MEMPHIS – It’s times like these when the Mavericks’ players and coaches tip their hat to the job general manager and president of basketball operations Nico
Harrison did this offseason in building the team’s roster with quality talent.
The Mavs have been ravaged by injuries to key players lately, meaning players not normally in the starting lineup – or not normally receiving quality minutes – have been forced to step in and admirably fill in the gap.
Current injuries to Kyrie Irving (right heel contusion), Grant Williams (right knee soreness), Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation) have put the Mavs in a situation where they’ve been overly dependent upon their depth to help them crawl out of a jam. Players who Harrison brought in over the offseason – including Seth Curry, Derrick Lively II, Derrick Jones Jr., Dante Exum, Richaun Holmes, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, A.J. Lawson, Dexter Dennis – have found themselves in the mix during critical moments of recent games.
“He’s done a great job,” Curry said, referring to Harrison. “There’s a lot of talent around the league and he’s done a good job of bringing guys that compliment the stars.”
The “stars” Curry are referring to include Mavs guards Luka Doncic and Irving, the latter who Harrison acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets last season, then re-signed to a three-year contract when he became a free agent over the summer.
“I think Nico’s done an incredible job of getting pieces that fit,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “You look at being able to have Exum on a minimum (contract), Jones on a minimum (contract).
“Guys are playing heavy minutes right now because of injuries. Also, those guys have been playing before the injuries.”
Curry likes the fact that the Mavs have a lot of interchangeable parts at their disposal, thanks to Harrison.
“We can play a lot of different ways,” Curry said. “We can play big, we can play smaller at times.
“Like I said, we have a lot of guys who are accomplishing good things for the league and have shown flashes throughout the year and throughout their career to what they can do, and they’re just waiting on opportunities. So, hopefully everybody is ready for that moment.”
Irving, Williams, Green and Kleber will all be sidelined when the Mavs (13-8) meet the Memphis Grizzlies (6-15) on Monday at 7 p.m. at FedEx Forum in a game shown nationally on NBA TV.
Playing without two of their starters – Irving and Williams – Lawson said: “That’s two big pieces right there. And it’s hard to make up for that. But that’s what teams are for.
“Guys got to step up and be ready for those type of moments. For us young guys, we have to keep being engaged in all the stuff so when we get in the
actual games we won’t mess up.”
Jones pointed to Exum, who scored a season-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shots during this past Friday’s 125-112 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. It was the second-highest scoring game of Exum’s career trailing only the 28 points he tallied against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 5, 2020 when he was with Cleveland.
“I keep telling him to s
hoot the ball,” said Jones. “I watch him work out every day, and we sometimes shoot together.
“Dante is a person just like me – he can shoot the ball. I want him to know that he needs to shoot the ball, and I believe that it’s going in.”
Kidd is thrilled that Jones is encouraging Exum to shoot the ball not long after Kidd had to encourage Jones to shoot the ball.
“It’s good coaching,” Kidd said after Sunday’s practice at the University of Memphis. “Players tend to listen to players.
“When you talk about when (Exum) was drafted (fifth overall by the Utah Jazz in 2014), he came into the league when he was 18. A lot of high expectations, injuries were a part of that (which) hurt him.
“(I like) just his work and playing in Europe (the past two seasons), and playing at a high level. I think once he’s been able to grasp what we want him to do, he’s been comfortable.”
Curry said the Mavs are positioned to withstand a lot of injuries in large part because the roster is dotted mostly with players who are accustomed to receiving quality minutes. And again, he gave a nod to Harrison.
“We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of things,” Curry said. “I haven’t really got the opportunity this year – my minutes have been up and down. I think everybody on the team has had their moments and have shown flashes of what they can do.
“Depending on how long Kyrie is out, guys got to be a little bit more consistent with their time, with their minutes and hopefully everybody else stays healthy. Stay ready, but then you’ve got to get in the game and you’ve got to find a way to get 
a rhythm and get used to playing with different guys on the floor. We’re pros, so everybody’s body are ready. It’s just a matter of being on the floor and getting that rhythm of going up and down.”
BRIEFLY: Mavs coach Jason Kidd said he watched some of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 123-109 win over the Indiana Pacers during Saturday’s inaugural in-season tournament championship game in Las Vegas. “It was great,” Kidd said. “I think the league has done an incredible job with the in-season tournament. I just think the excitement around it was really good.” Part of that excitement hinged on the fact that each player on the winning team received a whopping $500,000. For Mavs’ two-way player A.J. Lawson, that’s a lot of cash. “For the two-way guys that’s making a killing, that’s great,” said Lawson, who’ll earn $559,782 this season. “It’s just a little incentive for people to compete, and I love that. It’s another way to compete against each other and have some type of foundation to win.”
X: @DwainPrice
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