Dallas Mavericks: 4 Trade possibilities if Dennis Smith Jr. doesn’t fit
What happens if Dennis Smith Jr and the Dallas Mavericks can’t make their on-court relationship work? We explore four trade possibilities still alive today…
The new NBA has undergone a paradigm shift from slower, isolated basketball to a faster, free-flowing, 3 point making game. It has never been more important for point guards and center to space the floor as outside shooting has never been this necessary.
In 2016, the Dallas Mavericks averaged 97.9 PPG. With the addition of Dennis Smith Jr, the average drastically increased to 102.3 PPG. Now with the addition, of Luka Doncic, the Mavs are averaging an astounding 109.8 PPG. According to Basketball Reference, even with the increase in PPG the Mavs continue to be one of the worst teams at scoring in the league.
Seeing how the team is built, it’s not hard to understand why. Outside of Doncic’s nightly production, no player on the team averages more than 15 PPG except for Harrison Barnes and even his production is very inconsistent.
The Mavs are in serious need of more efficient scorers. Outside of DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Powell, no one who shoots 5 or more shots per game and averages 46% from the field. In fact, the person who averages the highest field goal percentage is… Maxi Kleber. These stats are coming from ESPN.
It’s pretty clear the Mavs are in need of some offense, so when the Mavs were searching trade offers for DSJ, it felt like the right move. However, it’s hard to say the trades the Mavs were trying to make made more sense than the situation they are in currently.
Dallas just recently reinstated their relationship with the point guard Tuesday against the LA Clippers. It went alright but still wasn’t optimal. If such reconciliation doesn’t get better, a trade is still a possibility. The rest of this article will detail Smith’s current impact on the Mavs as well as other places he could find himself in 2019. Follow along…