'Change is Good!': 'Hardship' Mavs Pinson & Chriss Make Big Impact in Debut
On Monday, we told you that the Dallas Mavericks' front office needs to show more urgency when it comes to improving the roster around superstar Luka Doncic. We also explained how the team didn't have to trade for All-Star talent in order to improve its current talent situation.
Although it didn't happen the way we thought it would, the Mavs' recent misfortune of injuries and COVID absences gave us a glimpse of how shuffling the deck, even if it's seen as a 'lateral move' on the surface, could provide a spark for this team going forward.
The 'Makeshift Mavericks' defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night in a way that was like taking a big breath of fresh air. Due to having a total of eight players out with injuries or being in COVID protocols, the Mavs officially signed Theo Pinson around 1:30 p.m. central time on Monday. The Mavs signed big man Marquese Chriss around 3:30 p.m. central time on Tuesday, just four hours before tip-off against Minnesota. Pinson and Chriss ended up playing 22 and 16 minutes, respectively. Both players ended up having a big impact in the Mavs' upset win as well.
“Great,” said head coach Jason Kidd when asked about the performance of his team on Tuesday night.
“The energy top-to-bottom, everybody in a uniform played. I thought the energy, the spirit, even though they took the lead, I thought the guys stayed together. The newcomers, the guys who been here, they played their heart out tonight. I thought losing the lead would let those things affect us, but tonight it didn’t affect us and we played with two new guys out there during that time. A lot of growth.”
Dallas has pretty much had the same core of players on its current roster for nearly three years now, or rather, since the trade for Kristaps Porzingis that happened on January, 31 2019. As mentioned on Monday, it's not just the Mavs' inconsistent play this season that has people upset, it's the fact that the Mavs have literally been a .500 basketball team over their last 276 games.
The Mavs don't believe in making changes to the roster unless it's a move that would be an obvious talent upgrade. However, if you sit around waiting for those things to happen, and they never do, you end up being stagnant for a longer period of time than initially intended. With that said, why not take more chances and 'shuffle the deck', so to speak, given how uninspiring the current roster has been though 30 games so far this season?
Even if some things were good at one time, there comes a point where something different is needed. This was true in the case of former Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle leaving. Whether you agreed with the Jason Kidd hiring or not, it was still time to move on from Carlisle, who had reportedly lost the Mavs' locker room. It was true in the case of former general manager Donnie Nelson as well. As much good as Nelson did for the Mavs overall during his tenure as GM, the continuous unforced errors over his final two years was proof that change was needed.
The Mavs may still 'love our boys in blue,' as Nelson used to say, but at least on Tuesday night, we saw more effort, energy and raw talent from two players who were both picked up in the last 24 hours than we have from half of the Dallas roster this entire season so far.
Maybe it was just the high of the moment. After all, we've seen it before where very undermanned teams come together and get a big, unexpected win. Maybe the play of Pinson and Chriss won't hold up over the next handful of games, but our eyes saw what our eyes saw on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. And if that kind of play is sustained by the Mavs' new 10-day 'hardship' signees? Well, then the front office is going to have some important decisions to make before those contracts end.
“Just the energy. Also, their spirit. They’re fighting for something,” said Kidd of his new players’ immediate impacts.
“I thought Theo and Marquese were great with just the energy, ball movement and just being themselves. They helped us win this game. We’re going to need that from here on out because you just never know who’s going to test positive and who’s out.”
Hopefully, owner Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison pay close attention to this new 'makeshift' roster over the next week and make necessary changes based on talent and performance instead of feelings and finances.
