Dallas Mavericks: Dwight Powell Proves Why He’s A Rising Star

Dwight Powell has continued to improve throughout the season and his outing in the Rising Stars game was more proof that he has a bright future with the Dallas Mavericks.

According to some Mavs’ fans, Dwight Powell was the centerpiece of a pretty big trade that went down on Jan. 18, 2014. Even if a guy named Rajon Rondo was also involved in the trade, it doesn’t matter now because Powell is the only one out of the two that still plays in Dallas.

He had a minimal amount of time on the court in his rookie season, only appearing in 24 games for the Mavs. However in his sophomore season, Powell has emerged as one of the Mavs’ best reserves and he is usually the first big man off of the bench.

Up until the All-Star Game, he has played in all but three games, averaging 6.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Putting on some extra muscle over the summer helped him become more physical. His specialty has been hitting mid-range jumpers while effectively rebounding and playing tough under the basket on offense and defense.

With so much improvement, Powell was selected to compete in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, the only Mavs player that was chosen for an All-Star event. Since he is from Toronto, the host city for all of the weekend’s festivities, Powell got the opportunity to play on the World team, composed of every player in the game that was not from the United States.

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Though he did not get to start in the first half, Powell left his mark on the game. He had one of the three double-doubles posted with his 12 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals in 16 minutes, but the story of his game was his ability to dunk the ball and show that he can get up when he needs to.

Though Powell did not get the kind of time in the game like Kristaps Porzingis, Zach LaVine or Andrew Wiggins, he did earn a start in the second half and got to close out the game by playing the last couple of minutes and helping the World team in their comeback attempt.

Powell is only 24 years old and after a nice college career with Stanford, he was destined for more than being tossed around to multiple teams. In terms of taking his game to the next level, he is in the right place. With Dirk Nowitzki available to give pointers and help with overall fundamentals, Powell has great options to grow his strengths.

Though it may not exactly seem obvious right now with players like JaVale McGee and Charlie Villanueva occasionally getting some of his minutes, Powell is a key piece to the Mavs’ future and it will be important for them to hang onto him.

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Overall, it was nice to see a member of the Mavericks in the Rising Stars game for the first time since 2005-06, when Devin Harris represented Big D. If the Mavs choose to hold on to Dwight Powell and continue to help him develop his game, he is sure to turn into a solid player for the uncertain future after Nowitzki is gone.