With Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, and Tim Hardaway Jr., the Dallas Mavericks have a core that gives them a lot to be excited about.
Over the past few years, they have shown flashes of their potential, shining in big moments and putting pressure on title-contending teams.
And while they still have a ways to go before they can be considered on the same level as some of the West’s elite, they hope to take another step forward this upcoming season, with new head coach Jason Kidd at the helm.
It’s too early to tell what kind of schemes he’ll be implementing in Dallas this year, but we know he’ll be leaning more on the defensive end.
“I don’t think it’s going to change in a sense that we’re not going to take the ball out of Luka’s hand,” Kidd said, per Dwain Price of mavs.com. “He’s too good. We’ve added pieces to compliment him, but also pieces that compliment each other.
But the biggest thing is the defensive side of the ball. We’ve got to pay a little bit more attention to detail. Understand we all have one goal, and that’s to win a championship. And we’ve got to get stops. The last time we won a championship here, we did get stops.”
Many are skeptical that Kidd is the right coach for this team, especially given his complicated coaching history, but he does have experience winning a title.
Back in 2011, he was the point guard for that Mavericks team that shocked the world and squashed the superpowered Miami Heat.
Looking back, he cited defense as the main catalyst for their success.
“That wasn’t just our offense that won us the championship,” Kidd said. “It was our defense.”
This Mavericks team has not been very good on defense so far. In fact, they’ve been among the worst in the entire NBA over these past few seasons.
But if they really want to take that leap into the next level, they’re going to have to figure out how to get better on that end of the floor. If Kidd can help them do that, he’s the perfect man for this job.
