West Power Rankings: Did Mavs Crack Top 5?
Last month, The Athletic released their Top-Tier Team Rankings. The Dallas Mavericks ranked in Tier 3, which was above teams in the play-in and below teams on the verge of a championship.
Now, NBA.com has joined in, as they've listed their offseason power rankings for the Western Conference, and the Mavs might not rank as high as you'd think.
This offseason, the Mavs significantly upgraded their frontcourt by trading for Christian Wood and signing JaVale McGee. Dallas also made a nice move in the draft by selecting Jaden Hardy, who was the 19th prospect on its board, with the No. 33 pick.
However, they lost a key component of their offense in Jalen Brunson. Assuming Dallas doesn't make any other moves, are their acquisitions enough to repeat their deep playoff run from last season? NBA writer John Schuhmann doesn't seem to think so, according to his recent West Power Rankings, where Dallas falls just short of the top five.
"The Mavs took only 43 percent of their shots in the paint, the league's lowest rate," wrote Schuhmann. "And their field goal percentage on shots outside the paint was below the league average."
The rankings were based on four categories: possessions per 48 minutes, point differential per 100 possessions, and points scored/allowed per 100 possessions. Dallas topped the latter. Against the league's top ten offenses, the Mavs allowed 109 points per 100 possessions.
Part of their rating at No. 6 is due to the loss of Brunson. Last season, he was the Mavs' second-leading scorer in paint points. With Brunson and Luka Doncic sharing the floor for 1,691 minutes, the Mavs averaged 115 points per 100 possessions. However, with Doncic alone, the team averaged 109 points per 100 possession. Despite still having a need for secondary playmaking, the Mavs will rely on their new additions to replace Brunson's scoring at the very least.
Last season for the Houston Rockets, Wood averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 39.7 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s. McGee, who is an excellent pick-and-roll man, averaged nine points and seven rebounds for the Phoenix Suns while shooting 63 percent from the field.
The Mavs started fourth in these same rankings last year, which is exactly where they ended up when the Western Conference dust settled. Dallas hopes it can out-perform this year's projections.
