Dallas Mavericks: Southwest Division Backcourt Comparisons

The Dallas Mavericks built yet another new starting backcourt for the 2015-16 season. In the past four seasons, they’ve had four different backcourts (five if you count the Rajon Rondo disaster last season).

In terms of Dallas backcourts, they’ve had five different starting point guards in the last four seasons (Jason Kidd, Darren Collison, Jose Calderon, Rajon Rondo and Jameer Nelson) and three different starting shooting guards (Vince Carter, O.J. Mayo and Monta Ellis). A team that’s looking for a championship run for Dirk Nowitzki cannot continue to rotate guards in and out of its lineup that often.

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Recently, the Mavs signed both Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews in free agency to complete their starting backcourt for the 2015-16 season. Williams received a two-year contract while Matthews, who is recovering from an Achilles injury, received a four-year deal. This backcourt could potentially be one of the more solid backcourts the Mavs have had in recent seasons as long as both players stay healthy, but how do they compare to other starting guard combos in the Southwest Division?

First, let’s start off by previewing the most likely starting backcourt for each team in the Southwest:

San Antonio Spurs: Tony Parker/Danny Green
Houston Rockets: Patrick Beverley/James Harden
Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley/Courtney Lee
New Orleans Pelicans: Jrue Holiday/Eric Gordon

By adding Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews to that list, you create an absolutely insane lineup of starting guards in the Southwest Division. No matter what team you face, your guards are going to be tested on defense.

One key component for the Mavs this season is going to be defense. They would like to be a better defensive team and it Wesley Matthews heals properly, he is capable of giving them a huge boost in that category.

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Starting with the point guard position, it is going to be a battle for Deron Williams every time he faces a Southwest team. Above average to elite point guards were not as common in the East as they will be in the West when teams face one literally almost every night.

Deron Williams isn’t exactly known for his defense like Rajon Rondo, but one thing that helps him is his size and shape. He is more capable of being physical with elite-level point guards even if he isn’t the fastest guard in the game. Staying in front of point guards such as Parker and Conley is important just because of their ability to create off of screens and in the open floor.

Guards like Beverley and Holiday aren’t as dangerous in that category as they are in the category of outside shooting. However, Williams is also good at hitting shots from beyond the arc. At 31 years old, Williams is a little older than most of them, but I expect these point guard battles to be primarily offensive on most nights.

Shifting to the shooting guard position, the key for Wesley Matthews, as I stated earlier, is going to be his health. It remains to be seen how well he is going to recover from an Achilles injury. He won’t have too much to worry about in terms of driving the lane with Green, Lee and Gordon, but his major issue is going to come in the form of James Harden. There aren’t many players in the league capable of guarding a player like Harden who is so lethal at driving the lane and drawing a foul as well as hitting long, contested three-pointers.

On the offensive end of things, Matthews is great at hitting three-pointers and can post up rather well. On most nights, these shooting guards are going to be shooting against each other since every single one of them is capable of shooting threes. The term “3-And-D” comes in to play when speaking of some of these shooting guards, which provides an example of what you can expect to see from players like Green and Matthews.

If I had to compare the backcourt of Williams and Matthews to another backcourt in the Southwest division, I would say it’s like the pair of Tony Parker and Danny Green except with less chemistry, of course. Parker and Williams are both versatile ball handlers while Matthews and Green pursue three-point shooting and play outside of the arc.

Deron Williams shared a backcourt with Wesley Matthews in Utah during the '09-10 season, Matthews' rookie season. Reunited in Dallas.
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) July 15, 2015

Williams and Matthews will have the opportunity to be an elite backcourt in the NBA due to the fact that they both want to be in Dallas and they are both good players. One thing that helps them the most is that they played together during the 2009-10 season, which was Matthews’ first year in the league.

With a little chemistry and a lot of hustle, Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews can turn into something big in Dallas.

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