The Mavericks spent last season getting burned on the perimeter, and the problem showed up everywhere. Dallas’ guards were under siege defensively, and the team’s shortage of true stoppers on the outside was one of the reasons it dropped 56 games.
That issue still hasn’t been solved by a trade or signing, but the answer might already be in the building. Recent No. 56 overall pick Vsevolod Ishchenko arrived in Dallas after being dealt from the Los Angeles Lakers for practically nothing on draft night, and he made a strong case in Summer League that he deserves a real look.
In Las Vegas, Ishchenko’s toughness, physicality, and grit stood out right away. He measures 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot wingspan, and he used that frame well when defending on the ball. He showed quick feet and real edge at the point of attack, whether he was checking smaller guards or taking on No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer from the Memphis Grizzlies.
For now, Ishchenko still hasn’t signed a contract with the Mavericks. Even so, the way he played in Summer League makes it hard to imagine Dallas leaving him out of the conversation when training camp opens. The final roster spots and two-way spots can still shift, and he’s done enough to at least earn that invitation.
A path to rotation minutes is still not simple. Dallas has plenty of wing bodies already, so it may take injuries, trades, or some underwhelming play from others before Ishchenko gets a real crack at the rotation. But he has already shown the kind of defense and competitiveness that can keep a player on the floor, and those traits matter even more when a team is hunting for help at the point of attack.
Right now, Dallas’ top perimeter defenders are Max Christie and Caleb Martin. Martin, though, had trouble staying on the court last season because of injuries and offensive inconsistency. That leaves a clear opening for someone who can bring resistance on the perimeter without needing the ball to do much.
Ishchenko still has work to do offensively. That part of his game is not finished, but it did improve as Summer League went along.
His shooting and playmaking both ticked up from game to game, and he finished at 40 percent from beyond the arc over five games in Las Vegas. That number won’t mean much unless it carries over, but if it does, Dallas may have found more than just a defensive specialist.
The Mavericks have not done much yet this summer to fix one of their biggest weak spots, which puts even more pressure on a late second-round pick to keep proving himself. Ishchenko is not on a guaranteed deal, and he’ll have to earn every step under Dusty May and company.
Still, his willingness to keep impacting the game even when the shot isn’t falling has already gotten Mavericks fans talking online. He went from a name most people barely knew on draft night to a prospect with real buzz in Dallas circles, and now the question is whether that Summer League momentum can follow him into the next level.
In Other News...
Lakers Trade Idea Would Put Mavericks In The Middle Of Luka Drama
The Lakers offseason has already taken a sharp turn after LeBron James told the team he will not be back next season, and their roster rework is starting to show it. Los Angeles has already landed Walker Kessler from Utah in a deal built around future draft picks, a sign the front office is moving quickly to reset the depth chart and keep the conversation centered on Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
One of the more intriguing possibilities now floating around would drag the Mavericks into the middle of it. The framework being discussed would send Bronny James, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia and a 2032 pick swap to Dallas, with PJ Washington as the kind of player Los Angeles could target in return. For the Mavericks, it is the sort of proposal that instantly becomes more than a roster note, because any move involving Washington and the Lakers would inevitably reopen the Luka storyline from a very different angle. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Trade Fallout May Have Just Created Another Mavericks Gut Punch
What Dallas gave up in the Luka Doni trade in February still has ripple effects around the league, and the latest one landed in Los Angeles. The Lakers just went out and got Walker Kessler from Utah in a sign-and-trade, a move that cost them multiple future first-round picks and drew the kind of scrutiny that comes with any aggressive center swing. But around the league, part of the logic was simple enough: once a team has already landed Doni without surrendering the kind of draft capital it might normally take, it can feel a little more comfortable paying up elsewhere.
For the Mavericks, that is the uncomfortable part of the fallout. Donis new setting in Los Angeles is already shaping how the Lakers think about their roster, and Kessler is the latest player whose value is being viewed through that lens. The idea is straightforward: a playmaker like Doni can make a rim-running center look cleaner in the pick-and-roll and help cover some of the same areas Kessler already brings on the glass and at the rim. Dallas does not get a say in any of that, but it is still paying the price in a league where one blockbuster can keep changing the market long after it is made. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Rumor Puts Mavericks In Another Uncomfortable Spotlight
The Lakers pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga has run into the sort of sign-and-trade complications that can send a front office back to the board, and P.J. Washington has surfaced as a possible fallback if that path closes off. For Dallas, it is another reminder that one of its most useful frontcourt pieces is drawing attention from a team that has already done business with the Mavericks in a way the fan base has not forgotten.
Washingtons contract has been viewed around the league as a tricky one to move, even as his size and two-way versatility make him the kind of player contenders keep circling. The question for the Mavericks is not just whether the Lakers are serious, but whether ownership would want to enter another major conversation with Los Angeles so soon after the shock of the Luka Doncic deal. [Read more 🡒]