Dallas Mavs' O-Max Prosper Ready for Anthony Edwards Matchup: 'I'm Going to Make Life Hard'
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The Dallas Mavericks will use the preseason to evaluate the readiness of rookies Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper in starting roles alongside Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Grant Williams.
"I'm excited to see how they handle it," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Lively and Prosper. "They've done the work, but sometimes the lights can be a little different, or seeing a different opponent, but I think they'll handle it great. O-Max and D Live have been really good in the camp so far."
When playing on the wing alongside Doncic and Irving, there is a need to convert open shots when spacing the floor and be a reliable play-finisher, whether cutting, attacking closeouts, crashing the offensive glass, setting screens, or whatever is required. However, it's especially vital to be a disruptive defender taking tough assignments so the superstars can focus more on doing what they do best.
"I feel I can impact them just by how hard I play the game, with my energy and how I defend," Prosper said. "I think this team needs another defensive stopper that can come in and help this team defensively and be a guy that can complement Luka and Kyrie on offense — knock down open shots, get to the rim, get fouled, and just little things like that. I feel I could come in and complement this team well and help them in places they need my help."
Standing at 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and an NBA-ready frame, Prosper has the physical tools to guard multiple positions. If all goes according to plan, he will show he can handle containing some of the NBA's top stars, in addition to handling the little things like making timely rotations and executing the scheme.
"Is very helpful out there," Prosper said. "Having a 7-foot-1 wingspan definitely helps a lot, especially on the defensive end, to get a lot of deflections. It's very practical for the sport. I feel like it helps me. I can use my length to help this team a lot, contest shots better, get steals, deflections, and finish over the top better."
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Prosper, who could end up guarding Anthony Edwards when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, is embracing the challenge. Prosper's focus remains on studying the tendencies required to have an approach to make it challenging for him without worrying about his rival's accomplishments.
"Anthony Edwards will be my first game," Prosper said. "I'm going to make his life hard. I don't care. I don't care what he's done. I'm going to make it tough on him and whatever happens."
Prosper's philosophy for handling tough on-ball defensive assignments is wise for a young player, stating his focus is on making the opposition take the shot they don't want to take inefficiently instead of being focused on shutting them down with an overly aggressive approach.
"I don't care who's in front of me or what your resume is because the game still needs to be played, and will they make tough shots on me? Yes, they will," Prosper said. "But it's part of the game. If you can make them inefficient, if you can make them take the shots they don't want to take and make their life hard, then I'm doing my job."
Achieving success in handling such a tough matchup could prove to be especially helpful for Prosper to maximize his opportunities in his rookie campaign. He views making his presence felt on defense as being integral in getting on the floor early in his career. Honing in on the details of the Mavs' defensive concepts has remained a priority since compting at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
"Since Summer League, I've focused on knowing the defensive concepts really well to be elite at that because that's what I will need to be on the floor with this team early on," Prosper said.
One of Prosper's luxuries with being drafted to the Mavs is the opportunity to gain reps guarding two of the NBA's truly elite isolation scorers, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Prosper already feels he's made strides in how he guards his two superstar teammates in practice, which should make handling rival star matchups easier.
"They made tough shots on me, but every practice, I'm learning how to guard them better and make them take tougher shots and take away what they want," Prosper said. "Everything in practice will help me guard great players on other teams because those guys are two elite scorers. It's great to guard those guys there so that it's easier to guard the other guys when it gets to the games."
Prosper could face an intriguing opportunity to review the film from how he handled guarding Edwards or the Timberwolves' other top perimeter talents before going against them again in the Oct. 7 matchup to complete the two-game mini-series. It could be a valuable learning experience before the regular season begins.
