MAVS NEWS:

[mvossman]

(@GrantAfseth)
The Dallas Mavericks have a 31-12 (.721) regular season record all-time when P.J. Washington plays.

This season, the Mavericks are 10-4 (.714) when he plays compared to 1-4 (.200) without him.



I think Scott was so on point when he brought up PJ's absence as a primary reason why the Mavs looked so terrible. Makes me think if I was Nico, I'd be doing everything I can to get a proper PJ backup that can do the things he can do just in case. Is OMax that? Can Maxi still do that? Seems to be our biggest weakness there.

I think a lot of our troubles with him out this season was because Lively and Maxi were also out.  Its tough to win games when most of your frontcourt is injured and your star player is struggling.

I think Naji is the closest we have to PJ.  They have a lot of similarities but Naji does not have the defensive interior presence that PJ does.  For that the only option I see right now is Maxi (when healthy). 

I don't see Omax playing a significant role this season.  We are almost 20 games into the season with multiple injuries at his position, and he has yet to record a 3 pointer or a block this season.  Now that everybody is healthy, I think he would be better served playing in the G league for another year.