Dallas reshaped nearly every part of its rotation this offseason, but a lack of guard depth leaves Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz with one clear issue to address.
DALLAS - The Mavericks finally have a finished roster. After Klay Thompson agreed to a buyout Friday, giving back roughly $9.8 million of his $17.5 million salary to help Dallas cut its losses before signing with Miami, the Mavericks are down to the standard 15 contracts.
With less than a month until training camp opens, this appears to be the group that will take the floor in Houston on Oct. 21.
However, Dallas should not consider the roster complete.
Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz spent the summer touching nearly every corner of this roster. They hired Dusty May after he won a national championship, drafted Morez Johnson Jr. in the first round, added stretch big Santi Aldama and pried former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher out of Atlanta for essentially nothing. Almost everything about this organization is new, from the front office to the coaching staff to the rotation, as Dallas fully transitions into the Cooper Flagg era. It was one of the most productive offseasons in the NBA, but it still left one position noticeably untouched. The Mavericks are thin at guard.
The backcourt currently consists of three players. Kyrie Irving returns from the ACL injury that cost him all of last season. Marcus Sasser arrives from Detroit as a defensive-minded combo guard, while Sergio de Larrea, the rookie out of Valencia, brings genuine playmaking ability but will be adjusting to the NBA. That is a thin group for an 82-game season, particularly one featuring a league-high 16 back-to-backs and a 34-year-old lead guard coming off major knee surgery.
Dusty May will find ways to cover the shortage. He can lean on Flagg as a primary ball handler and let Naji Marshall initiate from the forward spot, while positionless lineups are already part of how this roster was built. However, scheme only goes so far when the available bodies begin to run out.
Two names stand out among the potential options.
Scoot Henderson is the more accessible option. The Portland guard is stuck behind a crowded backcourt that now includes Ja Morant and a returning Damian Lillard, and he is entering the final year of his contract after the Blazers picked up his $13.59 million team option. Last season was the best of his career on a per-game basis, as he averaged 14.2 points, 3.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds while shooting 84% from the free-throw line. He also showed his ceiling in the postseason by scoring 31 points in a road win over San Antonio.
A change of scenery could benefit a player in his position, and Dallas could offer him a defined role behind Irving with a runway to prove himself. For a front office that has spent all summer buying low on young talent with pedigree, Henderson fits the pattern precisely.
The more ambitious target is Bennedict Mathurin. The Clippers restricted free agent averaged 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists last season, and he was even better after the trade to Los Angeles. He averaged 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in 28 minutes per game while making one start in 26 appearances. He can generate his own shot, a skill Dallas simply does not have outside of Irving, and he has been a meaningful contributor on deep playoff runs. He has also spent the offseason engaging with Mavericks trade posts on social media. That is not evidence of anything, but it does suggest that the interest could run in both directions. Adding a scorer of that caliber would raise the ceiling of this roster, although the price would be considerably higher than it would be for a depth move.
Ujiri has spent all offseason demonstrating that he can find value where other teams see problems. Dallas has one more piece of business to handle, and the smart time to address it is before the players report.
