It is an interesting time for the Dallas Mavericks. Though a deeper look at the team’s performance indicates that Dallas was “unlucky” in compiling only 24 victories a season ago, it was a disastrous performance in many respects. With that said, the Mavericks were able to add Luka Doncic to the fold after a draft night deal with the Atlanta Hawks, leaving the team in a much better position moving forward.
Still, Dallas is in a spot in which they now owe a top-five protected pick to the Hawks as part of that transaction and, in short, all indications are that the franchise isn’t exactly set to take its time with a thorough rebuild. That means there are real expectations for on-court growth during the 2018-19 season.
With that urgency as the backdrop, an interesting nugget emerged during the team’s Media Day session on Friday. For the first time since his rookie season in 1998-99, it appears that Dirk Nowitzki will be coming off the bench. Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said as much to the assembled media.
“It’s pretty obvious at this point — and Dirk knows this, and we’ve talked about it — that we have to move the franchise forward the right way,” Carlisle said, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Dennis [Smith Jr.] and [Wesley] Matthews and Harrison [Barnes] and Luka and DeAndre right now look to me like the best team to start games. We need Wes out there to guard the best wing player, the best perimeter player. We need DeAndre out there to be our center. And I think the other pieces fall into place.”
Nowitzki himself added that “it was pretty much clear” that he would be in a reserve role after the team signed DeAndre Jordan, while also noting that “it’s all about winning” and he is on board with “whatever puts (the Mavs) in the best position to win.”
While it may seem bizarre to have the best player in franchise history (by a wide margin) operating in a reserve role, Carlisle made sure to point out the reasoning behind the decision and it is difficult to have qualms with the choice.
At the age of 40, Nowitzki is still a dangerous offensive weapon and he converted 40.9 percent of his three-point attempts last season. However, there are limitations to his game, even on that end of the floor, given his age and lack of explosiveness, leading the team to seemingly realize that he can’t act as their offensive focal point for wide swaths of time. On the defensive end, Nowitzki is now a full-blown liability and, given the $20+ million investment in Jordan at the position that Nowitzki almost certainly has to occupy on the defensive end, the stars were aligned for this change.
If Nowitzki can repeat his offensive performance from the 2017-18 season, there is certainly a viable role for him in what could be his final NBA campaign. That is going to be a supporting venture, though, and the decision makes sense for everyone involved.
