OK, so the Kristaps Porzingis project didn’t work.
It wasn’t for lack of trying.
The 7-3, multi-talented Porzingis was very good for the Mavericks in stretches.
The problem was that those stretches weren’t long enough. The injuries, nagging and otherwise, were enough to keep Porzingis from becoming the No. 2 to Luka Dončić that the organization hoped he could be.
The scouts around the league that said early this season that the Mavericks still were looking for a lieutenant for General Dončić were right.
But then Jason Kidd hit on a strong point about how the Mavericks of 2011 were built, and how this team may be cut from the same cloth.
“There is no second star, just guys who play roles at a very high level,” Kidd said. “We had one superstar (in 2011) and the rest were burgers. We all accepted that. We knew our roles. We were burgers.”
Burger, of course, was the code name Dirk Nowitzki gave to anybody who was a bit player. As in, he could be eaten up. But Nowitzki knew he was a burger on defense and he knew he needed help.
And he had better burgers than most, which should never be underestimated.
So here’s what the Mavericks now have: a potentially great burger in Spencer Dinwiddie.
Fans may not remember, but the 6-5 swingman averaged 20.8 points and 6.8 assists in the COVID-19-wracked season of 2019-20. He was on the cusp of stardom before wrecking his right knee three games into the following season. The Nets had signed him for two seasons and $22-million.
His promise was such that the Wizards signed him for three years and three years and $54-million before this season.
The question now is whether he can get back to the level he was at before the partially torn ACL sidelined him early last season.
Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, the other player coming to the Mavericks, have both struggled this season. They have been strong contributors in recent seasons.
But not this season.
So what can Mavericks fans expect?
Well, Dinwiddie is not a shooter. Bertans is.
Dinwiddie, who grew up in Los Angeles and went to college at Colorado, is a career 40.7 percent shooter. He’s under 32 percent for his career from 3-point range. But then again, that’s not far off from Luka Dončić’s career mark.
You don’t have to light it up at 40 percent from distance to be effective.
What Dinwiddie does is create offensively for himself and everybody else. And that’s the hope for what the Mavericks are getting as he continues to rehab from the knee injury.
His best year should be coming up.
As for Bertans, he is a career 40 percent shooter from 3-point range. That would indicate that his 31.9 percent clip this season is an aberration. He’s never been below 37 percent in his other five seasons.
And, if you believe in pedigree, Gregg Popovich got his career started in San Antonio, so there’s that.
And, if you put stock in such things, Bertans’ 40-percent career mark from 3-point range is far above Porzingis’ 35.3 percent.
And Bertans has shot about 400 more of them in his career.
So the numbers suggest this is a risky trade. The Wizards may get the healthiest stretch of Porzingis’ career and reap the benefits.
Maybe the Mavericks get the Dinwiddie of years past. And the Bertans of previous seasons.
But no matter what, the Mavericks know that on that rare occasion, you can do great things with one superstar.
And a bunch of burgers.
GM’s view: Nico Harrison is doing all this for the first time. He’s no stranger to high-stakes dealings, but when it comes to trade-deadline dealings, he’s a newbie.
Now, he has some skin on the wall, be it good or not so good.
So what’s his thought on the Mavericks as currently constructed?
“I think we’re good enough to compete,” the president of basketball operations and general manager said. “I don’t think we’re scared of anybody. It remans to be seen. I also think we have room for improvement. But I do like the team.”
Payday for Finney-Smith: Dorian Finney-Smith was set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, but the Mavericks have been in negotiation to set him up with a four-year extension, which appears to be agreed upon, according to multiple reports.
Said Finney-Smith: “I’m excited to be here. Been here my whole career, so I kind of feel like Dallas is my second home. So I feel like I needed to be done. I’m just happy it’s over, really.
“My family is here. My kids are here. They love the school. I love it here. I love the organization. So I’m happy to get it done.”
The deal will not be official until Finney-Smith signs it, but that is expected now to be a formality.
“I think it would be great for Dorian and his family to be able to have a deal,” Kidd said. “He means a lot to us. Hopefully, he does sign that deal at some point. He’s a major piece to our team. He does everything. And he doesn’t complain. He just goes out and does his job on a nightly basis.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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