Mavericks: What role/impact will Dirk make in his 21st season?

What can we expect from Dirk Nowitzki in his 21^st, and possibly final, season with the Mavericks? We preview No. 41…

Expectations have changed as Dirk Nowtizki moves further into his second decade with the Dallas Mavericks. But just because the 40-year-old future Hall-of-Famer is still playing primarily for the love of the game, doesn’t mean he’s not still an asset.

Quite the contrary, Dirk will play an important part in this 2018-19 season, just not quite the role we’ve been accustomed to.

As we’ve discussed before, the Dallas Mavericks have gone from rebuilding mode to win-now mode seemingly overnight. The situation flipped the moment Dallas sent their 2019 first round pick to Atlanta so they could jump up in the draft and get Euro-star, Luka Doncic (technically they traded it and their 2018 selection for Luka).

Since they have absolutely no motivation to lose this season and every reason to win, they can’t afford to trot The Big German out there just for nostalgia sake. They need to use him to win games. And if someone else gives them a better chance to win games, you can bet that man will be getting the minutes.

That’s why Dirk Nowitzki will be coming off the bench this season. He needs to make room for DeAndre Jordan and Luka in the starting lineup. Harrison Barnes will be the starting 4 on many nights. He fits with the smaller faster power forwards he’ll be facing. Dirk will then be regulated to backing up Jordan at the 5.

"“I’ve spent most of my time playing the 5 position the last couple of years because of …movement issues,” Dirk said. “When we signed DeAndre it was pretty much clear in my head that I’m going to come off the bench.”"

Sixth man?

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Conventional wisdom says Dirk would then be the sixth man but do we really want the Mavs rushing to remove their biggest free agent pickup in years? Probably not. And given his “movement issues” he’s really not an acceptable, even part-time, player at power forward.

Respect will probably call Dirk the sixth man but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be the first off the bench each night. J.J. Barea makes a pretty good case to be the first up. But as explained on Wednesday, this is going to be a dynamic team with many changing parts. Night to night we should expect to see different things based largely on match-ups.

How many minutes?

Over the past two seasons Dirk’s minutes have been, not so surprisingly, in decline. Last season he averaged 24.7, the season before it was 26.4, and the season before that was 31.5. It stands to reason he’ll be residing in the 20-22 minute range this season. Especially since the Mavericks still need to get Dwight Powell and Salah Mejri time in the front court (more on that next week).

Dirk Nowitzki will be playing a different role this season for the Dallas Mavericks. Playing off the bench may not sound optimal but playing for something (like wins) is something that will make it well worth it to him.

• Published on 10/03/2018 at 12:01 PM
• Last updated at 10/02/2018 at 07:32 AM