Mavs Trying to Recreate 2011?

After the 2009-10 season, the Mavs had their sights set on at least one of the big name free agents out there. Some guy named LeBron was set to become a free agent along with a slew of other stars but James decided to take his talents to South Beach to team up with his super friends. Dallas would be spurned by their entire free agent wishlist.

Sound familiar?

Fast forward three years. The Mavericks would defeat Miami's Big Three maiden voyage in not one…not two… not three… not four… not five… six games to win their first title but then struck out in not one… not two… [1] but three different off-seasons in the hunt for Dirks replacement. 

Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have now put their continual pursuit of a superstar on hold and went back to an old blueprint this year. The 2013-14 Dallas Mavericks are constructed eerily like the championship team.

Let’s take a closer look: 

Jason Kidd manned the point guard spot for the championship squad and while he wasn’t dominating the stat sheets, he brought exactly what the team needed. Kidd played great defense on shooting guards, which allowed the punitive JJ Barea and Jet Terry to help offensively but not get abused on defense. Kidd continued his careers work of finding the open man but also added a spot up 3 point shot to his game and the team.

No one can singlehandedly make up for what Kidd managed to do for the team but fortunately the Mavs aren’t trying to fill it with just one player. Donnie Nelson brought in the underrated Jose Calderon and former Maverick, Devin Harris. 

The two pronged attack just may be able to fill in for the future Hall of Famer. Calderon is a heady guard who can knock down open 3’s while Harris is a lock down defender. There will need to be a lot of smart switching but if I had to trust a D/FW coach, Carlisle’s the man.

First round pick Shane Larkin has a chance to be a spark plug off the bench after he returns from his ankle injury. Larkin tested out of the gym at the NBA combine and excelled in pick and rolls while at Miami. He has a good, albeit streaky, outside shot and, with those types of attributes, could fill the tiny shoes of JJ Barea. 

The championship squad had 6^th man extraordinaire Jason Terry. To me this is the hardest one to replace because this was the closest thing the team had to a second superstar. 

Enter Monta Ellis. 

The only player on the team who may have what it takes to alleviate some scoring pressure for Nowitzki. Ellis will have to be the efficient scorer he was back in 2008 when he was scoring 20+ a game on 53% shooting. Carlisle will have his work cut out for him to get Ellis back there but playing for the first time in his career with pass-first point guards and a bonafide star can’t hurt either. 

Vince Carter has a chance to be a rich man’s Caron Butler for the 2013-14 squad. Vinsanity has a better outside shot and still has a little explosiveness left in those old legs. Shawn Marion will have to be the Matrix of old and play great defense and score without the ball. Once again, Carlisle will be tasked with maximizing his roster and squeezing whatever is left in these former all-stars.  

Obviously, Dirk Nowitzki is still the biggest piece to the puzzle. After a full offseason where he won't be coming off the championship hangover and a 66 game schedule sprint followed by an off-season knee surgery the big German may be able to give father time a standing eight count and revert to his old form. 

Filling out the bench, Brandon Wright could be an upgrade over Ian Mahini as a big energy guy off the bench. Wright is also an efficient scorer but much more athletic.

Jae Crowder will be asked to play solid defense and knock down a few shots a la DeShawn Stevenson. 

Gal Mekel, the second Israeli born player ever in the NBA, has a chance to be bizarro Roddy Beaubois. The Mavs wanted Beaubois to play point guard and facilitate rather than score, a role he never fully understood or embraced. Mekel on the other hand understands the role of point guard and gets his teammates involved. Carlisle has been impressed with his play so far but Mekel has struggled with his jump shot.

Samuel Dalembert and Bernard James are perfectly suited for the dirty work role that Brendan Haywood came to embrace but come with a much more palatable price tag. 

 

Wayne Ellington seems to be fitted for the Dominique Jones role of not much but if Carlisle wants Ellis and Carter coming off the bench, Ellington could find himself in the starting lineup at some point.

The 2013-14 season will come down to two things for Dallas: Dirks ability to get back to superstar caliber play and Carlisle playing the perfect hand.

Now if they could only find an athletic, oft-injured big man to fill in for Tyson Chandler… 

Greg Oden anyone?

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[1] OK I’m done