A Lot to Prove...

Dallas, TX

With the off-season of the CSL coming to a close, some very big headlines around the league. General Manager of the Defending Champs, the Miami Heat, OrangeParka, stepping down from his role. The drastic turn around of the Indiana Pacers led by three future Hall of Famers in LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dirk Nowitzki. Will the Houston Rockets be able to make it back to the Western Conference Finals, in an even tougher than last season Conference? Every one is curious to see how Andrew Wiggins of the Orlando Magic will be able to hold up with the big boys of the league. So much going around on the league, so many very interesting stories. Every single team in the league has so much to talk about, this year should definitely be a year that we surely wont forget.

The Dallas Mavericks had quite an off-season of their own. They've added some very key players to give them a very good bench, maybe one of the deepest in the league? All while hanging on to Tony Parker, Wesley Matthews, and Cody Zeller.

Mavericks lost: 2014 #6 pick, Patric Young, Gerald Green, Alec Burks, Baron Davis, Andray Blatche, Marcus Camby, Kyle Korver, Alex Poythress, Antawn Jamison
Mavericks gained: DeMar DeRozan, David West, Nikola Vucevic, George Hill, Kirk Hinrich, OJ Mayo, Udonis Haslem, D.J. Cooper, Mike Moser, 2016 Atlanta 1st

Some key players that were lost from last season, were Patric Young, Gerald Green, Kyle Korver, Alec Burks, and the number 6 pick from the 2014 CSL draft. "It definitely hurt losing Patric Young as we really liked what he brought to the table, his rebounding and defensive habits, are simply amazing. Gerald Green was a solid scorer for us as well while Korver proved to be a sharpshooter for us when we needed him. As for Alec Burks, I loved his defense, which is why he got the starting nod over Green during the last few weeks of the season. We will miss him." General Manager Tanner Owen said.

"The players that we gained though, in my opinion, far outweigh what we lost. A big in [Nikola] Vucevic will be huge for us, scorers in [DeMar] DeRozan, [OJ] Mayo, [David] West, along with defensive minded rotational players in [George] Hill, [Kirk] Hinrich, and [Udonis] Haslem will help us greatly. We are looking to try and sneak into the post season in this brutal Western Conference...And we'll give it our all, day in and day out." Owen continued to say. "We'll play with our lineup a bit, find the right chemistry for us, and go from there." he finished.


Wow! As we were mid way through writing the season preview for the Dallas Mavericks, they've just made a huge trade that has shocked a lot of us. In a four team trade with Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Denver, the Dallas Mavericks have traded stars Tony Parker and Wesley Matthews in exchange for Marc Gasol and two future first round picks.

"We didn't want to trade Tony Parker this off season, we wanted to see what he'd be able to bring to the team, but we got enticed with an offer, and we pulled the trigger on it." GM Tanner Owen said. "I got with Mark about the trade and he said he was going to override me on it and decline...but when I told him that the 2017 MIL 1st was unprotected, he was more inclined to do it, then I told him we would be getting another future 1st from MIL in 2019, the picks are what sold him, they'll prove to be valuable." Owen finished. Let's take a look at the roster now, and the potential of what it might be.


Starting at point guard, we have George Hill, who was acquired from the Boston Celtics as part of a draft day trade. Initially, he was obtained partly because him and Parker go way back. Hill was Parker's little brother essentially, so reuniting the two was nice. Now though, Hill will have to step in and lead the Dallas offense.
25.4mpg, 10ppg, 3.9apg, 2.8rpg, .5spg, 46% FG


Starting at shooting guard, OJ Mayo, who was acquired from the Bucks in a separate smaller deal after the three team trade between Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Dallas fell through. Mayo will have a lot to prove to the league, but it's being rumored that he might be given the okay to create his own shot. A season to redeem himself as a talent in the league.
31.8mpg, 13.2ppg, 2.1apg, 3.6rpg, .7spg, 45% FG


Starting at small forward, DeMar DeRozan, who was acquired from the Boston Celtics along with George Hill from above. He spent most of his time coming off the Celtic bench last season before going down with a torn MCL that took him out, but here in Dallas, he’ll be given starter minutes to show what he’s capable of really doing.
13.3mpg, 7.7ppg, .7apg, 1.8rpg, 41% FG


Starting at power forward, Nikola Vucevic, acquired from the Boston Celtics, joining teammates DeRozan and Hill. We’ve heard that despite being a natural center, Nik will start at power forward along with Marc Gasol, to form a twin tower type duo in the paint. Fans were eager when Vucevic was brought to the team as he’s got a ton of potential to be a pretty good scoring center in the league. Now, will start at power forward.
29.8mpg, 12.4ppg, 1apg, 8.9rpg, 1.1spg, 1.3bpg, 52% FG


Starting at center, Marc Gasol, acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks via the 4 team trade. A defensive juggernaut, he’ll certainly anchor the defense of Dallas the entire time. He put up great numbers last season with the Bucks and will look to continue his defensive dominance with Dallas. This time though, he’ll be playing along side another 7 footer in Vucevic.
31mpg, 17.3ppg, 1.2apg, 9rpg, 1spg, 1.8bpg, 46% FG

And the bench:

Kirk Hinrich, signed during free agency to back up DeMar DeRozan at shooting guard, will keep that role going into the new season. His tough defense and great veteranship is exactly what Dallas needed.

David West, signed during free agency to start...will be coming off the bench but playing big minutes. It’s projected that he’ll bounce between small forward and power forward coming off the bench, to maximize his playing time.

Udonis Haslem, acquired via trade earlier in the off season, will provide back up minutes for Vucevic, Gasol, and even West. A tough post player who isn’t afraid to scrap in the paint.

Cody Zeller, one of the very few players to remain on the roster (word is he might be on his way out though!), will likely see his playing time cut into with the addition of Marc Gasol. He’s still a great young big who has loads of potential.

D.J. Cooper, drafted number 43 by the Mavericks, will see some playing time off the bench with George Hill being inserted into the starting lineup. He had a great showing in the summer league, putting up 16.5ppg on 75% shooting.

Joel Freeland, another player still on the roster since new GM Owen was hired. Word has it that Freeland is a house favorite, and that trading him isn’t something the fans want, especially with the departure of Tony Parker and Wesley Matthews.

Mike Moser, drafted 35th overall by the Mavericks, will likely be buying some nice suits to wear at the games. Unless the injury bug hits Dallas hard, Moser will provide many high fives for teammates coming to the bench.

Jared Cunningham, the last of the three players that still remain on the roster since the beginning. It’ll be a tough competition between Cunningham and Moser, to see who averages the most high fives a game.

And there you have it, the Dallas Mavericks of the new season. We got one last word from Tanner Owen before he exited the conference, “There is still work to be done with the team, obviously. With the current assets that we have, I feel like we can make a couple of big moves to really bring in another, more proven star, to build the team around. Until then, we’ll see how this group does.”

Good read and Interesting team. Think OJ and Derozan are too inefficient to start on the same team plus you got Vuc playing out of posotion. I see some struggles defensively that Gasol alone won't be able to compensate for. I suppose its a good experiment but I think West and Hinrich could sneak into your starting 5 at some stage

Gaining Gasol may actually make you better than I initially anticipated cause Hill should do a well enough job at PG.

I think DeMar is gonna be good for you also, him and Mayo gonna have to hold down the majority of the scoring with West and Marc holding it down in the frontcourt, nice duo btw.

I'm liking these Mavs as a sleeper now maybe moreso than before, think this article and examining your team a bit further changed my mind.

You have a solid team but think that Vuc playing the four will hurt his stats a little.  You definitely have some talent, but think the West is still too deep for you guys to make a push this season.  Your 4 and 5 are good, but the 1-3 could use upgrading to have them compliment each others styles more.  Good luck this year though and hopefully you prove me wrong.

Thanks for the feedback guys, really appreciate it. Bummer about the trade restricted players though, sucks it's for so long. I could understand it maybe being 30 days but 90 is a bit much. I'll just patiently wait until I'm able to make some more trades to better round out my team.

Your team is some weird mix of young and old players that I'm not sure how I feel about. Wasn't a fan of that Gasol trade for you, thought it made sense to slowly build around Zeller and Vuc, so I thought you would have traded Rozan, Wes, and Parker for other young pieces. But I guess if you're able to move some more players after TR it could work out well for you.

As it stands now though, I think your teams ceiling is probably 8th in the west, considering all the competition in the WC.

Great frontcourt, iffy as hell on your backcourt. I think being patient and staying the course would have been better for you, but you do have two bona fide big men now. I don't like Mayo or DeRozan.