Offseason questions: After summer of moves, where do the Mavs stack up in the West?
Earl K. Sneed breaks down the top teams in the Western Conference and questions where the Dallas Mavericks rank after their off-season moves.
Offseason questions: After summer of moves, where do the Mavs stack up in the West?
On the surface, three things stick out about the 2012-13 version of the Dallas Mavericks in comparison to last year’s team that was trying to defend the first NBA title in franchise history: depth, youth and post play.
With the departures of aging veterans Jason Kidd and Jason Terry in free agency, coupled with the off-season acquisitions of Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo, the Mavericks figure to be younger and more explosive in the backcourt.
The Mavs should also showcase a drastic improvement in the interior, adding the likes of big men Chris Kaman and Elton Brand to bolster a frontline that already featured 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki.
The former champs may have picked up one of the franchise’s best rookie classes in recent memory as well, with Jared Cunningham, Bernard James and Jae Crowder all expected to compete for roster spots this fall in training camp.
But have the Mavs done enough to compete against the Western Conference’s elite squads?
As the Mavericks found out last year with a first-round playoff sweep, the road through the West now stretches north on Interstate 35 to Oklahoma City, after the Thunder advanced to the Finals before losing in five games to the Miami Heat for the championship. And with last year’s team still intact, plus the addition of Baylor standout Perry Jones through the draft, the Thunder once again figure to be at or near the top of the conference standings when the 82-game schedule concludes.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers appear poised for another title run, adding two-time MVP Steve Nash to a backcourt already starring Kobe Bryant through a sign-and-trade with Phoenix. The Lakers also addressed their bench with the free-agent signing of Antawn Jamison.
Not to be discounted are the San Antonio Spurs, who despite their aging core of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker still had a 2-0 series lead in the conference finals before losing four straight to the Thunder.
And then there’s the highflying Los Angeles Clippers, who didn’t stand pat this summer even after advancing to the second round of the playoffs before getting swept by the Spurs, acquiring former Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom in a trade with Dallas before also adding another winner of the award, Jamal Crawford, through free agency.
Now, with Memphis, Denver, Utah, Houston and Minnesota among some of the teams also thinking playoffs, where do the Mavs stack up?
Right in the mix, if you ask Mavs owner Mark Cuban and coach Rick Carlisle, and there’s no reason to disagree.
“We knew all of our options and we knew we had to get younger,” Cuban said in an interview last month with NBA TV when addressing the off-season moves. “I mean, you can’t go back to the okie-doke forever. So, at some point we were gonna have to make that change. … We think we’ve really put together a nice team. We have so much depth now and so many guys that know how to play and want to win. You know, it’s gonna take us a little bit to get everybody together and get the guys to jell, but I think we’re gonna be in great shape.”
“The Lakers are always gonna be a factor, as long as [Kobe] Bryant is still playing at a high level and their big guys are going good. And you’ve got Oklahoma City, who came out of the West,” Carlisle added. “San Antonio is always gonna hang around. We’re always gonna be a competitive team, and it’s just gonna be tough. Denver’s a team that’s on the rise. … You’ve gotta have athletes. You’ve gotta have a lot of depth. Things are changing right now with the new (Collective Bargaining Agreement); you’re seeing the free-agent market is very unusual compared to past years. And so, it’s a period of change and adjustment, and everyone is going through it.”
And with added depth, youth and more of a post presence, the Mavs will try to make it through that period of adjustment on the fly, hoping it leads them back to top of the class.
