Dallas has such a good team, there’s a lot of candidates
We’re well into Dallas Mavericks training camp and so far the staff has tackled what they’re the most excited about as well as who they think will win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
Now, we have another key question: who will be the second most important Dallas Maverick in the 2024-25 season? Lots of fun answers here because it depends on how the respondent interprets the word “important”
Isaac: The Mavericks have made a lot of key additions this summer and Klay Thompson’s fit will be crucial to this team and its ceiling as it looks to avenge its 2024 Finals loss.
However, the answer here is simple. Kyrie Irving is the second most important Maverick and it’s not particularly close. If Irving is clicking, defenses will be scrambling, if Irving is struggling, defenses can key in on Luka and focus their defense on one of the Mavericks’ All-Star backcourt. If Irving does well, the Mavericks are a contender, if Kyrie struggles, the Mavericks could be in a fight just to make the playoffs.
The first 18 months of the Luka Dončić/Kyrie Irving experiment has gone well, and I expect that trend to continue now that the team should have considerably better spacing with Thompson on the wing this season.
Kirk: I’ve been waiting to answer on these but I’m going with Dereck Lively. His minutes will approach 30 per game and barring some weird/bad injury, he’s going to play 70 or more games, up from 55 last season. We’re going to see a player who is on the fringes of the Defensive Player of the Year conversation if the refs call the game similarly to what they did in the latter half of the season/ He’s huge, smart, and has a lot of skills of which we’ve only seen the surface scratched. Dereck Lively is going to be the second best Dallas Maverick this season.
Matt: There are a lot of players I’m looking forward to watching this season, but in terms of overall importance, I think it’s still going to be Kyrie Irving. His first full season in Dallas showed how beneficial it is to have a non-Doncic option at the end of games, and a guy who can reprieve Luka of ball-handling duties without much of a drop-off. Irving played in 58 games last season, and as he enters his age 32 season, pacing him through the regular season and making it to the playoffs with a healthy bonafide #2 will be important for Dallas’ championship aspirations.
Sudarshan: I’m going to zag here a little bit and say Jason Kidd.
I’m not his biggest fan, but what he’s achieved here in Dallas as a coach cannot be denied. He’s not the greatest Xs and Os guy, but he’s been superb in handling the players and ensuring a sense of togetherness in the Locker room. That’ll be his main purpose this coming season – Ensuring the team is focused and on track for the whole season and the Playoff run to follow.
He’s going to have to adapt his roster tinkering and experimentation in the early parts of the season and hit the ground running from Opening night for the Mavericks to compete for the top seeds in a crazy Western Conference. This is probably the most talented Mavericks roster in a decade. How Jason Kidd manages this season will determine whether the Mavericks make it to the Finals again and win, or make the Playoffs and flame out.
Matthew: PJ Washington is the second most important player on the Mavericks because he has the highest range of expected outcomes. Luka Doncic will be the best player in the world. Kyrie Irving will be electric when he is on the court. The centers will provide elite rim protection and rim running. Washington will either be a borderline all defensive team player who provides good floor spacing and enough ability to attack close outs or a guy who’s focus waivers on both ends and who’s jumper fails him. If he is the former, the Mavericks are the second most talented team in the western conference. If he is the latter, the Mavericks impressive collection of guards and centers could be stymied by the limitations of the forwards.
Michael: There are several plausible options in my mind. Lively with his defensive presence (and likely growth) will be invaluable on that side of the floor; Thompson as the new third offensive threat with championship experience should positively change the dynamic of the team; Washington with his defense, athleticism and general toughness, all come to mind and will all no doubt be critical pieces (as will others).
That said, I’m picking Kyrie here. He is the other head of the snake, taking massive pressure off Luka. He also slides effortlessly into the #1 role when Luka is not on the court, and is a great mentor and teammate while bringing championship experience of his own. He missed 24 games last year and the team went 11-13 without him. I know this view of the stats only works in a vacuum, but if you apply the win percentage we had with Kyrie playing to the 24 games he missed, we win 5 more games on the season. Add in his clutch factor and the late game threat he becomes, and he’s the choice for me.