'Defense & Rebounding': Mavs GM Nico Harrison Pinpoints Offseason Priorities
During the Dallas Mavericks' failure of a season, coach Jason Kidd famously said his team was 'trying to outscore people.' Although scoring wasn't an issue with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the way, your team has to play at least an ounce of defense to compete in this league.
One of the many downfalls for Dallas was its team defense and rebounding, which Mavericks GM Nico Harrison knows must be fixed in the offseason.
"I think for us going into the offseason, the two biggest things that we need to work on is defense and rebounding," Harrison said. "That's going to be addressed."
As for their interior defense this season, Dallas ranked dead last in team rebounding and 28th out of 30 teams in blocks per game. Needless to say, the Mavs' attempt to fix the same weakness they had last season by trading for Christian Wood and signing JaVale McGee never materialized.
Following the Irving trade, the Mavericks allowed 118.6 points per game, up from 112.0 points per game in the first 55 games of the season. That's not to put the defensive decline all on Irving's shoulders, but a lineup consisting of both Irving and Doncic for 34 minutes per night places a lot of weight on the shoulders of the other three players on the floor.
"I think this year, it's not about big or small. Just defense overall, we weren't very good this year so that's going to be a focus," Harrison said. "We just didn't have players that were committed to it. I think defense is not just one person – it's a team thing."
That's a revealing statement from Harrison, admitting the Mavericks' roster had real issues committing to playing defense. That means the front office believes the potential was there, but the mindset wasn't right.
The loss of Dorian Finney-Smith in the trade for Irving hurt on the defensive end, given that he was the Mavs' most versatile defender who made sure everyone else was where they needed to be. Dallas' defense this season wasn't great before Finney-Smith was traded, as Harrison noted, but losing your on-court defensive coordinator was too much to overcome.
Re-signing Irving is clearly the top priority this summer for the Mavs, but bolstering the perimeter and interior defense is crucial for Dallas' success going forward.
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