As we enter the slowest month of the year for NBA news, devoted fans are still trying to piece together the puzzle of what the league will look like in the 2024-25 season following a tumultuous offseason.
However, one thing is apparent from this offseason: the Dallas Mavericks won, as they added outstanding role players across the board despite losing Derrick Jones Jr., Josh Green, and Tim Hardaway Jr. Some journalists and commentators still predict Dallas will take a step backward this coming season, as scepticism is likely to arise when big changes occur on a club that just came off of an NBA Finals trip.
However, there are still those in the media who believe in the Mavericks for the upcoming season, and Bleacher Report writer Dan Favale is one of those individuals, as he honed in on a key reason why the Mavericks cannot be overlooked this season in his recent article, “1 Reason Not To Overlook Every NBA Team for 2024-25 Season.”
Mavericks avoid falling into trap of trading defense for offense
Favale’s justification for not overlooking the Mavericks was that “they improved the offence without compromising the defence.” Giving up defence for more offence can be a potentially slippery slope for some teams, but the Mavs avoided it by maintaining a solid defence while improving their offence dramatically.
Dallas’ defence was one of their strongest assets last season, and the Mavs avoided falling into the trap of focussing solely on their offence while ignoring their defence.
Favale mentioned Thompson’s spacing and 3-point shooting as the primary reasons the Mavericks will succeed next season, even if their defensive efficiency suffers slightly as a result of Jones Jr.’s departure. While a change of atmosphere and playstyle may cause some growing pains for Thompson in Dallas, it is clear that he will become the ideal release valve for Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic on offence.
Even though Favale claimed to be stating only one reason why each team in the league should not be disregarded next season, he also spoke extensively about how Dallas’ versatility with their roster size will pay rewards in the next season. Dallas was able to add even more size, and the Mavericks don’t have anyone on their main roster under 6-foot-5 save for Irving and Jaden Hardy.
Dallas continues to have one of the most dynamic centre rotations in the league, with Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and Maxi Kleber, and they may have increased their size at the wing and guard positions even more this offseason.
The doubters and naysayers will continue to try to find reasons why this Mavericks team will fail next season, but it is clear that this Mavericks team has an incredible combination of positional size and multi-faceted role players to complement the likes of Irving, Thompson, and Doncic.
For that reason, as well as the reasons Favale gave, the Mavericks can’t be underestimated next season, but make no mistake about it: Dallas avoided a significant bullet this offseason when Thompson decided to join them over other suitors.
