The recent Wright article in The Athletic prompted this post but I thought it deserved its own thread as this topic has been overlooked a bit...
It's not surprising that Wright would rather start. He's putting up elite advanced metrics across the board, but his usage is actually at a career low. While some may speculate this makes him expendable, I expect the Mavs to hold on to Wright and Carlisle will look to increase his usage over time, especially as the Mavs prepare for playoff basketball.
The playoffs are just different and teams will force the ball out of Doncic's hands. The Mavs need a secondary ball handler who can drive against hard close outs and make plays off the dribble. That is not THJ's game. THJ is at his best as an elite catch & shoot threat. But making plays off the dribble is Wright's game. The key question is how do you increase Wright's usage on a team with the most ball dominant guy in the league?
If you know anything about managing change in a business context you know there are only so many things you can do at once without causing organizational chaos. You need a vision of the future and a plan to get there, but you can't always leap from A to Z. You have to prioritize.
The clear priority one for this team is developing a playing style that works for both Luka and KP long term.
That obviously involves a lot of coaching attention applied to re-programming KP. This has been written about extensively. But we may also be seeing the next stage of the Mavs big picture plan and it may, eventually involve Wright. As far as I know, it's not being investigated.
Carlisle is on record saying he'd like to see more balance in the line up and JET recently spoke in the post game about Doncic wearing down.
Step two of the team's development may involve wrestling the ball away from Doncic a bit. At this stage, JJ Barea may be the only player on the Mavs roster who can do it, simply because there is a level of respect there. On Barea's recent addition to the starting lineup "It was an adjustment to get JJ's playmaking into the game, get Luka off the ball a little bit more to start," Carlisle explained. Barea is fearless and will demand the ball. He even had the cojones to waive off Doncic at one point vs the Hornets.
But JJB isn't the long term answer. Wright has the skillset and he's being paid like a starter. Big picture, you can envision Wright stepping into the role when the Mavs need more playmaking on the floor in the playoffs.
Cuban points out “our first call literally was Delon Wright, because we wanted somebody that could defend next to Luka and most of our guys, particularly our ones, twos were walk-it-up guys. Delon's a downhill guy who can defend multiple positions. We'll work with him some on his shot, but he's a great finisher, he can get to the rim, he'll make the play, he helps make his teammates better, and that's what we were looking for. Because trying to get Luka to guard point guards is not going to work. With Jalen Brunson, he did a great job as a rookie and he'll get better, but his strength still, he's still learning to stay in front of guys. Delon is there. Delon's a passer, a creator, but now 6-foot-5 will be our smallest guy in the starting lineup. That changes who we are."
Carlisle has recently tweaked Doncic's minutes; and this combined with lowering Doncic's early usage go hand in hand. "He's been playing too many long stretches of minutes and it's really been compromising him late in games," Carlisle said. In other words, the rotation may be changed going forward.
So how might the new rotation look when THJ and KP return? Clearly both players will start. Does Carlisle lower Doncic's early usage by starting a playmaker next to him -- JJB for now and maybe Wright in the future -- thereby sending DFS or Powell to the bench? Or does Carlisle go back to the lineup that worked so well early on, and ride Doncic hard from the tip?
Regardless, it's clear what Wright prefers. "I definitely prefer that role (starting in Memphis). Just knowing that I’m going to be the ball handler and controlling everything, that was pretty much what I expect out of my career, to be in that kind of role. But we weren’t winning, a lot of people were hurt. I was really able to have more of a load. But here, we’re winning now, we have good players. We have Luka. He’s the primary ball handler, he’s the leading (All-Star) vote getter, so you really can’t complain too much. We’re a winning team, we’re in a winning situation."
It's not surprising that Wright would rather start. He's putting up elite advanced metrics across the board, but his usage is actually at a career low. While some may speculate this makes him expendable, I expect the Mavs to hold on to Wright and Carlisle will look to increase his usage over time, especially as the Mavs prepare for playoff basketball.
The playoffs are just different and teams will force the ball out of Doncic's hands. The Mavs need a secondary ball handler who can drive against hard close outs and make plays off the dribble. That is not THJ's game. THJ is at his best as an elite catch & shoot threat. But making plays off the dribble is Wright's game. The key question is how do you increase Wright's usage on a team with the most ball dominant guy in the league?
If you know anything about managing change in a business context you know there are only so many things you can do at once without causing organizational chaos. You need a vision of the future and a plan to get there, but you can't always leap from A to Z. You have to prioritize.
The clear priority one for this team is developing a playing style that works for both Luka and KP long term.
That obviously involves a lot of coaching attention applied to re-programming KP. This has been written about extensively. But we may also be seeing the next stage of the Mavs big picture plan and it may, eventually involve Wright. As far as I know, it's not being investigated.
Carlisle is on record saying he'd like to see more balance in the line up and JET recently spoke in the post game about Doncic wearing down.
Step two of the team's development may involve wrestling the ball away from Doncic a bit. At this stage, JJ Barea may be the only player on the Mavs roster who can do it, simply because there is a level of respect there. On Barea's recent addition to the starting lineup "It was an adjustment to get JJ's playmaking into the game, get Luka off the ball a little bit more to start," Carlisle explained. Barea is fearless and will demand the ball. He even had the cojones to waive off Doncic at one point vs the Hornets.
But JJB isn't the long term answer. Wright has the skillset and he's being paid like a starter. Big picture, you can envision Wright stepping into the role when the Mavs need more playmaking on the floor in the playoffs.
Cuban points out “our first call literally was Delon Wright, because we wanted somebody that could defend next to Luka and most of our guys, particularly our ones, twos were walk-it-up guys. Delon's a downhill guy who can defend multiple positions. We'll work with him some on his shot, but he's a great finisher, he can get to the rim, he'll make the play, he helps make his teammates better, and that's what we were looking for. Because trying to get Luka to guard point guards is not going to work. With Jalen Brunson, he did a great job as a rookie and he'll get better, but his strength still, he's still learning to stay in front of guys. Delon is there. Delon's a passer, a creator, but now 6-foot-5 will be our smallest guy in the starting lineup. That changes who we are."
Carlisle has recently tweaked Doncic's minutes; and this combined with lowering Doncic's early usage go hand in hand. "He's been playing too many long stretches of minutes and it's really been compromising him late in games," Carlisle said. In other words, the rotation may be changed going forward.
So how might the new rotation look when THJ and KP return? Clearly both players will start. Does Carlisle lower Doncic's early usage by starting a playmaker next to him -- JJB for now and maybe Wright in the future -- thereby sending DFS or Powell to the bench? Or does Carlisle go back to the lineup that worked so well early on, and ride Doncic hard from the tip?
Regardless, it's clear what Wright prefers. "I definitely prefer that role (starting in Memphis). Just knowing that I’m going to be the ball handler and controlling everything, that was pretty much what I expect out of my career, to be in that kind of role. But we weren’t winning, a lot of people were hurt. I was really able to have more of a load. But here, we’re winning now, we have good players. We have Luka. He’s the primary ball handler, he’s the leading (All-Star) vote getter, so you really can’t complain too much. We’re a winning team, we’re in a winning situation."