Dallas Mavericks middling in latest power rankings

The Dallas Mavericks are going into the upcoming season hoping to get back in the playoff picture.

NBA.com writer John Schuhmann conducted a recent power rankings of the Western Conference teams and the Mavs came in at No. 8 on the list.

"In [Anthony] Davis’ nine games with the Mavs last season, he took 55% of his shots in the paint, down from 72% over his last 2 1/2 seasons with the Lakers. He’s always been one of those players with a huge differential between how effectively he shoots inside (career field goal percentage of 61.9% in the paint) vs. outside (39.3% from mid-range, 29.9% from 3-point range). The Mavs need to keep him playing big, even if he’s playing almost all of his minutes alongside [Dereck] Lively or Daniel Gafford," Schuhmann wrote.

"No matter how many jumpers Davis is taking, the big frontline has the potential to be terrific defensively and on the glass. You can also imagine some lineups where the 6-foot-8 [Cooper] Flagg is playing a guard alongside Davis, one of the centers and either [P.J.] Washington or Naji Marshall. Until Kyrie Irving comes back, the Mavs will be an interesting big-ball experiment, and they might force some teams to adjust if they can dominate inside."

Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis dribbles during the second quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Mavs in middle of pack in Western Conference

The Mavs certainly have the talent on paper to be one of the better teams in the Western Conference, but there are simply more balanced squads projected to finish ahead of them.

The seven teams slated to do better than Dallas are the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

Being No. 8 in the West means the Mavs will have a good chance to return to the Play-In Tournament for a second straight season. They fell short to the Memphis Grizzlies back in April, but a healthy Irving, rejuvenated Davis and fresh rookie energy in Flagg could get the Mavs back to the postseason.

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