This team just isn’t very good

Disclaimer: This is subject to change. Even with their struggles this doesn’t look like a below .500 team on paper.

But as the great Bill Parcells would say, “you are what your record is.“ And in the Mavericks case, that would be an 8-12 basketball team sitting in the Western Conference cellar.

What has changed since last year? First and foremost, they cannot shoot. They’re the leagues worst three-point shooting team. Both general and on shots categorized as “wide open.”

Their center depth is lacking, to put it kindly. Their second star has been in-and-out of the lineup and generally not played well. At times, they really haven’t played that hard.

It’s been all around bad. But 20 games in, this is who they are. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

The Richardson-Curry trade looks very bad

Admittedly, I was excited about the move when it was announced. We love Seth Curry in Dallas, but for this team to take the championship steps we thought they could, they needed to add defense.

Richardson has that in bunches, well as being a capable supporting offensive piece.

However reality has not mirrored that. COVID and a short offseason probably have a lot to do with that. J-Rich was out for about two weeks dealing with it. But the fact of the matter is, the Mavericks traded away literally the highest percentage three-point marksmen in league history. If the return was anything other than J-Rich living up to his reputation, that it would be a bad move.

So far, he’s been anything but. The defense has been good to be fair, but he’s shooting an abysmal 28% from deep. Meaning he is one of a couple Mavs under the 30% mark.

This is definitely subject to change as he gets more comfortable and finds his rhythm, but as of right now, the returns on that trade do not look good.

Three-point shooting needs to be addressed by the front office

Dallas ranks dead last in three-point efficiency, making only 32.9% of their triple tries. Their two best players are under 30% (Luka 29%, KP 28%.)

It seems like every night, they’re getting crushed from behind the line, regardless of the opponent. It’s not a winning formula.

It’s been this way for 20 games now. It’s more than an early season trend, it’s a full-blown issue. And it will continue to be that way until the front office does something about it, either via trade or free agent acquisition.