Dallas Mavericks: Consistency Is Needed Within Starting 5

While offseason change can be good, the Dallas Mavericks need to focus more on building chemistry within their locker room.

The Dallas Mavericks are facing another big offseason with plenty of big questions coming into play. Will they finally break through and sign a superstar player? How much money will they give Chandler Parsons? Could Dirk Nowitzki opt out and sign his final contract with the team?

The storylines are endless as Mark Cuban and the rest of the front office will put their focus on building a contending team around Nowitzki as the possible final year of his career approaches.

While that’s a good thing, they also need to make sure they stay cautious in their decision-making.

Since the Mavs captured the championship in 2011, their roster has shown little to no consistency. Whether it’s been through trades or free agency, it seems like it has been a rarity to see a player stay for longer than two seasons.

Let’s go back to the summer of 2011, when the Mavs parted with a few of their key championship pieces. After Cuban decided that he wanted to go after a superstar, he let Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and DeShawn Stevenson walk.

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It proved to be just the first season where 2-3 starters would be sent packing via free agency.

Since that summer, the Mavs have had five different starting point guards in Darren Collison, Jose Calderon, Jameer Nelson, Rajon Rondo and Deron Williams.

They’ve brought in three new shooting guards in O.J. Mayo, Monta Ellis and Wesley Matthews. They managed to hang on to Shawn Marion until the summer of 2014, when they signed Chandler Parsons, and of course Dirk Nowitzki has stayed at power forward.

Then at center, the Mavs have struggled to find any permanent solution with Brendan Haywood, Chris Kaman, Samuel Dalembert, Tyson Chandler and Zaza Pachulia all earning starting spots.

It’s pretty obvious that the Mavs have not found any answers to their problems, and that’s the reason why they’ve been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs four out of the last five seasons.

However, what if they would’ve just held on to a few of their players? What if they had re-signed O.J. Mayo? What if they hadn’t traded Jose Calderon away? What if they would’ve made it a priority to bring Tyson Chandler back instead of hunting for the bigger fish?

This summer provides the Mavs with the opportunity to put aside all of those “what-ifs” once and for all. While it’s almost a certainty that they’ll find a brand new center, considering the options available, they don’t necessarily have to blow the team up.

Dirk said he may opt out of his current contract and sign a 2 or 3-year contract with the #Mavs.
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) June 7, 2016

Wesley Matthews is signed through 2018-19 and Dirk Nowitzki will obviously be back, even if he does opt out of his contract.

Deron Williams will opt out and hit the market as one of the best free agent point guards available, but he still remains open to staying in his hometown.

The biggest wildcard of the offseason lies with Chandler Parsons. He is also expected to opt out, but it would likely take a max deal to keep him in Dallas, which would be a very risky move to make with his injury history.

It certainly seems like Dallas would be his first option, as he has a great relationship with Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

Let’s say the Mavs are able to get deals done that lock up both Parsons and Williams. While you may not like the chances of both going injury-free throughout the course of a season, that would mean four of five starters from 2015-16 would be back with the team for 2016-17.

Sure you can say that the Mavs were bounced early in the playoffs, but look at what they accomplished with that team. They finished sixth in the West, their highest finish since they were third in 2010-11. They also finished second in the Southwest Division, which was their highest position since finishing second in 2010-11.

In a way, last year was a major improvement from the last four seasons.

So what would bringing back four of five starters do? Well, first of all, it provides the team with a chance to develop more chemistry, something that has been lacking since the championship year.

It would also be a big load off of Nowitzki’s shoulders as he is closing in on retirement. Besides Marion hanging around for a few years after the championship breakup, and Ellis coming in for two seasons, he’s had to learn how to play with 2-3 new starters every season.

Giving him nearly the same group of guys to play with would help the team get started early in the season rather than having to go through a slight adjustment period.

Add a younger, more athletic center to the mix and the Mavs would be much better in 2015-16. They still might not be contenders, but that type of starting lineup would be a huge improvement.

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The Mavs have been undergoing makeovers just about every season since 2010-11. For once, it’s time for them to work on re-signing players and building chemistry in order to create a tighter team with a better chance of making a playoff run.

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Dallas Mavericks: Consistency Is Needed Within Starting Lineup

By Cole Mentzel | Jun 11, 2016

While offseason change can be good, the Dallas Mavericks need to focus more on building chemistry within their locker room.