Mavericks strengths and Weaknesses this Season

Oct 21, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Deron Williams (8) guards Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) in the second quarter at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 21, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Deron Williams (8) guards Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) in the second quarter at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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Coming into this upcoming season, the Dallas Mavericks have a number of favored positives and negatives.

Like any NBA team, no organization is perfect and some need more work than others. The Dallas Mavericks have high hopes this season and look to continue from where they left off last year. The team has a number of disadvantages this go-around in terms of where they compare to other teams in the Conference, but a number of positive strengths too.

Strengths:

  1.  One of the Mavericks team strengths this upcoming season will be player development. This coming year the team has a number of young players such as Seth Curry (26),  Harrison Barnes (24), and rookies Nicolas Brussion (23), AJ Hammons (24) and Dorian Finney-Smith (23). With a core of young players, comes the ability for players to improve throughout the season. As mentioned, towards the end of his season with the Sacramento Kings Seth Curry’s production level gracefully improved in terms of points and assists. Much like Curry, there is plenty of room for many of the Mavericks rookies to improve throughout the year as well.
  2.  Veteran leadership is also a key trait Dallas has to go hand-in-hand with the youth the team has added. Returning point guard Deron Williams is 32 years year old and has plenty of experience to share with the team. Williams has been to the playoffs eight times in his career and that can prove to be a valuable trait down the road. New center Andrew Bogut is entering his 11th NBA season and is a player known to make others around him better. Dirk was quoted, saying that with Bogut, “it was no wonder Steph Curry was always open.”
  3. The coaching staff has always been one of the Mavericks biggest strengths. Since joining the Dallas Mavericks in 2008, Rick Carlisle has only missed the playoff once during his tenure with the team. Since winning the title in 2011, Carlisle has been given a different roster each season but one way or another still manages to make the Mavs competitive. The team also has one of the top trainers in the league with Casey Smith. Smith has been linked to one of the reasons Dallas won the title in 2011.

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Weaknesses:

  1. Last season, the Mavs finished at the top of the list when it came to team turnovers. This coming year the team hopes that with new players being inserted into the starting lineup, that trend does not continue. With a new center and small forward in town, the future is still uncertain about how Dallas will fare with their turnover ratio this coming season.
  2.  Injuries have always been a concern for the Mavericks. Last season, Chandler Parsons and Devin Harris missed significant playing time due to injuries. Coming into this season, Devin Harris does not seem ready to play in Wednesday’s opener as he is expected to be out with a left foot injury. Joining Harris could be J.J. Barea, who is injured with a left elbow sprain and newcomer Quincy Acy has been out with a right foot  injury.  Look back to 2011 when the team won the NBA championship, they were without starting forward Caron Butler for the later half of the season. This is something Dallas has been accustomed too.
  • Dirk Nowitzki is entering his 19th season and is not getting younger anytime soon. Dirk led the team last season in scoring, but after him no one else on the team managed to average 15 points or more a game. Deron Williams was the second leading scorer on the team, thus averaging 14.1 points. Even with Barnes joining the team and a key number of young players, no one right now seems equipped to lead the team if something drastic were to happen to Dirk.
  • Next: Dallas Mavericks 2016-2017 Season Prediction

    The Dallas Mavericks hope that their strengths this coming season will trump their flaws they have this coming year.