The acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis, “the Unicorn,” is going to steal most of the spotlight’s shine, but don’t forget about the other three players Dallas acquired in its blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks: Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, and Trey Burke. Each player can give the Mavs the scoring boost they need heading down the homestretch of the season.
But enough generalities, already. Who exactly are these guys? What do they do? Let’s break them down, one by one.
Porzingis is one of the most talented big men to enter the NBA in recent seasons. At the time he tore his ACL last season, he had been averaging 22.7 points per game for a Knicks team that was hovering near-.500 for most of the campaign, and he earned his first All-Star nod because of it. He hasn’t appeared this season due to rehab and recovery, so stay tuned for updates on his progress, likely to come at some point in the next few days.
The first thing that stands out about him, and which stood out about his game in New York specifically, is his combination of extraordinary size and shooting stroke. At 7-foot-3, Porzingis is the tallest player in the NBA, and he shot 39.5 percent from beyond the arc last season and has converted on 36.1 percent of those looks in his career. During his three seasons with the Knicks, though, fewer than 30 percent of his total shots came from deep. Instead, he was used more as a post man in the mid-range or on the block.
The Mavs’ offense this season has used traditional post-ups and isolations much less often than in the recent past, but one thing Dallas will still do is attack size mismatches, and that’s one place Porzingis and his tall 7-foot-3 frame thrived in New York. In the 2017-18 season, per Synergy, the Latvian big man scored 1.017 points per possession in the post following a switch, a number which compared to other All-Stars like LaMarcus Aldridge, Joel Embiid, and even Anthony Davis. Switch-heavy defenses are all the rage these days, and Porzingis can simply overwhelm smaller players, particularly guards, if he can seal them off and get a clean look away.
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And even if a smaller defender does get a contest in, he is simply so tall (and so good) that it rarely makes much of a difference.
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This ability could prove to be particularly valuable when paired with Luka Doncic in the pick-and-roll, who’s usually defended by long, rangy wings that Porzingis could potentially get the better of down low should they switch. The best-case scenario, of course, is that he puts them in foul trouble, rendering the opponent’s primary Doncic stopper helpless on the bench rather than involved in the action. Meanwhile, a switch would also force a taller player onto Doncic, and the Slovenian has shown he can get around the big guys already.
Higher up the relevancy meter in Dallas, though, will be how he can play in the pick-and-roll. Porzingis did not roll to the rim very often in New York last season, instead preferring to pop. And, hey, that’s OK. Dallas has plenty of quality roll men remaining on the roster, namely Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber, for Doncic to play with. Besides, Porzingis is so good at the pick-and-pop that to roll is probably the lesser play. Last season per Synergy, of the 21 players who picked, popped, and then took a spot-up jumper at least 50 times, Porzingis ranked second in points per possession at 1.259 — better than players like Towns, Marc Gasol, and yes, even Dirk Nowitzki.
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Porizingis primarily played power forward in New York, and it will be interesting to see what he plays in Dallas. The Mavs have the flexibility to play Porzingis and Harrison Barnes together in the frontcourt and play pure 5-out small ball, or they could slide Powell or Kleber into the lineup alongside him to give more size to the starting lineup and create a natural size advantage for the Latvian at the 4. Kleber gives the best of both worlds, with the ability to both defend the rim and switch on defense, while shooting the 3 and perhaps even rolling on offense. But here’s where you run into the most intriguing stat of them all: Last season, per NBA Stats, opponents shot just 49.2 percent at the rim against Porzingis on more than five attempts per game. That mark led the entire NBA among the 90 players who defended at least three attempts per contest and played at least half the season. He is a fearsome rim protector, capable of disrupting entire offenses with his imposing presence. So if you do indeed pair him with Kleber, the Mavericks will have one of the better rim-protection duos in the NBA, statistically speaking.
Much of his integration into the offense (and defense, for that matter) in the immediate future depends, of course, on how Porzingis recovers from the injury and how he and the Mavs handle that timeline. Regardless, he is the type of player that you can put on the floor in so many different situations and he can get you a bucket. That guy is good.
Hardaway’s offensive game looks different this season under new Knicks head coach David Fizdale than it did last year. This season, the sixth-year pro has done quite a bit of ball-handling in the pick-and-roll, accounting for nearly 30 percent of his offensive possessions, per Synergy. He’s been incredible at scoring in those situations, as well, ranking ninth in scoring efficiency out of 51 players (1.004 points per possession) who have used at least 200 possessions as the P&R ball-handler. He finds himself ahead of names like Durant, Curry, Walker, and Beal on that list.
His success comes from his incredible ability to pull up off the dribble. This season, Hardaway has scored more efficiently on off-the-bounce jumpers than James Harden, Devin Booker, and Kyrie Irving, per Synergy, just to name a few.
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What’s most impressive about his numbers is that he’s been capable of scoring that well in the pick-and-roll despite largely partnering with players who don’t necessarily create a whole lot of gravity on their own. Imagine the extra acreage he could be working with if he’s coming off a Dirk Nowitzki screen, or even one by Porzingis. It isn’t yet clear whether Hardaway will be starting or coming off the bench, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a little more blending of those two units anyway for the remainder of the season, given the roster shakeup via trade.
Either way, Hardaway introduces another element of playmaking on the wing which Dallas has needed all season long. He’s probably not going to average five or six assists per game or anything like that, but he can certainly turn a ball screen into a favorable shot, and it will be interesting to see how defenses cover him when he’s coming off a screen set by a more established jump-shooting big man. When he can pull up from anywhere on the floor, you can’t really afford to leave him open.
And, for what it’s worth, his spot-up shooting numbers haven’t been terrific this season, but they were outstanding in 2017 while he was playing in Atlanta. That season, of the 83 players who took at least 200 spot-up jumpers, Hardaway ranked 19th in scoring efficiency. When the ball is flying all over the place, as it tends to do with this Mavericks team (especially on the second unit) Hardaway can absolutely find an open space and drain a 3.
Courtney Lee hasn’t shot below 37 percent from beyond the arc in a full season since 2010. If you’re looking for consistent, strong 3-point shooting, he’s your guy. At 6-foot-5 and the ability to defend on the wing, he’s the type of player you love to see partnered with Luka Doncic. Lee can feast off the small cracks in the defense created by the Mavericks’ meticulously designed pick-and-rolls and bury jumpers if the opponent fails to rotate his way in time.
Most recently, last season he did a fair amount of ball-handling within the Knicks’ offense, and he actually enjoyed one of the more efficient seasons of his career with a 52.9 effective field goal percentage. The previous season, however, is likely a better indication of how Lee will look within the Mavs’ offense. That year, playing alongside Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony, nearly 30 percent of his offensive possessions came as a spot-up shooter, though I would expect his volume of 3-point attempts to be much higher in Dallas than it was that season, when the Knicks ranked near the top of the league in mid-range attempts.
In Lee, the Mavericks have acquired a player with 50 career playoff appearances, including a trip to the Finals during his rookie season in 2009. In 2015, he averaged 13.3 points per game on 55.0 percent shooting in 11 postseason appearances for Memphis. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s been a consistent, reliable shooter and a solid team defender, exactly the type of player that every good team needs.
Following this trade, the Mavericks’ stable of wings is as follows: Doncic, Barnes, Hardaway, Lee, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Ryan Broekhoff. All six can shoot the 3, which is important. More importantly, though, Dallas now has more quality length on the perimeter than has been on the roster in many years. Add in Devin Harris and Maxi Kleber, who aren’t traditional wings by height but can both defend multiple positions on the perimeter, and suddenly the Mavs have one of the more versatile rosters in the league.
And if you want to feel inspired, watch how hard he worked against Joe Johnson and Dwyane Wade in the 2016 playoffs. (Defense can be fun, too!)
Remember the Hardaway pick-and-roll ball-handler stat from earlier? Well, one of the eight players who have scored more efficiently in the pick-and-roll this season than him (on 200+ possessions) is Trey Burke, his former college teammate. This season, Burke has scored 1.019 points per possession in those situations, tied with Kawhi Leonard for seventh-best in the NBA, per Synergy.
Burke has averaged more than 20 points per 36 minutes each of the last two seasons coming off the bench for the Knicks. Last season he split time between the big club and the team’s G League affiliate, where he averaged a whopping 26.6 points and 5.3 assists per game. A former lottery pick, Burke is showing this season why he was drafted so high as a 20-year-old coming out of Ann Arbor.
Now, at 26, his game is growing more and more polished. He’s got so much more game than merely the ability to pull up for a jump shot in space. He can play fast.
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And he can play slow and patiently, too.
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The Mavs have had plenty of success over the years with small, quick, and shifty guards. With J.J. Barea on hand to possibly lend some of his wisdom to Burke, he could very well be a strong pilot to guide the second unit throughout the rest of this season. Since Barea’s injury, the Mavs have had a need for playmaking from the point guard position. Doncic and Jalen Brunson have both given them plenty of it, but teams will always use as much as they can get.
I’m very curious to see how the new rotation shakes out. Things will probably be in flux for a while, as head coach Rick Carlisle is known to tinker with things until he finds a good balance. Hardaway and Lee have both proven to be starter-caliber players, and Burke has shown he’s one of the better bench scorers in the league. Perhaps that’s exactly how it’ll be in Dallas. Or they could go a different route, especially if Porzingis is able to play soon. We’ll just have to wait and see. Regardless, Dallas added four quality players — at a premium cost, via trade — and has now built a roster around two superior young European players. The future is bright, and now all we have to do is wait to see the present.
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