NLL Insider - Team by Team: Dallas Mavericksby greenmig, updated on Sunday, September 27 2015, 02:03 pm EST  2014-15 Finish: 52-30 Season Highlight There are 3 things you can be sure of in life; Death, Taxes and the NLL Mavs making the playoffs. Gm smokey has been at the helm forever and basically you can pencil these guys in for the post season every year. And 2014-15 was no different, despite a season of significant personnel changes where the Mavs finally parted ways with the enigma that is Carmelo Anthony, only to slot in with a very respectable 4th seed with 52 wins, (only 3 less than the previous year). Was it ever in doubt they would make it? Nope! History will show you this is the 5th straight season with only one miss since league inception. Season Lowlight The Mavericks held a 2-0 lead in the series vs the Lakers but for the second season in a row they were eventually bundled out in seven by the purple and gold in the playoffs – this time in the second round. Best Trade
It’s unusual that a deal which sends away a perennial Allstar and MVP candidate gets considered a ‘Best’ trade. However in this case it’s different as it’s no secret the Mavs have been trying to move on from the ‘Melo era’ for almost 2 years. They have had success but never managed to reach the pinnacle and win a Championship. So gm smokey decided it was time to move on. To be able to secure some nice assets in this situation is a good outcome. The key being the Houston 1st which turned into Mudiay. They also added Holiday and Thaddeus Young – two players in their prime. The Mavericks are now left with a nice problem to have with a ridiculously crowded backcourt especially at PG including George Hill, Jrue Holiday and Emmanuel Mudiay, DJ Augustin, Norris Cole and Ray McCallum – that’s 6 PG’s!
Worst Trade
Here the Mavericks send away Jared Dudley at the start of the season for a couple of journeymen. Jared turned out to have a pretty solid season whilst the other two basically faded out. Other Notable Trades
Check out this four team monster! Looking at it from the Mavs point of view and clearing away the chaff, they give up Duncan and Draymond Green in exchange for Randolph, Early and 2 x 1st rounders. With Green being perhaps the biggest loss as Duncan surely has to retire soon this is not a bad haul. Randolph is a beast in the paint and the Mavs get younger with Early, Karasev and McCallum. The two 1st rounders ended up being Trey Lyles and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who was then on-traded for Doug McDermott. With so much youth coming in for old man Duncan and Green, in the long term this may well end up being their best trade of the ‘14/’15 season.
Best FA Signing Carmelo Anthony was an unrestricted free agent but gm smokey was successful in convincing him to re-sign for the Mavs for 4 more years to no one’s surprise. You don’t let an asset like that walk out the door for nothing, and as we have seen above the decision proved very fruitful. Worst FA Signing The Mavs didn’t really have a ‘bad’ free agent signing. Perhaps Robbie Hummel could take out this honour as he sucks at basketball. But then again he was part of the trade fodder in the Duncan trade so he ended up serving his purpose. Star Unlike previous years where this award went to Melo by default, season ‘14/’15 was one of much roster change in Dallas. Many players were solid contributors but none really stood out heads and shoulders above the rest. Melo only played 17 games making him ineligible. Duncan was close with 57 games. But perhaps the most rock solid contributor, if not the Star was Deandre Jordan who played all 82 games, made the West All-star team and finished 2nd in All-Defensive Player of the Year. He also finished top 5 in the NLL in rebounds, blocks and fg%. Surprise There weren’t too many surprises in Dallas. Perhaps the big trades aforementioned were somewhat surprising since gm smokey is generally not known as a gm who partakes in regular roster overhauls or big multi-team blockbusters. Maybe the biggest surprise was the selection of Mudiay at pick 4 just simply from a roster balance standpoint. Sure he may have been best talent available according to some pundits but the Mavs now have 6 PG’s and are pretty thin upfront behind Jordan and Randolph. But knowing gm smokey he’ll likely move one or two guards for some big man help, so no biggie. Goat Nikola Mirotic – This guy came in with big raps from Europe, signing a $5m+ per year in Dallas. But on a winning team he really failed to deliver as promised averaging a poultry 4.5 points at 38% shooting and 3.1 rebounds in 14 minutes of play finishing with a Net 48 of -2.6. This was far below expectations and you can be sure gm smokey won’t tolerate a repeat performance next season. Draft Report Card Despite finishing 4th out West, following some savvy trades the Mavs were big players in the draft with 3 first round picks including two in the lottery. Their selections included Mudiay, Trey Lyles and Hollis-Jefferson. Not a bad haul for a playoff team. Mudiay could be a 2K stud at PG and Lyles looks to have some nice all-rounded skills. RHJ was dealt for Dougy McBuckets who may just be set for a break out season after being buried on the bench in Milwaukee. Looking to the Future As per usual, the Mavericks look to have a very solid NLL roster. Apart from an overabundance of PG’s, talent wise Dallas is most likely top 5 out West. The ‘Melo-era’ is gone and the Mavericks are younger with only 2 players over 30 years old. They are also arguably deeper so we expect we will now start to see the beginnings of a fresh new era led by Jordan-Randolph-Young-Green et al. We also look to see growth in the likes of Mirotic-Early-McDermott as well as new rookies Lyles and Mudiay. Look to Hill or Holiday to be dealt for a quality big. GM smokey needs to be given great for doing a great job in moving on from Melo and Duncan and re-tooling quickly in the process constructing a team which can still compete now as well as for the next 5 years to come. Upcoming Free Agents Gm smokey goes into free agency with a wad of gm points as usual. 95 to be exact. This combined with a solid team record of 52 wins last season and tonnes of cap space puts him in the driver’s seat to call the shots on who stays and who goes. Four incumbent starters in Jordan, Randolph, Young and Green are all unrestricted however they are all A loyalty except Jordan and have expressed their desire to return to Dallas, including DeAndre. So it would seem gm smokey does not have much convincing to do and it’s extremely likely that we will see all of these players back in big D next season. Apart from these big 4 free agents returning, Norris Cole is a RFA and is likely to return too whilst Ekpe Udoh will likely move on. |
Apr 25 8:09 pm
