Dallas Mavericks: Comparing 2014-15, 2015-16 Starters

The Dallas Mavericks will enter the 2015-16 season with a starting lineup very different from 2014-15. After losing starters Rajon Rondo, Monta Ellis and Tyson Chandler during the summer, they had to go out and build the best possible starting line-up to support Dirk Nowitzki.

The center position had nearly been solved before DeAndre Jordan backed out of his verbal agreement so the Mavs ended up settling for a three-headed center monster of JaVale McGee, Samuel Dalembert and Zaza Pachulia. Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews were signed to be the new Mavs backcourt, which looks like it will be a pretty good replacement from last season.

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Starting with the point guard position, the Mavs didn’t exactly lose Rajon Rondo this summer, they just didn’t bring him back … for obvious reasons. Deron Williams was originally supposed to be a member of the Brooklyn Nets next season but he was bought out and ended up signing a two-year, $10 million deal with a player option in the second year.

Rondo and Williams are both players who have experienced declines in the past few seasons. Rondo suffered a torn ACL in 2013 while Williams has had to deal with many smaller things that have limited him.

Rajon Rondo – Deron Williams

8.9 – Points – 13.0

7.9 – Assists – 6.6

5.5 – Rebounds – 3.5

.426 – FG% – .387

.314 – 3P% – .367

.397 – FT% – .834

As you can see, the numbers for 2014-15 were different in certain categories because Rondo is more of a pass-first point guard while Williams like more ball handling and shooting. The one category that pops out if free throw percentage because Rondo only shot 40 percent last season, which is terrible for any player in the NBA.

Other than that, the numbers aren’t too far off, it’s just the fact that Rondo was not happy in his situation in Dallas and Williams made it obvious that he wanted to come to Dallas. His style of play should fit in more with Parsons and Nowitzki as well.

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Next up is the shooting guard position where the Mavs will be looking at two different types of players here. Monta Ellis was always a primary ball handler and scored the most points for the team on most nights while his defense suffered.

Wesley Matthews, who signed a max contract with the Mavs this summer, is more of a “3 and D” type player meaning that he specializes in three-point shooting and defense.

Both players are known for their toughness and ability to battle through injuries. Ellis has barely missed any games in his career and the same could be said for Matthews if you don’t count all the time he missed last season due to a torn Achilles. Since Matthews never came back, his numbers from last season didn’t take any hits.

Monta Ellis – Wesley Matthews

18.9 – Points – 15.9

4.1 – Assists – 2.3

2.4 – Rebounds – 3.7

.445 – FG% – .448

.285 – 3P% – .389

.752 – FT% – .752

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Ellis and Matthews are actually very similar players in terms of stats and production, they just operate in very different ways. The last time the Mavs had a player like Matthews was the 2011 season with DeShawn Stevenson, however, he does not compare to Matthews skill set and overall ability to impact the game.

Since Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki will both be returning there is no need to look at their stats which means the center position is next up. The Mavs center situation is still perhaps the biggest question mark. After making the trade to get Tyson Chandler back, they quickly forgot about him for DeAndre Jordan during the summer and ended up losing both.

With three centers who could potentially start, the Mavs will have a decision to make.

Each has a certain skill they are good at. Zaza Pachulia likes to take mid-range shots, Samuel Dalembert enjoys more of a rim-protector role while JaVale McGee is a poor-man’s Tyson Chandler, who can connect on explosive alley oops and defend the paint rather well.

For this, I averaged the stats of the three centers last season to compare to Tyson Chandler since there is no clear starter.

Tyson Chandler – All Mavs Centers

10.3 – Points – 16.9

11.5 – Rebounds – 14.8

.666 – FG% – .474

.720 – FT% – .718

Obviously the combined numbers were better (in some cases) than Tyson Chandler’s simply because it is three players to one but out of the three, Zaza Pachulia was the best. JaVale McGee only played 23 games last season while Samuel Dalembert only played 32. Each of these centers will be coming into new situations with something to prove, meaning training camp is going to be a battle.

This next season is going to be a major transition in terms of types of players starting for the Mavs. Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parsons are coming off of major injuries meaning they might not be up to their peak level right away and Dirk Nowitzki will be 37 years old.

Depending on who ends up starting at the center position, the Mavs will have a chance to form some special chemistry with a line-up that might actually have decent defense. There are still questions that remain but most of them won’t be answered until training camp and the preseason come around.

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