The Dallas Mavericks had a disappointing 2022-23 season, and it often seemed like a team that didn't know what its identity was.
That change this offseason, as Nico Harrison had some very clear goals in mind with his roster construction. He embraced having two ball-dominant stars in Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, and he built a roster designed to play off of that central identity.
Here's a look at how all 15 players on the Mavericks roster stack up, ranking them from worst to best.
All 15 Mavericks Players Ranked
15. Joe Wieskamp
A second-round pick for the Spurs in 2021, Joe Wieskamp played just 205 minutes across 29 games for the Spurs as a rookie, and his NBA tenure last year was limited to a pair of 10-day contracts with the Toronto Raptors.
He was waived by Toronto after signing a reported multi-year contract this offseason, and the Mavs brought him on board to fill out the bench.
A 6-foot-6 wing player who has shot just 30.9% from 3-point range over his young career isn't exactly an exciting addition though, even as a depth piece. If he sees any significant playing time this year, that would probably mean the Mavs are in serious trouble.
14. Dante Exum
Dante Exum has obviously never lived up to the hype he received as a top-five pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, but he hasn't totally flamed out like some draft busts.
Exum made the graceful transition to accepting a bench role, and he's stayed sharp playing overseas for the last two seasons.
Most recently, he averaged 13.3 points, 2.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 22.9 points per game, shooting 42.4% from 3-point range in 2022-23 EuroLeague action for Partizan.
Back in the NBA, expect Exum to settle into an end-of-the-bench type role again with the Mavs in 2023.
13. Olivier-Maxence Prosper
The Mavs' second first-rounder in the 2023 draft, Olivier-Maxence Prosper is an interesting all-around prospect, but it could take some time to find his footing at the NBA level.
His college stats aren't going to wow anybody, but that's also not what his game is about. He's a versatile defender who moves off the ball and sets screens well on offense. His size, strength and athleticism give him a ton of upside and potential as a defender, and he finishes well at the basket.
The problem is that until he develops his game, he's something of a liability with the ball in his hands. He doesn't have a great dribble and isn't a real threat from 3-point range. I love OMP's potential, but he's got some work to do before he's a major contributor in Dallas.
12. Jaden Hardy
Jaden Hardy's 2022-23 campaign was a pretty encouraging one for a second-round rookie. He showed us why the Mavs traded a pair of picks to go get him.
He got limited run for most of the year, but averaged 8.8 points, 1.9 boards and 1.4 assists on 43.8% shooting (including 40.4% from 3-point range) in 14.8 minutes per game.
Hardy even earned five starts down the stretch, and he dropped 20-plus points in four of the five, showing he has plenty of offensive upside when given the chance.
If we were factory in potential to these rankings, rather than just looking at who is best right now, we’d certainly have Hardy higher up, but for now it's hard to justify putting him over the next guy, even if it's not a popular move.
11. Tim Hardaway Jr.
Tim Hardaway Jr. has been a popular pick to be gone from the Mavs' roster all offseason, though he's probably not quite as bad as he gets accused of being.
He's a streaky shooter who definitely disappears at times on offense, certainly. He's not an especially great defender, either. But he's certainly a rotation-level player, and I think a lot of the hate he gets is because fans would've rather seen Josh Green and Jaden Hardy getting his minutes.
You don't want THJ being one of the top players in your lineup, but he's also averaged 14-plus points per game for seven straight seasons now, and he's at least a high-effort defender who works hard to avoid being a total liability on that end.
10. Dereck Lively II
The No. 12 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Dereck Lively is likely to make an impact for the Mavs sooner than OMP.
Big men can sometimes take a while to really develop at the NBA level, but Lively's size and defensive skills shout translate pretty well right out of the gate, and he's going to be an incredibly valuable defender and rim protector.
His offensive game and rebounding could use some work, but you've gotta bet on the raw talent and defensive upside in a prospect like Lively.
9. Seth Curry
Seth Curry never stays in one place for long, but there's a reason we see teams playing him in significant roles every season, and a reason we bought him back to Dallas.
Curry's one of the most efficient 3-point shooters in the NBA, and he makes a serious impact on offense without needing the ball in his hands. He opens a ton of space by keeping defenders honest on the arc, and we know just how danagerous Luka and Kyrie are when they've got some space to work.
Curry's defense is an obvious weakness, but if he's soaking up some of those Tim Hardaway Jr. minutes, then it's basically a wash at that point anyway.
8. Richaun Holmes
Obviously the Mavs-Kings trade on draft day was mostly about adding OMax, but Holmes offers more than a typical salary dump guy does.
He fell out of the Kings' rotation in favor of Domantas Sabonis, but he averaged about 12 points and 8 boards a game over his first three seasons in Sacramento. He's also a high-motor guy and capable defender on the inside.
He's not the answer to Mavs fans' prayers for a major upgrade over Dwight Powell, but he should defintiely earn some run, especially while Lively gets used to the speed of the NBA game.
7. Dwight Powell
Speaking of Dwight Powell, the way some Mavs fans talk about him you think he'd need to be in last place on this list. But people let their frustrations around his playing time and lack of other options in the middle cloud their judgement on his actual game.
Even as a starter he’s never put up especially strong numbers, which makes it a little too easy to diminish the strengths he does have.
He’s got the energy and athleticism to bring a defensive versatility that not all seven-footers can offer you, and the threat he poses as a finisher in the pick-and-roll gels very well with Luka’s game.
Last season Powell shot 78.2% on field goal attempts as the roll man, which ranked No. 10 among 50 qualifying players.
6. Maxi Kleber
Maxi Kleber is another guy whose impact isn't necessarily captured in the numbers, but he's also a guy whose value to the Mavs last year had a lot to do with filling weaknesses.
Luka and Kyrie both operate best off the dribble, and probably their best creation comes off the drive. When you don't have a shooter at power forward or center, defenses can completely sell out to defend those drives.
Well Kleber's not a lights-out shooter, but he's good enough from the corner that he can't be totally abandoned. So without full help off Kleber, a Luka-Powell pick and roll gets a ton of room to operate that it would't have had with a lesser shooter in the corner.
Grant Williams and Derek Jones can both shoot from the corner though, so suddenly Kleber is a little less unique in what he can bring to the table.
5. Josh Green
Josh Green could certainly end up higher on this list by the end of the season, but with the leaps he's made in each of his pro seasons he's already looking very promising for the Mavs.
Last year he played his biggest role yet, and that led to averages of 9.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and and 1.7 assists per game, shooting 53.7% from the field and 40.2% from 3-point range.
The Mavs’ net rating was also 3.7 points better with Green on the court than off the court last season, which was the first time in his career that he had a positive differential.
He's a young wing who can space the floor on offense and provide plenty of value on defense, which plays perfectly in the Mavs lineup.
4. Derrick Jones Jr.
Derrick Jones Jr. has seen his role fall off in recent years after being a consistent starter on the wing for the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers, but he continues to be a solid rotational option at forward, and he's a welcome addition in Dallas
Jones is never going to be a top offensive option (career-average usage rate of 13.5%), but he's capable of finishing at the rim (often in spectacular style), and he has gone 39.0% and 37.5% on corner threes over the last two seasons.
And his real value doesn't lie with his offense at all.
Jones is a terrific defender, and he'll hold his own defending most players in the NBA at the three or four. The Bulls even asked him to defend the center position at times last season, giving some intriguing flexibility for small-ball lineups.
With two elite ball handlers on the roster, this is exactly the kind of complementary piece that really helps round out the Mavs' lineup.
3. Grant Williams
In a year with a weak free agent class, it wasn’t good timing for the Mavs to have a big offseason need. But Grant Williams was one of the best players on the market and was a perfect fit in Dallas, so even with his big contract it’s hard not to be excited to have him.
At 6-foot-6 Williams is certainly undersized to play power forward, but his strength and savvy still let him thrive in that spot.
He’s a plus defender who can afford to switch onto just about anyone, and that continues the obvious trend of Dallas looking to get a lot better defensively this offseason.
The icing on the cake, though, is that Williams also fits really well into the Dallas offense.
Like I mentioned above with Kleber, we need someone at the four who can be a real threat from the arc to keep defenses honest. Williams has shot 41.1% and 39.% from 3-point range over the past two seasons, and he’s a career 42.7% on corner threes.
He doesn't need the ball in his hands to contribute (career-high usage rate of 13.1%), and at only 24 years old there's plenty of room for growth too.
2. Kyrie Irving
That Kyrie Irving is only the second-best player on the Mavs obviously speaks volumes about how good our best player is, but more on him in a minute.
Kyrie's obviously not as popular around the league as he once was, and at 31 years old it remains to be seen how much longer his athleticism-heavy style continues to be as dangerous as it is, but there's no denying what he brings to the table in 2023.
Despite concerns about how well it would work playing two ball-dominant stars next to each other, Kyrie averaged 26.5 points, 6.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game in 16 contests played alongside Luka.
That production is right in line with what we’re used to seeing from Kyrie (26.1 points & 5.3 boards in 2022-23, 26.3 points 5.5 boards in 2021-22) despite the fact that his usage rate was down to 26.5% in the games he and Doncic both suited up for. For context, he hasn’t posted a usage rate below 28.9% in any of his last eight seasons.
As the NBA No. 8 per-game scorer with the fifth-highest effective field goal percentage among qualifying guards last season, it's clear that Kyrie is still one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the game.
1. Luka Doncic
You weren't scrolling to the end of this list to find out if Luka Doncic was No. 1. You scrolled here to read all of the countless ways we can praise his game.
He finished last season No. 2 in points (32.4), No. 6 in assists (8.0) No. 24 in rebounds (8.8) per game. He barely trailed Lillard in the rankings among guards in effective field goal percentage (11th), and he was right up there with Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic in most of the catch-all advanced metrics, even though those tend to favor big men.
He's not the best pure shooter, he doesn't have the best pure handle and he's not the best pure facilitator in the game. But he's elite in all three of those categories, and there's simply nobody better in the NBA at running an offense than Doncic right now.
It was a shame to see how little help he got for most of last season, but Nico Harrison has made a clear effort to use this offseason to build a team designed to maximize Luka's strengths and revolve around his abilities.
This Mavericks team will go as far as Luka can carry it, and that's a pretty good place to be