Jason Kidd dishes on the depth of the Mavericks’ roster and what it means for Luka Doncic
Jason Kidd recently sat down with Marc Stein to discuss all-things Dallas Mavericks. Among the topics covered were the new Off Season additions and how they impact the depth of the 2024-2025 roster. Kidd not only reflected on the new depth and versatility in and of itself, but also how he expects it to impact possible MVP Luka Doncic.
“This is the deepest team that he’s been a part of,” said Kidd regarding Doncic. He continued, “we can lighten the load with him not having to do everything.” This should be music to the ears of all Mavs fans, as Doncic has certainly endured his fair share of bumps and bruises throughout his career. Fox Sports lists over 100 incidents of injury dating back to his rookie season. Granted many of these are the same injury across multiple dates, but the point is still well made. Looking at just last season’s Playoff run, Donic dealt with a knee injury, ankle injury, calf injury and thoracic injury. Doncic has also shouldered a heavy workload in general. His average minutes per game have increased each year he has been in the league and he has never averaged under 30.0 MPG. From his rookie season through last year, his MPG averages were 32.2, 33.6, 34.3, 35.4, 36.2 and 37.5, respectively. Putting this in further context, he was tied for 40th in MPG his rookie season, but in his last three seasons was in the top 8, with last year tying for 2nd (less than half a MPG behind league leader DeMar Derozan). As the team leader in PPG, RPG, APG and SPG last season, a reduced workload should prove to be a massive advantage to Doncic’s overall health and availability, and with the talent added around him, it may not have to come at the expense of a statistical drop off.
The net/net of primary Off Season transactions saw four players coming in with three going out. Tim Hardaway Jr., Derrick Jones, Jr., and Josh Green are elsewhere, with Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie coming to Big D. This alone leaves the Mavericks as a plus one in rotation-piece depth, but it also provides more depth in the right areas as it pertains to Doncic. Grimes and Dinwiddie will provide valuable relief purely on the basis of position, while Thompson should alleviate some of the doubling and blitzing Doncic faces on a nightly basis.
If Doncic can see his minutes drop even marginally to the 35 MPG range, it will pay big dividends over the grind of an 82-game season and into what will hopefully be a deep Post Season run. The team will aim to gel quickly and remain healthy, and with a full training camp together with a now proven (and improved) roster, they can put their depth on display right out of the gate. Kidd looks to be spot-on in his assessment of the roster. Now he just needs to solve the good-problem-to-have question of finding the right minutes for everyone. Check back often with Mavs Moneyball where we’ll have you covered all season long.