By Isaiah Barney, TalentedMrRoto.com
September 15, 2006 - 6:41 a.m.

2005-06 OVERVIEW

The Dallas Mavericks had quite a year in 2005-06. During the regular season, they were up to their normal tricks by cruising along at the top of the Western Conference standings. Their most memorable game of the regular season was probably when Kobe Bryant, a.k.a. “The Black Mamba,” torched them for 62 points in three quarters of play. Despite that particular game, Dallas’ defense was much improved from the days of Don Nelson. Avery Johnson did a great job of making his players disciples of his defensive message. Much of this defensive presence can be credited to DeSagana Diop. He was a flop in Cleveland, but the Mavericks found something useful in this one-time lottery pick. As the season progressed, he started to take time away from another disappointing big man, Erick Dampier. Eventually, Diop became the starting center and averaged 1.8 blocks a game. The off-season signing of Greg Buckner plus the increased role of Devin Harris are signs that the Mavericks are starting to put the “D” back into Dallas. Buckner is a defensive specialist and Devin Harris is a pesky ball hawk. Expect Avery Johnson to play all three of these defensive-minded players at once to control the tempo in 2006-07.

Josh Howard's well-rounded attributes and expanding potential might force you to take an earlier look at him this year. (Jesse D. Garrabrant//NBAE/Getty Images)

As the season progressed, Johnson decided to play Harris and Jason Terry together in the backcourt. This allowed Terry to score more and not have to worry about chasing around the other point guard. Harris is a more conventional point guard while Terry is more of a scoring point guard, so the relationship worked like a charm. This lineup change is the reason why the Mavericks got past their arch-nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs, in the playoffs. By Avery playing Harris and Terry together, it forced the Spurs into a style of play they were not accustomed to. Additionally, the Mavericks got an extra bonus from Harris with his scoring average jumping from 9.9 ppg in the regular season to 12.7 ppg against the Spurs. Terry’s average also jumped from 17.1 ppg in the regular season to 19.7 against the Spurs.

The Mavs employed the same strategy in the Finals, and it worked until Dirk missed those free throws in Game 3 to secure, for all intents and purposes, a Finals Championship for the Lone Star state. The Mavericks were never the same team after those misses and eventually coughed up their chance to win it all. Sure, Dwyane Wade’s super-human performance had something to do with it. Ultimately, if Nowitzki makes those free throws, Avery Johnson would have been able to bring home the trophy. By most standards, the Mavericks had an extremely successful season and could be in line to end up back in the Finals again this year.

ADDITIONS:
Maurice Ager, G
Austin Croshere, F
Devean George, G-F
Anthony Johnson, G
Greg Buckner, G-F

LOSSES:
Darrell Armstrong, G
Josh Powell, F
Adrian Griffin, G-F
Marquis Daniels, G

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP:
C – DeSagana Diop
PF – Dirk Nowitzki
SF – Josh Howard
SG – Jason Terry
PG – Devin Harris

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2006

The Mavs’ main contributors are coming back for another run at the Finals. All of the starters and the first two guys off the bench (Jerry Stackhouse and Anthony Johnson) will be fantasy worthy. Avery’s rotation should go about 9-10 players deep and should produce six or seven fantasy relevant players. Three of the five starters should retain the same fantasy value as last year with a slight increase for Josh Howard and Devin Harris. Dirk will continue to be his David Hasselhoff-loving self, and Jason Terry will continue to contribute in high field goal percentage and three-pointers. Josh Howard’s increase should simply come from a young player progressing and learning how to be a scorer in the NBA. He's likely to up his averages of 15.6 points, 1.2 steals and 6.3 rebounds per game. He is a solid contributor in just about every category and is much more valuable in leagues that count turnovers, given his 1.3 turnovers per game. The largest jump in value should come for Devin Harris. He showed during the playoffs that he can contribute if he is given the minutes. If Avery continues to give Devin the 25-30 minutes per game he saw in the playoffs, he could be in for a big season in 2006-07. Coming off the bench for the Mavericks this year will include a talented bunch to choose from: Jerry Stackhouse, Anthony Johnson, Maurice Ager, Erick Dampier and Austin Croshere. If there are any injuries in the starting lineup, expect any of these subs to fill in admirably. I expect the defense to continue to get tougher in Avery’s second year of duty. During the summer, he had the chance to bring in some free agents and draft picks that will fit in very nicely with his system.

KEY BENCH POSITIONS / POSITION BATTLES

Expect Avery Johnson to move Jason “the Jet” Terry to the two-spot much more this season to open up some playing time for Devin Harris. The acquisition of Anthony Johnson from the Pacers should give Avery the chance to play Terry at the shooting guard position exclusively if he wishes. Harris is expected to be the starter, but the veteran Johnson should push him for minutes. The key battle off the bench should be between Maurice Ager and Jerry Stackhouse. If Ager can come out and prove that he deserves a spot in the rotation, Avery should oblige to keep Jerry fresh for later in the season. Keep an eye on this battle, if there is an injury to any of the starting guards, the winner of this battle will have some fantasy relevance. If DeSagana Diop reverts back to his ways from Cleveland, it will open the door for Erick Dampier to step in and try to earn his mega-contract. Did I just say Erick Dampier and earn his mega contract in the same sentence? I am sorry about that. Seriously though, if Diop starts slow, look for Avery to give Dampier a shot to earn back his starting spot.

PLAYERS WE LOVE

How can you not love Josh Howard? He was a late draft pick back in the 2003 NBA Draft (29th overall) and will be a mid-round draft selection in your fantasy draft. For the round that you will be able to draft Howard in, he is a must have for any team. He is a young player who is beginning to develop into a star alongside Dirk and is well worth the risk compared to the reward he could offer.

PLAYERS TO AVOID

Even though the center position is extremely shallow, there is no need to draft DeSagana Diop in all but the deepest of deep leagues. Although his blocks do come in handy in a very scarce category, the depleted numbers in every other category are not worth the pick up. Although he’ll block a ton of shots, his scoring (1.8 points per game) and his rebounds (4.6 per game) leave little to be desired.

BOTTOM LINE

The Dallas Mavericks are a comparable fantasy version to the Phoenix Suns. They’ll run-and-gun, but they also play some defense. I expect a season similar to last year for the Western Conference champions. As long as the Mavericks do not have to go against their kryptonite (Kobe “Bean” Bryant) every night, they should have a solid year both in real life and fantasy.

The views expressed by TalentedMrRoto.com represent only the views of the writers; they do not represent the views of the NBA or any NBA team.

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