DALLAS — The new Dallas Mavericks have already taught us one thing. I'm sure they'll have fun.
Dallas defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 146-111 on Saturday in the debuts of trade deadline additions PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford, evident early on as they scored a franchise-record 47 points in the first quarter. They built a strong lead and fended off the Thunder's only real comeback attempt. When the lead was cut to four points in the second. It was a high-flying basketball game in which six different Mavericks made 11 dunks, one away from setting a team record for most dunks this season. In fact, both new players scored their first points with their new teams on lobs from Luka Doncic.
“It's great,” Gafford said when asked about identifying himself as the type of center Doncic has wanted for years. “I feel like it's never happened before for a guy of his caliber to fall in love with a guy like me.”
Dallas (30-23) currently has two such centers, but breakout rookie Derek Lively II missed Saturday's fifth consecutive game with a broken nose. Lively ranks seventh in the league in dunks made this season, while Gafford ranks eighth without pick-and-roll maestros such as Doncic and Kyrie Irving providing passes. If Lively returns, perhaps in one of the remaining two games before the All-Star break, Dallas will be able to deploy 48 minutes of high-rise center play. Of course, that's the main reason the team pursued him.
Washington also had two dunks, tying the total his replacement Grant Williams had in all 47 games with Dallas. There's some truth to recent reports that Williams wasn't a good fit and that his personality frustrated his on-court struggles in Dallas. However, the main reason he was moved before the trade deadline was that he struggled to fit in on the court. Since general manager Nico Harrison took over, the Mavericks' front office has clearly skewed Doncic toward more athleticism. Williams has strayed a bit from that mentality, even though the Mavericks acquired former Slam Dunk Contest winner Derrick Jones Jr. in the offseason, but his shutout offense and role as a top point-of-attack defender has been His inability to fulfill this was not his incompetence. Dallas wanted it. As Williams began to struggle with his shooting, the front office began to reconsider his suitability.
The Washington Mavericks have players who are far more capable of attacking on the move. In his postgame comments, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd highlighted one specific play: Washington's drive-and-kick that left Jones free at the rim, followed by an assist on Washington's easy dunk.
Dunks are just one expression of athleticism, but they tell a story. During Doncic's rookie season, Dallas averaged 5.2 dunks per game. That average decreased with each season, reaching just 3.7 attempts per game in 2022-23. This season, the Mavericks are closest to Doncic's rookie season performance (4.9 points per game), and with the additions of Washington and Gafford, this unit may finally surpass its 2018-19 performance.
Granted, Dallas is led by two non-dunkers, with Doncic and Irving completing only two games each this season. But the dunk is an expression of independence.
“(It's) the ability to not have to worry about Luka and (Kyrie) doing all the work and have guys that can put the ball on the floor,” Kidd said.
Dallas' success this season is intertwined with its 3-point shooting. He is 23-9 against teams that have taken more shots from distance than their opponents. But Dallas beat Oklahoma City despite making 37 threes and 15 more than their season average. And the Thunder made 17 such shots in the loss, making Dallas' seventh win out of 21 in which it hit fewer long balls than its opponent.
“We were a team that shot a lot of threes,” Kidd said. “Some nights it’s going to be because of the double teams, but there’s going to be nights where you can dominate the paint.”
Good teams learn to win in different ways, and Saturday's win felt like they learned that lesson. The Thunder's young core has garnered attention around the league this season, and the Thunder arrived in Dallas with four days of rest. But the Mavericks currently only have two rotation players over 25 years old, and despite the team's busy schedule — this was their fourth game in six days — they allowed 33 fast-break points. I couldn't stop myself from overtaking the Thunder until I achieved it. And while the Mavericks' offensive rebounding stats weren't as dominant, Gafford drew a half-hour ovation from the American Airlines Center crowd with this contested rebound that led to a free throw.
The addition at the trade deadline means Dallas will double down on the explosiveness it was trying to achieve earlier this season, with the team having the eighth-best pace in the league. Dallas only ranks 26th in offensive rebounding percentage, but the addition of Gafford should help push that number even higher. Dallas has never had so many two-way capable players and never been so athletic during the Doncic era. And after a long two months with various injuries, Dallas finally appears to be fully healthy after the All-Star break. Then you'll see how good this team really is.
That's the most important question, and will it justify the price Dallas paid to change its team at the deadline, or will it raise even more eyebrows? It's not about the front office trading two future first-round picks (they had to do that at some point), it's about making these moves now that the team has to spend It's about whether you can get the most out of what you didn't have. It's a story that continues throughout the season and you have to keep checking back.
What Dallas did Saturday certainly looked dominant in a way we haven't seen much of this season. It will take more time to find out how true that is. But if Saturday tells us anything, the journey will be fun to witness.
(Top photo: Glenn James / NBAE via Getty Images)
