For most of the last several seasons, the Mavericks have had a bench built to pop. Dallas could lean on a reserve scorer who came in hot, hunted shots, and changed the temperature of a second unit in a few minutes. That formula helped the Mavericks stay in the top half of the league in bench points over the last five years, finishing 12th or better every time.
This season looks a lot less forgiving.
The Mavericks do not appear to have that usual microwave scorer waiting to bail out the second unit, and that reality puts more weight on Naji Marshall than Dallas may have planned. If the bench is going to produce, Marshall may be the one asked to bend games offensively.
That’s a different setup from the one Dallas has leaned on before. In recent seasons, the Mavericks have had players like Christian Wood, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jaden Hardy, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Brandon Williams to provide instant offense.
They weren’t the same kind of weapon, but they all brought something that could spark a short run. Hardaway Jr. could rain threes.
Williams could turn the floor into a sprint. That kind of burst let Dallas survive stretches when Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, or Cooper Flagg sat down.
The current bench doesn’t look built that way. Marcus Sasser has never averaged more than 7.2 field goals per game and has not topped a 20.0 percent usage rate.
Zaccharie Risacher has spent his first two seasons more as a complementary piece. And the bigs - Santi Aldama, Daniel Gafford or possibly Dereck Lively II, plus rookie Morez Johnson Jr. - are not natural creators.
That’s where Marshall comes in.
His game fits the job description better than almost anyone else on the roster. Over the last few seasons in Dallas, he has handled the ball as a jumbo playmaker, gotten into the paint, and worked the mid-range. Those traits make him a natural candidate to take on more of the burden when the Mavericks need someone to steady the offense and still score.
Even so, Marshall has not exactly lived as a high-volume scorer. His career-high usage rate came in his second season with New Orleans, when he posted a 20.8 percent usage rate, which sits right around league average. In his two seasons with Dallas, he has been at 20.0 and 20.5, while averaging 10.7 field goal attempts in 28.7 minutes.
So this is less about discovering a new version of Marshall than asking for more of what he already does. He has been more of a connector and opportunistic scorer than a player who grabs the game by the throat in a few possessions. But Dallas may need him to do exactly that.
The roster leaves little room for another answer. The Mavericks are long, rangy, and athletic, but they do not have many on-ball scorers.
When Flagg and Irving rest, someone has to initiate and score. Marshall looks like the obvious choice, and the pressure on him is only going to grow.
In Other News...
Rockets Trade Buzz Is Suddenly Raising Bigger Core Questions
The conversation around Kyrie Irving keeps circling back to Dallas, even as the offseason gives way to the next layer of roster speculation. For the Mavericks, the point is not just whether Irving stays in place, but how the market views him over the next several months and whether any outside interest can be weighed against what Dallas wants to get out of the season first.
Houston has become part of that chatter, though the Rockets have bigger internal priorities of their own after locking up Amen Thompson on a five-year extension. The more intriguing question there is how the team evaluates its young core if the season does not unfold as planned, with Alperen Sengun the name most likely to enter the trade discussion down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Minutes Battle Is Heating Up Around Cooper Flagg
Dallas spent the offseason remaking its roster, and the result is a camp that suddenly looks crowded in all the right places. With Dusty May taking over and plenty of new faces mixing with returning pieces, the Mavericks are set to spend time sorting out combinations around Cooper Flagg while also giving younger players a real chance to push into the rotation. Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio De Larrea are among the rookies trying to carve out playing time, which should make the early stretch of the season feel more like an open tryout than a finished product.
For Dallas, the intrigue goes beyond just who starts and who comes off the bench. The roster has enough moving parts that every practice and preseason lineup choice could carry some weight, especially with the front office still facing decisions on contracts and long-term flexibility. The bigger question now is how quickly May can settle the minutes battle without shortchanging the development of a group that is still taking shape around Flagg. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Let One Guard Decision Turn Into A Real Depth Problem
Brandon Williams found his next landing spot, and it comes with a little more security than most late-summer deals. The guard signed a one-year contract with the Warriors, giving him a chance to build on the career season he just turned in while trying to carve out a place on a crowded roster in Golden State.
For Dallas, the move is another reminder of how quickly backcourt depth can get thin when a familiar name walks out the door. The Mavericks did have some interest in bringing Williams back after his best year, but they ultimately passed, leaving them to live with the tradeoff of keeping flexibility while watching a useful guard land elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]