2015-16 NBA Season Preview: Dallas Mavericks

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Dallas Mavericks

2014-15

Offseason Roundup

Projected Starting 5

• PG Devin Harris
• SG Wesley Matthews
• SF Chandler Parsons
• PF Dirk Nowitzki
• C Zaza Pachulia

MVP: Chandler Parsons

For the first time in a decade and a half, Dirk Nowitzki won't be the Mavericks' most important player.

Make no mistake, the offense will still lean heavily on Nowitzki's unique talents, most of which should continue to age gracefully. He can shoot over anybody and stretch defenses in ways few others can, which will continue to open up opportunities all over the floor. But the 37-year-old 7-footer is going to struggle at the other end, where the Mavs will do their best to hide him wherever and however possible. His minutes will probably be capped around 30 per game.

That will mean an increased focus on the wing, where Chandler Parsons is looking to build on a solid, if unspectacular, first season in Dallas. Toolsy and versatile, Parsons is a dangerous outside shooter, a heady off-ball cutter, and, when locked in, he's capable of defending three positions.

With Monta Ellis gone and the Mavericks short on quality point guards, Parsons could get some burn as a pick-and-roll ball-handler.

Breakout Player: Dwight Powell

This may seem like a reach, especially given that Powell's contract isn't guaranteed, but the Mavericks' roster is so old and their frontcourt is so thin that it's hard to come up with a better candidate.

Powell was drafted in the second round last year, traded twice before the season began, and bounced back and forth between the Boston Celtics and the D-League, before serving as a throw-in in the Rajon Rondo trade. But he surprised by latching on in Dallas and acquitting himself well, averaging 12.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per 36 minutes.

As a mobile, athletic 6-foot-11 power forward with 3-point range and active hands on defense, Powell's an intriguing addition. He had a monster summer league and followed it up with some productive minutes off Canada's bench at the FIBA Americas. He probably needs to bulk up to improve his rebounding and his post defense - which, to this point, he's struggled with, proving unable to guard opponents without racking up a ton of fouls - but there's the outline of a potentially dynamic player here.

Season Expectations

With one of the most dramatically overhauled rosters in the league, the Mavericks are coming off a heartbreaking offseason. They watched the big fish they thought they'd reeled in let himself off the hook and return to the sea from whence he came. The Mavericks may not have been much more than a middle-of-the-pack playoff team if DeAndre Jordan had honored his verbal commitment. His retraction, though, torpedoed their plans, and most likely their postseason hopes.

With other centers already committed elsewhere by the time Jordan completed his about-face, the Mavericks did damage control as best they could, signing the patchwork duo of Zaza Pachulia and Sam Dalembert. Neither of those guys will fill Tyson Chandler's role in the explosive pick-and-roll that saw Dallas start last season with one of the most potent offenses the league's ever seen, and which has since lost all its foundational elements - dive men Chandler and Brandan Wright, and primary ball-handler Ellis.

Meanwhile, the point guard position remains a huge question mark, and what the slowing, injury-ravaged Deron Williams can bring at this point is anybody's guess. You can say the same for Wes Matthews - 29 and coming off Achilles surgery - and even Parsons, who's recovering from a knee injury of his own. Even the Mavericks' conceivable best-case scenario - Parsons blossoming into a borderline All-Star and Matthews playing up to last year's standards - seems to come with a relatively low ceiling.

That this team will drop out of the Western Conference playoff picture seems almost a foregone conclusion. Perhaps the more pertinent question is: How far will they sink?