Offseason questions: Is Mayo the Mavs' X-factor?
Earl K. Sneed continues his offseason questions series and takes a look at the role of new addition O.J. Mayo for the Dallas Mavericks this season.
Offseason questions: Is Mayo the Mavs' X-factor?
At this point in Dirk Nowitzki’s illustrious career you pretty much know what you’re going to get.
The 11-time All-Star, 2007 NBA MVP, 2011 Finals MVP and first European-born player to score 20,000 points in his career is still the Dallas Mavericks’ lead offensive threat the second he steps into the arena.
But with a new collection of players surrounding Nowitzki, and only forward Shawn Marion and guards Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones remaining from the 2011 championship team, who will now play the role of X-factor for the Mavs?
Now that second-leading scorer and sixth man Jason Terry is with the Boston Celtics and future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd has migrated to New York, there certainly are voids left to be filled by the Mavericks’ many new additions. But of newcomers Darren Collison, O.J. Mayo, Dahntay Jones, Chris Kaman and Elton Brand, which figures to be the wild card for the ‘12-13 campaign?
Conventional wisdom would say Mayo, who is expected to assume Terry’s scoring duties while playing off of Nowitzki in pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop sets.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban would agree with that assessment, highlighting Mayo’s scoring ability and offensive prowess in an interview last week on ESPN 103.3 FM’s the Ben and Skin Show.
“You know, we all were O.J. Mayo fans, but [Mavs great Michael Finely] said it best. He was like, ‘He’s the one guy … that teams are gonna have to pay attention to no matter what.’ You can’t just let him go, because he can impact the game in a variety of different ways. Whereas you might have another guy that has better stats or does this or that better, but you can pretty well game plan for him and you don’t have to worry about him at the end of a game. O.J., you know, if you stay on Dirk, Dirk’s gonna find O.J. and you’ve gotta worry about him at the end of the game. And he can score in so many different ways and impact the game in so many different ways, and he’s 24 years old.”
Since averaging 18.5 points per game and finishing as the runner-up to Derrick Rose in the ‘09 Rookie of the Year voting, Mayo’s numbers steadily declined before assuming a bench role the last two seasons in Memphis. But after missing just 11 games in his four-year professional career, with 10 due to a suspension for a banned substance in ‘10-11, the durable and talented combo guard should thrive after a change of scenery.
That at least is the hope of Cuban, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle and fans that cheer on the squad in royal blue.
“Memphis had a different type of offense than we did,” Cuban explained. “We went from Rick starting in with a structured offense to what we call ‘flow,’ where it’s just play basketball basically. And I think in a ‘play basketball’ environment, O.J. has a chance to thrive.”
