Monday was Media Day for the Dallas Mavericks and with Donnie Nelson and company being busy this offseason, adding a talented group of players like ex-Mav Tyson Chandler, a cornerstone of Dallas' NBA championship team in 2011, along with Raymond Felton, Jameer Nelson and Chandler Parsons among others, expectations for this year's team are again high. But as the Mavs get set to start training camp on Tuesday, there are a few questions surrounding this year's team.
Can Tyson Stay Healthy?
Bringing back Chandler, a fan favorite due to his ties to that magical and improbable '11 title team, was with the exception of signing Parsons, the biggest move the Mavs made this summer. The one-year experiment of Samuel Dalembert at center, who despite being late for practices and shoot-arounds was serviceable, is thankfully over.
It's not that Dalembert spared everyone to death last year. It was just that no one, Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle, his teammates or even fans knew what they were going to get on any given night. That wild inconsistency made Dalembert arguably the most maddening Mav to watch last season.
Of course, inconsistency isn't an issue with Chandler, who continues to be regarded as one of the better defensive big men in the NBA even as he heads into his 14th season in the league. During a press conference last week to introduce the Mavs new additions, Carlisle talked about how the addition of Tyson automatically makes them a much better team on the defensive end.
And he figures that Chandler's new teammates will follow his lead and make becoming better defensive players an even bigger priority heading into the season. But the issue with Tyson, like it's always been, is his durability.
Chandler played in just 55 games with the New York Knicks last season and 66 the year before. But looking at his career, he has played 70 or more games in seven of his first 13 seasons, which isn't all that bad. But if there is one player who must remain healthy this year, it's Chandler.
With new addition Greg Smith and holdover Brandan Wright, the Mavs appear to have solid depth in place behind Chandler, but keeping Tyson healthy has to be priority No. 1 heading into the season. Whether that means managing his minutes or even giving him an occasional night off remains to be seen, but doing all he can to make sure Chandler remains on the floor is key for Carlisle.
How Will The Bench Shake Out?
Last season, the Mavs bench averaged 35.7 points per game, making it the sixth-best second unit in the Association. However, Dallas lost the biggest contributor from that group this offseason in Vince Carter, who is now playing for the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Mavs also bid adieu to hard-working big fella DeJuan Blair, now a Washington Wizard, Dalembert, now in New York, and pure shooter Wayne Ellington, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, so some retooling of that second unit is in order.
So that means another new addition, young big man Al-Farouq Aminu, who averaged 6.1 points and 4.9 boards in 15 games off the Pelicans bench last season, along with veterans like Felton, Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva are expected to pick up the slack.
Smith is another newcomer who should add something off the bench and Jae Crowder, who is heading into year three in the league, as well as NBA sophomores Shane Larkin and Gal Mekel should both be in line to contribute more this season especially if both young guards are now healthy.
But the true wild card here could be Devin Harris, who averaged just over eight points a game off the bench last season and was a great energy guy off the pine. However, depending on how things could shake out, Harris could be Carlisle's starter at the point, which would mean Felton and fellow newcomer Nelson would both come off the bench.
So, while the loss of Carter is huge for the Dallas bench, adding the likes of Aminu, Felton, Jefferson, Nelson, Smith and Villanueva might be enough to make this year's second unit an even more formidable group.
How Quickly Will This All Come Together?
During last Tuesday's press conference, Carlisle commented about how much he loves having a number of new additions heading into the season. The longtime Mavs head coach said he relishes the challenge of integrating new faces into his system so that they can all be on the same page as soon as possible.
Call it Carlisle's Chemistry Set, but if there is a coach who can get these guys not just to buy in, but to more importantly do so rather quickly, he is one such individual. But with so many new players, eight to be exact, that is a process that will take time.
At least that's how it's been each of the last two seasons, Carlisle has had the likes of Elton Brand, Darren Collison, Dahntay Jones, Chris Kaman and OJ Mayo two years ago who fall into that group.
Last year, that group included Blair, Jose Calderon, Dalembert, Monta Ellis, but after getting to know each other on and off the court, a process that took between 15-20 games into the regular season, this was a group that really gelled from about the start of 2014 through the end of the season.
And in the playoffs, where they stood toe-to-toe with the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs, it was apparent just what a great job Carlisle had done once again in getting this group to fire on all cylinders and toward a common goal.
Nelson, Mavs owner Mark Cuban and even Carlisle have always said that they're big on bringing in guys who will fit, not just with Carlisle's defense-first coaching philosophy, but also with each other as well as in the city.
Sure, some like Felton, have had issues in the past at other stops in the Association, but Carlisle, Cuban and Nelson have excelled in creating an atmosphere where everyone, no matter their background or track record in the league, has a clean slate when they come to Dallas, an approach that has clearly worked.
If Carlisle's track record holds true, expect that adjustment process to take between 15-20 games into this season. But after that, expect to see this group coming together and likely start delivering on the immense expectations surrounding this year's team, one which some are calling a true contender.
How Will Point Guard Shake Out?
One thing Carlisle will have to figure out is how to distribute minutes at the point. Harris is now healthy after being a solid contributor off the bench last season but will Devin now shift into more of a starting role with this year's team?
Felton has started all but 55 games in his NBA career while Nelson has come off the bench in 95 of his 651 career games, but both are seasoned and true professionals who will do whatever it takes to help the Mavs win, whether that means being in the starting five or helping comprise what figures to be a rather salty second unit.
Cuban iterated last week at the presser to introduce the Mavs newcomers that this was a group of players that some, including himself, had dubbed "fallen angels". But he went on to say that this was also a group of players who despite what had happened before they came to Dallas that this group was now focused on one thing-winning games and ultimately a title.
Carlisle even said as much last week, saying he wasn't too concerned with how he will distribute minutes at the point. "Yeah, we've got three or four guys that I really like. I see Jameer, Ray Felton and Devin Harris all playing both guard positions. With the way our roster's set up, we like attackers. We like guys that can make plays both with and without the ball," Carlisle said. "People look at it and make a lot of questions about the minutes. I'm not worried about it. I just want good basketball players that want to win and I think we have that."
The most likely scenario, given now much Carlisle can change his starting five based on matchups, is that Felton, Harris and Nelson each log a number of starts this season and also come off the pine for a good stretch as well. Point guard depth is certainly a big strength of this year's Mavs, but seeing how Carlisle can distribute minutes among this talented trio to not only ensure keeping everyone happy but also doing so for the best of the team could be one of Rick's biggest challenges this season.
Still, given their depth at the one, it's definitely a good problem to have.
