Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks: Mid-Season Guard Grades

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:36 p.m. ET

Fansided, Kohl Rast/FanSided via The Smoking Cuban

Dec 27, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; From left(Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) and guard Seth Curry (30) and guard Devin Harris (34) and guard Deron Williams (8)) sit on the bench during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

With the NBA season now more than halfway over, let’s take a look back at how the Dallas Mavericks guards have done for the team so far this year.

OK, so technically the Dallas Mavericks are passed the midseason mark by a few games, currently sitting at 20-32. With only 30 games remaining in the NBA season, it is time we take a look at how the Mavs are doing individually in an All-Star break recap as opposed to the traditional Mid-Season Grades.

For this particular post, we will be looking at all the guards that have had some game time during this season. Some have been hurt, some have been brought up, some have been cut, and some are still new to the team.

Some grades will look a little bit off and some may be surprising, but keep in mind that we are grading based on production on the court, amount of games missed, and, in a lot of ways, expectations coming into the season.

With that being said, let’s take a look at all the guards that the Mavericks have played so far this season. We will start with the one that is on the edge with Mavs fans lately.

Deron Williams

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks really wanted to add Deron Williams to the roster a few years ago before he decided he wanted to chase the money with the Nets. Years later, a forgotten D-Will came to the Mavs in hopes of returning home and revitalizing his career.

Even though he had a reasonable time in Dallas, most people are starting to feel that he has overstayed his welcome in town. Between injuries and questionable decision making, it has been hard to stick with D-Will so far this season.

That being said, when Williams is on the court, he generates some offense that the Mavs have been in desperate need of. Although our newest rookie seems to be taking that upon his shoulders, it is nice having a veteran guard with some experience in playmaking.

I gave Deron Williams a B- for the year so far, mainly because of the amount of games he has missed. D-Will continues to lose favor from the Dallas crowd as he has been out for the last several games and the Mavs have had to rely on a number of rookies to step up in a big way.

There is a definite chance that we could see Williams in another team’s jersey before the end of the year, but for now the Mavs will await his return in hopes of seeing elevated play and more victories with him at the helm.

Jan 15, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Devin Harris (34) dives to keep the ball in bounds during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Devin Harris

Dallas Mavericks

Of the three veteran guards for the Mavericks, Devin Harris has been the most consistent in my opinion. Harris hasn’t been spectacular at any particular aspect of the game over the last 5 years, but has always been the first to chase a loose ball or get tangled up with an opposing player in hopes of getting a steal.

Jan 26, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Devin Harris (34) warms up prior to action against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

This year hasn’t been any different for Devin as his stats certainly don’t jump out of the paper, but you can almost always feel his impact in the game when he has played. No matter how the game is going, either good or bad, Harris will give his full effort night in and night out.

The reason Devin Harris earned a B- as well is, again due to injury concerns. Harris has missed 17 games so far this season, most of them right at the beginning of the year. His production has been reasonably good on the court and is exactly what we expect from him.

If Harris is planning on staying with the Mavericks, he will definitely have to prove that he is healthy and can stay that way for awhile. Otherwise, don’t be surprised if the Mavericks choose to further the youth movement even more.

Apr 3, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea (5) shoots against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) in the first quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

J.J. Barea

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks have loved J.J. Barea for years and when he returned from his stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves, fans were excited to see him back on the court. Unfortunately, this season hasn’t offered much of that yet.

mavericks

The Smoking Cuban 1 dDallas Mavericks: OG Anunoby Could Be a Draft Steal

More headlines around FanSided:

1 d - Lillard, McCollum Too Much For Dallas Mavericks 2d - Did You Hedge Your Bet on the Nuggets? 110-87 Winners Over the Mavericks 2d - 2016-17 NBA Power Rankings: Celtics, Wizards Gaining On Cavaliers In Week 16 2d - NBA: Five Players That Are Beginning To Resurrect Their Careers 3d - Dallas Mavericks Take Embarrassing Loss to NuggetsMore News at The Smoking Cuban

Barea has missed a vast majority of this season due to injury. Appearing in only 18 games so far this season, J.J. just has not been able to fight away the injury bug all year. Even though his number of games is very low, Barea has been very effective on the court when he gets the chance.

In the 18 games that the little Puerto Rican has played, he has been very effective, averaging over 12 points and nearly 5 assists per contest. He also has put in nearly 25 minutes per game, his highest average since 2011-2012.

Despite all these good numbers, it is hard to give any player a reasonable rating when playing in barely over a third of the games. For that reason once again, Barea has earned only a C+ average so far. If we can get J.J. healthy and ready for the rest of the year, he certainly has the skill set to boost his average big time.

Nov 9, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Seth Curry (30) controls the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Seth Curry

Dallas Mavericks

Seth Curry has been one of the most promising additions to the Mavericks this year so far and he has hardly even shown a glimpse of his full potential. In only his 2nd season of NBA action aside from a combined 4 games in the two seasons previous), Curry has made his name known around the league.

For the first time ever, Seth is being looked at as a legitimate NBA player and not just the brother of an All-Star. Seth, like his brother Stephen Curry, is really showing his abilities behind the 3-point arc. Currently shooting 42% from behind the arc, Seth has really taken this team by storm since becoming a regular starter.

Since Seth has become a full time starter, the Dallas Mavericks are 9-5. Seth has also been averaging over 15 points per game in that time frame, whereas his season average is less than 12. Curry has given so much life to this offense and it has paid off in a big way.

For all these reasons, I have given Seth Curry an A- at this point in the season. He started off very slow to the point where people were even questioning his $5 million contract. But, as time has gone on, he has finally settled into the Rick Carlisle offense and we can expect to see him keep up the good work for the remainder of the season.

Nov 19, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Jonathan Gibson (3) dribbles the ball down court during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center. The Magic won 95-87. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Jonathan Gibson & Pierre Jackson

Dallas Mavericks

Of the three rookie guards that the Mavs have pulled up to the active roster, Jonathan Gibson and Pierre Jackson just couldn’t quite make the cut. That is by no means saying that these two players didn’t do well in their limited time with the team.

Let’s start with Jonathan Gibson. I really thought Gibson was going to be a keeper on the Dallas Mavericks roster. From his unbelievable summer and preseason play, we knew that Gibson was capable of some great basketball. Combine that with his 42 points per game in the China league and he just seemed to be a good fit.

Obviously I was wrong, but Gibson was a serviceable guard for the short time that we needed him. Gibson suited up for the Mavericks for 21 games of the season, appearing on the court in 17 of them. In those 17 games, JGib never started, but received significant time in 10 contests.

Reaching double-digit points in 5 of those 10 contests, Gibson brought a new scoring threat to the court that the Mavs really needed. Unfortunately, of the 10 games that Gibson was on the court long enough to make a difference, Dallas won only 1 of them.

Jan 26, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Pierre Jackson (55) drives to the basket in front of Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Pierre Jackson was another short term Mavericks point guard. Jackson, a former Baylor Bear, got called up to replace Jonathan Gibson on December 27th, his first game in a Mavs uniform. Jackson only put the Mavericks uniform on for 11 games and appeared on the court for 8 of those.

Pierre Jackson started in 1 of those games against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting but the game resulted in a loss. In the 5 games that Jackson appeared for more than 10 minutes on the court, he averaged over 6 points per contest, along with nearly 4 assists per game.

The reason these two guards combined for a B is mainly because they were serviceable guards playing above their pay grade who did well enough to give Dallas a fighting chance. During their stints with Dallas, the Mavs had a combined record of 13-19. Not great, but not bad considering the Mavericks season.

These two may not have found their home with Dallas but they still have a lot of time in their career to find a team who will pick them up

Feb 3, 2017; Portland, OR, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Yogi Ferrell shoots and hits a shot over Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum (3) during the first quarter of the game at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

Yogi Ferrell

Dallas Mavericks

I won’t say we are saving the best for last, but it is clear that the highest grade given to anyone so far has been saved for Yogi Ferrell. Ferrell has made his name known across the league and has done so in only his first 6 games with the Dallas Mavericks.

Yogi is not a no-name rookie that found his way onto a desperate Mavs team. He played with the University of Indiana for 4 years where he played some really good basketball. Despite going undrafted, it was likely that he was going to find his way onto the end of some NBA bench before too long.