Dallas Mavericks: Ranking all 5 starters for the 2021-22 season

Dallas Mavericks starters ranked: 5. C Dwight Powell

Dwight Powell has been a part-time starter in Dallas for each of the past four seasons. It’s possible Kidd deploys him in a similar way once again, but it’s also possible Powell gets one more opportunity to contribute in a significant way.

Powell only started about a third of the games he played in last season. The center averaged 5.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He hit 61.9 percent of his shots, the second-best mark of his career.

The season was one of the worst in Powell’s career as he was phased out of the game plan. Most of his numbers were at their worst since the 2015-16 season. His 16.7 minutes per game were his least since that season as well.

On one hand, it seems like Powell is a player on a clear downswing. He’s already turned 30 years old and is past his peak, which wasn’t particularly high, to begin with. He also struggled to recover from a devastating Achilles’ injury suffered in January 2020.

But Powell should be fully healthy this season, which should be enough for him to boost his numbers and presence early on. Powell did appear to play more like his old self during the playoffs, an energetic help defender and reliable rim-runner.

At this point, Powell is a known entity and that entity is better than what he showed last year. He should be able to bounce back and carve out a regular role in Kidd’s rotation.