National Basketball Association

Dallas Mavericks: Minutes in Short Supply for Preseason

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Dallas Mavericks have played two preseason games already and we can see that the roster decisions will be tough to make. Who can we expect to earn minutes against the Bucks?

The Dallas Mavericks are in a pretty unique situation right now. Of course the offseason and prior summers have sculpted the core of this Mavs team, but often times, it is more about the guys on the outside that have to step up when games are on the line.

Teams around the league know that without a bench that is ready and willing to jump in and make a difference any chance they get, bad things can happen. This is why one of the most impressive parts about the Mavericks for most of this century has been the depth of their bench.

Players from J.J. Barea to Peja Stojakovic, Jason Terry to Jerry Stackhouse, Dallas knows the beauty of a capable bench. This year, the Mavs intend to get that trend back on track and fill out a roster that is NBA ready from top to bottom.

This is where the Mavericks situation gets interesting. The starting five for Dallas is established as well as the bench of Barea, Devin Harris, Justin Anderson, Seth Curry, Quincy Acy, Salah Mejri, and Dwight Powell. Then the real battle begins.

Oct 1, 2016; Bossier City, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Solomon Hill (44) goes to the basket on Dallas Mavericks forward Nicolas Brussino (9) during the second half at CenturyLink Center. New Orleans won 116-102. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas has a number of players really fighting for the last few spots on the roster. Be it Kyle Collinsworth, Jameel Warney, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jonathan Gibson, or Nicolas Brussino, there are only a few spots left. So who gets them?

The fact is, Rick Carlisle and the rest of the coaching staff know that these preseason minutes are precious for everyone. In the first game, we got a healthy dose of most of the guys, but in game 2, the only on edge players that really got minutes were A.J. Hammons, Brussino, DFS, Gibson, and C.J. Williams.

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Collinsworth, Warney, and Keith Hornsby all got very limited playing time, only entering the game in the 4th quarter. These moves are interesting and may be situational, but you have to wonder if Carlisle is already starting his roster moves.

If he is on his way to making cuts, Brussino, Gibson, and Hammons are definitely making their case. All three showed up well against the Hornets and Carlisle will already have his eye on them.

With only 48 minutes to play each night, some people are going to get left out. That is a given. There is a chance that Coach Carlisle wanted to give a few other players a chance to show their stuff. But, personally, I would say that some of the weaker links are getting ready to be filtered out.

The next preseason game is scheduled for Saturday, October 8th against the Milwaukee Bucks. After that, there will only be 4 more preseason games and undoubtedly some cuts will be made over the course of these 5 upcoming games.

With only a few weeks left of preseason, Dallas is focused in and ready to set a roster. It is time for the team to begin the process of learning how to play together. We will just have to wait and see which rookies will be getting their chance in the big league.