Dallas, TX
How The Dallas Mavericks Built A Dynamic Defense At A Bargain
PJ Washington & Daniel Gafford, Dallas Mavericks. Mason Plumlee, Los Angeles Clippers.
The Dallas Mavericks have officially eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers and are now advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they will face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
As a five seed playing against a four seed, their triumph in this series isn’t all that bizarre. What is weird, though, is how they have achieved their success. The Mavericks, a team headlined by their star duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, aren’t winning with only their offense (7th in offensive rating in these playoffs). They are doing it with their defense (6th in defensive rating), too.
Even more impressive than their overall defensive rating, the Mavericks are first in the entire playoffs in opponent rim accuracy (50.0%) by a landslide (the Thunder are second with an opponent rim accuracy of 53.2%, per Cleaning the Glass).
Top 10 Playoff Defenses in Opponent Rim Accuracy.
Winning with defense isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel. Throughout NBA history, teams have used their elite defenses to fuel deep playoff runs. The thing that makes what Dallas is doing unique (and worth writing an article about) is their roster construction.
One of the elements that makes the NBA so intriguing is that the teams participating in it are restricted by a salary cap. That means that teams are limited in how much money they can spend (before getting penalized).
This year, the Mavericks have 56.7% of their salary cap tied to Doncic and Irving (per Spotrac) — two players who are known in many circles as defensive liabilities. So, how has Dallas managed to build a strong playoff defense when over half their cap space is tied to poor defensive players?
Part #1: A Smart Offseason
The Mavericks knew they were set on offense with Doncic (100th percentile in Offensive Estimated Plus-Minus, per Dunks & Threes) and Irving (98th percentile) on their payroll. So, they prioritized adding defensively-slanted players for cheap in the 2023 offseason.
During this period, they made three key acquisitions. The first one came in the 2023 NBA Draft, where the Mavericks traded back (with the Thunder, coincidentally) in order to acquire Dereck Lively II. Since Lively is a rookie, he’s only making about 4.8 million dollars this year (3.5% of the cap). To his credit, though, Lively has been worth every penny. Despite his inexperience, Lively has been one of the better rim protectors in basketball (94th percentile in block rate).
The second deal they made was a three-team sign-and-trade with the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs to nab Grant Williams (more on this in a second).
The last piece of the offseason puzzle was a seemingly inconsequential mid-August signing (one that we predicted wouldn’t be so inconsequential). The player in question was Derrick Jones Jr., who they got at the veteran minimum. Since Jones had seven years of work experience coming into 2023-24, the Mavericks were able to sign him for a little over two million dollars (1.48% of the salary cap). Jones has turned out to be Dallas’ best perimeter defender (92nd percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus), and he’s had a massive positive impact on the team’s overall defense (80th percentile in defensive rating on/off).
Part #2: An Active Trade Deadline
After a diligent offseason, Dallas established itself as one of the most aggressive teams of the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline, using their draft capital to acquire more size and defense.
We mentioned the Williams trade earlier. Unfortunately, his time in Dallas wasn’t the most pleasant. However, the Mavericks were able to flip him, Seth Curry, and a 2027 first round pick for PJ Washington. Washington is a rangy defender (80th percentile in DEF EPM) with a 7’2.5 wingspan. Plus, he’s only making 16.8 million dollars this year (12.4% of the salary cap), which is both a good price for a starting caliber forward and a relatively easy number to match in a trade.
The other medium-sized swing they took at the deadline was their trade to land Daniel Gafford from the Washington Wizards (in exchange for Richaun Holmes and a 2024 first round pick). Gafford also gives them more length (6’10 with a 7’2.25 wingspan) and a rim protector to man the paint when Lively isn’t on the floor (97th percentile in block rate).
Part #3: Team-Wide Buy-In And A Creative Coach
The beautiful thing about defense is that a lot of it comes down to effort (from the players) and scheme (from the coaches), and neither of those variables costs any money (well, coaches cost money, but it doesn’t count against the salary cap).
Everyone on the Mavericks is completely bought into the defensive side of the ball, even the notorious turnstiles Doncic and Irving.
A great way to measure defensive effort is to look at how many deflections a player is accruing during their time on the court. Of the 102 players who have logged at least 100 minutes in these playoffs, Doncic and Irving are both in the top 20 (per NBA.com).
Irving, in particular, has really risen to the occasion. In Games 5 and 6, he spent large portions of the game defending James Harden so that Washington could stay off-ball and provide secondary rim protection (Washington was in the 71st percentile in block rate this year, by the way).
Head Coach Jason Kidd has also done a good job coming up with creative ways to maximize his players’ strengths (like keeping Washington off-ball). For instance, he’s had Doncic do more defending in isolation because that is one of the better facets of his defensive arsenal. Most coaches would do anything to hide their worst defenders. But not Kidd. Kidd understands that Dallas’ defense is better with Doncic and Irving in the heat of the action because it allows their better defenders (Washington, Jones, Gafford, etc.) to clean up their messes on the backline.
Part #4: A Change In Officiating
Do you know what else is free? Officiating that lets players be more physical on defense. It’s no secret that games have been called different since after the All-Star break, leading to a league-wide scoring decline.
This has helped a team like Dallas — who touts a lot of defensive-first wings/forwards/center — because they can put more defense on the floor without paying a huge tax on offense (it also helps that Doncic/Irving are such prolific offensive players).
Putting It All Together
Between Lively, Jones, Gafford, Washington, Josh Green (3.5% of the salary cap), and the now-healthy Maxi Kleber (8.1%), Dallas has a ton of affordable length and athleticism to help them safeguard the paint (the most important part of defense). They have also maximized the features of defense that don’t count against the salary cap (effort and coaching), along with getting some help from the NBA’s decision to prioritize defense.
When you put that all together, you have a recipe for building a great playoff defense on a budget.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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