Grant Williams going to Dallas in sign-and-trade: What signing means for Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks fell catastrophically short of he playoffs, and have made some big offseason moves to build a team that contends for a title next year.
There haven’t been many teams that have made a bigger splash this offseason than the Dallas Mavericks. Kyrie Irving signed a contract extension and Grant Williams was just brought in after a thee team trade worked out between the Celtics, Spurs and Mavs. They needed to do something after free falling out of the playoff picture and failing to even make the Play-In Tournament last season.
Problems were plenty Dallas
Things were looking up for the Mavericks heading into the start of last year. Luka Doncic was coming off his best season in the NBA, and led the Dallas to the Western Conference Finals before losing out to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.
They got rid of Jalen Brunson who was the Mavs No. 2 scorer, and they never really made the necessary moves to replace him. That is, until they brought in Kyrie Irving and Dallas immediately became a one of the favorites to win the West. Those expectations quickly turned to disappointment as the Mavericks struggled to win games and plummeted down the conference standings.
There were two problems for the Mavs last season, and they were glaring problems. First of all, the juxtaposition of Kyrie Irving’s rapid, free flowing brand of basketball didn’t merge with the style of play that the Mavs were used to playing with Luka Doncic pulling the strings.
Kyrie sings extension
The Slovenian is much more effective, and comfortable playing in the half court exploiting the mismatches he creates for the defender and either taking them to the hole or dishing out to the perimeter. Perhaps his tendency to play in the half court is a result of his often discussed fitness level. He has been criticized from time to time on his conditioning, but even in those moments is still one of the best players in the league.
When two stars join forces, especially in the middle of the season, it can be tough to coexist and build chemistry on the fly. Both Kyrie and Luka are used to having the ball in their hands, never was that more evident than at the end of close games. There were more than a handful of instances where it seemed like both were unsure if they should be the one taking the last shot or if it should be the other superstar teammate.
Despite the differences in styles it seems like Mark Cuban, Jason Kidd, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic were all on the same page when it came to resigning Irving. The Mavs gave him a three year, $126 million deal, and now will build around their two stars in search for their first title since the days of Dirk Nowitzki.
No D in Big D
The other problem, maybe more obvious then the lack of cohesion between Luka and Kyrie, was their defending. The Mavs couldn’t stop anyone last year, especially late in the season. Part of this was the personnel, the other part was team philosophy.
Down low, the Mavs didn’t have much in terms of size. Christian Wood and Dwight Powell were the starting and back up center at the American Airlines Arena last year and neither one of them eclipses 6′10″ underneath the basket. Dallas was dead last in the league in rebounding, pulling down an underwhelming 38.8 boards a game.
There was thought that with Kyrie and Luka, defense maybe wasn’t as important as outscoring the opponent was. Jason Kidd even said so late in the season when the Mavs playoff chances were hanging in the balance.
Williams adds edge
Perhaps that’s why the brought in Grant Williams in a three team trade that sends Reggie Bullock to the Spurs. Williams was a dog on the defensive end for Boston in their recent playoff pushes. He can play down low and bang with the big bodies, or out on the perimeter and has a natural ability to get under opponents skin.
He’s not going to be the dominant force the Mavs need in the paint to secure things in the battle on the boards, but he brings a gritty, no nonsense, 3-and-D specialist with playoff experience that can give an edge to a team that up until now was missing a bit of fight.
The Mavs still need to vamp up things down low, but on the perimeter they have the ability to be one of the most feared backcourts in the league. The question is, will it be enough to keep up with the stacked teams in the West next season?