Bench will prove key for Dallas Mavericks this season

Think back to 2011 when the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA championship. Obviously, we all remember Tyson Chandler being a beast and Dirk Nowtizki being a legend. We remember Shawn Marion locking down the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, and Jason Kidd running the show.

But remember the bench? That was a second unit that featured Jason Terry, J.J. Barea, Peja Stojakovic and Brendan Haywood among others. Early in the season, Marion was a part of that bench while Caron Butler was starting before he got hurt on New Year’s Day. THAT is depth.

The 2014-2015 version of the Mavs aren’t as deep as the 2011 bunch, but they still have a solid bench and it will be one of the keys to Dallas having a successful year.

Vince Carter was the Mavs sixth-man for the past two years and revived his career here, but he’s moved on to the Memphis Grizzlies. Instead of trying to replace him with one guy, Dallas brought in a mix of young and veteran pieces to fill out their bench, and they are even deeper than meets the eye.

Devin Harris is the sixth-man this season, and if he can continue what he did against the Spurs in the playoffs, then that should work out just fine. The problem with Harris is he always seems to get hurt every year, and for this team to be successful they’re going to need him for long haul. But, if Harris can stay healthy and average anywhere from 10 to 12 points-per-game, that’s a great start.

This team also still has Brandan Wright, who they shockingly did not have to give up in the trade that brought Chandler back. Wright averaged 9.1 points-per-game last season and shot a ridiculous 67.7 percent from the field. Depending on if Charlie Villanueva makes the roster of not, Wright may be asked to play both back up center and power forward, or just one of those positions. Wright also has a great chemistry with Harris, and it almost seems like if someone finds him close to the basket, he’ll find a way to put it up and in.

Following Harris and Wright are Al-Farouq Aminu and Richard Jefferson. Aminu was one of my favorite pickups of the offseason and I think he’ll be contributing more than people think from the get go. His stats may not seem flashy, but he’s an athletic freak and can provide the perimeter defense that Marion did during his period of time. We all know that Jefferson’s best days are behind him, but he’s still a good shooter. He shot 40.9 percent from three last season in Utah and played in all 82 games. A durable shooter is something that any team can use, especially the Mavs after the loss of Jose Calderon.

Jae Crowder will still have a big role on this team, and it seems like Rick Carlisle is expecting him to take the next leap. I think Crowder is going to need to become a defensive stopper off the bench much like Aminu, and guard anywhere from a shooting guard to a power forward. Hopefully, Crowder learned from playing with Marion for two years.

The wild card in this bench is Raymond Felton, who came in the Chandler trade. Felton is already sidelined with an ankle sprain and will be suspended for the first four games of the season because of a weapons charge from his time in New York. If Carlisle can turn Felton into a reliable shooter that plays hard, this bench will be scary. If not, the bench will still be good, but not as good as it could be.

This Dallas team is going to be fun, entertaining and very good. But, if they want to get a top four seed in the West and make a deep playoff run, the bench is what is going to need to give them an edge.