforementioned, Doncic is gone and Irving will be out of Dallas' lineup for a good chunk of next season, so the Mavericks know they'll have to create offense from a variety of sources to hold down the ship until Irving returns. However, going to Washington in post-up scenarios is one of the most guaranteed methods of shot creation they can look toward when possessions dry up, as Washington saved tons of possessions this past season with his ability to convert in the post.