The Mavericks have added depth, but Maxi Kleber is still important to the team.
The Dallas Mavericks had their most successful season in more than a decade, but that didn’t stop them from trying to improve. The Mavericks front office added some new players during the offseason, and have some young players that might be ready to contribute. Despite that, they still need Maxi Kleber to be a big part of the team this season.
Kleber’s stats aren’t impressive if you just look at the box score. He averaged just 4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game last year. But Kleber isn’t on the floor to score or dish out assists. Dallas needs him to play the scrappy defense he’s become known for, able to hang with bigs in the paint, but also hold his own on the perimeter. Kleber needs to rebound more, closer to five boards per game. Otherwise, though, he’s there to defend and hit open threes.
Biggest question
Can Kleber stay healthy? He’s missed at least 22 games in each of the last four years. Kleber’s only played 80 games combined in the last two seasons. He just can’t stay on the court. It’s been a variety of injuries that’s kept him in the training room, so there’s no hope in it being a nagging injury that’s finally healed.
The Mavericks need Kleber’s mix of defense, size, and shooting. If they’re going to chase a top seed in the Western Conference, and embark on a deep run in the postseason, they’ll need a full season of Kleber, even if it’s in shorter stretches during games.
Best case scenario
If everything goes right, Kleber’s body holds up and he’s able to play 70-75 games. The new depth the Mavericks have assembled allows Jason Kidd to deploy Kleber in short bursts where he can play all out, but not push his body too much. Ideally, Olivier-Maxence Prosper is ready to be Kleber’s apprentice and slowly work into sharing the backup power forward spot. With less responsibility, Kleber’s shot returns. He shot 35 percent from deep last season, which is kind of okay. But he’s shot better than that before, 37 and 41 percent, respectively, and Dallas would love to see him hitting at that clip again.
Worst case scenario
Things could go wrong, though. Kleber is 32, and might just be injury-prone at this point in his career. It’s possible he struggles to stay in the lineup for long stretches, and Prosper isn’t ready to take Kleber’s minutes. The Mavericks have options at power forward, of course. Naji Marshall could fill that role against smaller teams. But Kleber will be a key backup for Dallas this season, and if he’s not healthy, there’s no guarantee they can fill his spot easily.
Season goal
If Kleber plays 65-75 games at 15-20 minutes per game, and shoots 37 percent or better on four 3-point attempts per game this year, he’ll have put in a successful season. That’s all the Mavericks need from eighth-year vet.
Overall
The Mavericks need what Kleber can bring to the court to be the best version of themselves. They might have other options on the roster to fill his bench role, but they don’t want to discover that through injuries to Kleber. Hopefully we’ll see him locking down opposing forwards and hitting open threes all season long.