Mavericks’ Tyrell Terry Shines In Summer League Opener
While the Mavericks could never get things going in their 22-point loss to the Sixers on Monday, guard Tyrell Terry showed flashes of greatness. Just 20 years old, his professional experience is limited, so NBA Summer League is important for growth.
Last season in Dallas, after being selected No. 31 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, Terry missed a good portion of the season for personal reasons. In fact, the 13 games he played in the G League Bubble were more than the 11 games he played with the Mavericks during the regular season.
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With that in mind, Terry was appreciative of his teammates and fans for how they accepted him coming back from his time away from the team.
“I think the biggest thing for me coming back was just the open arms that everyone gave to me," said Terry earlier this week. "Nobody really judged me or questioned while I was gone and were supportive. Even from the fans, I received nothing but love and support. It made it that much easier to come back and get into the swing of things.”
In his first game playing significant minutes in quite some time, the young guard was by far the best player on the floor for Dallas, scoring a game-high 22 points. Terry did this efficiently as well, converting on eight of his 16 shots, including three of his six 3-pointers.
While the Mavs struggled to score in this 95-73 loss, Terry not only led the team in scoring, but also generated shots for his teammates while dishing out three assists.
To earn consistent minutes with the Mavericks this season, he'll need to show he can be effective on both ends of the floor. Although he's still a bit undersized, Terry was active defensively on Monday, notching three steals.
Terry is known for his shooting, converting on 40.8 percent of his threes in college. However, in his debut NBA Summer League game, he also showed the ability to get to the rim and finish with a high level of difficulty.
Although Dallas has had a solid offseason thus far, they're going to need some of their other pieces to make a leap this season if they're going to take that next step in the postseason. There's a chance that the Mavericks getting out of the first round will come down to guys like Terry and other young players to contribute.
In a strange season that was restricted due to COVID-19 protocol, Terry and the rest of his 2020 NBA Draft class didn't get the opportunity to play in NBA Summer League before they became rookies. He talked about how important getting to play this season prior to his second NBA season is.
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“The biggest thing we missed out on was more game time," said Terry before the start of NBA Summer League. "As a player, when it comes down to it you can do all the drills you want. But to really improve you need experience playing real five-on-five basketball. I think we missed out on that quite a bit. We didn’t have summer league last year but we do this year. I think the biggest thing for me and the guys is to just capitalize on that.”
While Mavericks with Terry's level experience never got much playing time under Rick Carlisle through the years, perhaps new coach Jason Kidd will give young guys more opportunity in the regular season to prove their worth.
When it comes down to players who didn't make much of an impact last season but could in the 2021-22 season, put Tyrell Terry near the top of the list.
