Dusty May was brought in as the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, and while he eyed his own Michigan big man, Morez Johnson Jr., as the glue guy, he can no longer ignore the rise of his other first-rounder, Sergio De Larrea.
In the Summer League against the Memphis Grizzlies, he scored 16 points, dished 12 assists, shot 3/7 from the field, 2/5 from deep, and made all six of his free throws. It's early, but his draft pick is already looking like a win, and a tough decision for May in the regular season.
De Larrea is definitely going to get some minutes, but we now have to see where he thrives. It looks like it's going to be the point guard spot, but if so, he may leapfrog Ryan Nembhard, who's also been having a heck of a Summer League, but had to miss the Grizzlies' game due to an illness. Both guys will likely play the same position, but the young Spanish floor general is getting hard to ignore.
Sergio De Larrea's rise is looking like a good problem for Dusty May
We've talked about how the Summer League brings surprises, and one of them is De Larrea balling out. If he continues to do so, we can expect to see a lot of him in the near future.
His 6-foot-6 size is already ideal for a guard bringing it up the floor, but on defense, De Larrea can get better. Nembhard, at 5-foot-11, doesn't have as much size, but he still brings a threat as a floor general.
De Larrea already gives the Mavericks a heck of an advantage in perimeter shooting, which was one of the Mavericks' glaring issues. They were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league, and even their star Cooper Flagg had issues shooting from deep, and that was arguably one of the worst parts of his game.
There's also a professional feel to how De Larrea operates. The way he moves, dribbles, and lobs the ball is about as pro-ready as it gets. He's already making perfect lobs to the rim (skip to 0:48) to Tobi Lawal, an athletic monster who loves to get up and jam it down.
His game looks NBA-ready. That's not to say that anybody else doesn't look that way, but May needs to put De Larrea in the full-time rotation. We still have a long way to go, but he's already looking like a player May cannot ignore, and De Larrea has impressive Summer League performances to back it up.
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