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Saturday 25 January 2020 19:37, UK
The Mavericks’ acquisition of Willie Cauley-Stein won’t fill the void left by injured defensive linchpin Dwight Powell. The onus is now on their second star Kristaps Porzingis to step up.
It seems as though everyone ruptures their Achilles tendon these days. The new en vogue injury in the NBA today has claimed all of Kevin Durant, Rodney Hood and DeMarcus Cousins in the last couple of years alone, along with Kobe Bryant, Wesley Matthews, Rudy Gay, Anderson Varejao, Brandon Jennings, Elton Brand, Mehmet Okur, Voshon Leonard and Chauncey Billups in recent history. And for basketball players who rely upon mobility and jumping ability, it is a serious injury.
You can come back from anything these days, near enough. Yet the fact that it is not a career-ending injury does not change the fact that it is invariably a season-ender. And so when Dallas Mavericks starting centre Dwight Powell suffered his own Achilles tear this week, the Mavericks, a playoff team this year and an upstart outside contender for the Western Conference title, suddenly had a big hole to fill. Powell had become a very important player to them.
When the Mavericks first acquired Powell all the way back in December of 2014, it was not even really him they were acquiring. Picked up as an ancillary piece in the trade with the Boston Celtics for Rajon Rondo in exchange for the then-useful Brandan Wright, the still-useful Jae Crowder, the formerly-useful Jameer Nelson, a first-round pick and a second-round pick, Rondo was supposed to be the meat of that deal. But that side of proceedings did not work out, and Powell went on to be the key returnee, consistently improving in his time as a Maverick.
After a difficult beginning in his time with Dallas when he missed a lot of elbow jump shots and rushed things on both ends of the court, Powell continuously developed over those five years to become one of the NBA's more underrated role players. His excellence in the pick-and-roll, especially when playing a two-man game with veteran guard (and former ruptured Achilles sufferer himself) JJ Barea, combined with a good rebounding rate and high defensive energy has made him hitherto an important energetic reserve big, and this year, a starter as well.
Indeed, you could argue that over the last couple of seasons, Powell has been one of the best low-key role players in the NBA. He will be noticeable by his absence, in part because of a dearth of options to replace him.
With the retirement of Dirk Nowitzki, the departure of Salah Mejri and the tenure of DeAndre Jordan being all too brief, the Mavericks were relying upon Powell heavily at centre this season as they, like everyone else, updated to the new modern way of thinking about the five spot. Defensive mobility is now more greatly prioritised over defensive immobility and purely rim-protection among centres, and although Powell would give up strength in many match-ups and still has not yet developed the floor-stretching part of this contemporary orthodoxy himself, his ability to get open on dives and cuts alongside a playmaker such as Luka Doncic was a big part of why the Mavericks have the best offense in the NBA this season, as well as one of the best of all time.
To be sure, the Mavericks did bring in Boban Marjanovic this past summer, one of the largest humans in the world. He's good, too, a player with soft hands and softer touch who is always a passing option over the top for a hook shot or short lay-up, and who also has added some jump shot range to that. Give him touches and he will give you plenty of points, and his sheer size in the lane also means he forever has a good rebounding rate as well. In the absence of Powell, then, Marjanovic's role and importance will increase somewhat for the remainder of the season.
However, they cannot increase too much, because Marjanovic is never going to succeed in certain match-ups. No one but Tacko Fall of the Boston Celtics is bigger than him, but everyone including Tacko Fall is quicker laterally, and in not being able to step up to the perimeter at all, Boban is forever exploitable in the pick-and-roll. The Mavericks therefore need a centre who can cover multiple areas of the court on defence while also holding their own offensively. And although Maxi Kleber is the on the roster and fit for purpose, he will need some help.
To this end, Dallas has made two trades. The first saw them acquire Justin Patton from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Isaiah Roby, a rookie stretch four whom they had not found playing time for and were not likely to do so going forwards and who has spent much of the season down in the G-League. So too though has Patton, a former NBA first-round pick who has barely taken the court thus far in his three professional seasons due partly to injuries, but also his unremarkable play. While he theoretically would fit the role of the defensively-versatile centre with some projectable face-up offensive tools, it has yet to become a regular reality. And as it turns out, Dallas kept Patton for no more than a day after they made a second trade, giving up a second-round pick to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Willie Cauley-Stein.
This, potentially, is a bounty. Cauley-Stein's career has fallen by the wayside over the past couple of seasons, to the point that he is now being traded for a low-value second rounder (the pick is not even Dallas', it is from the Utah Jazz, who have one of the best records in the NBA and thus one of the worst draft picks) after signing only a minimum salary contract with the Warriors in the first place. Considering he was a sixth overall pick only four and a half years ago, and a once highly valued defensive prospect who could track guards and protect the rim while standing seven-feet tall, his lack of development as an NBA player over the course of his career has seen his once bright star burn out.
Cauley-Stein has developed, to be sure, but on the wrong end. He entered the league as a minimal offensive player, but all his development and effort have come on that end in the NBA, and although he has developed as a finisher, roll man, offensive rebounder, transition player and aggressor, the defensive potential for which he was once revered has never come to pass. And to a large extent, that has been due to his effort level. Hugely prone to dropping his hands, Cauley-Stein has always wanted to develop and impress as an offensive player, but has never bought in on the defensive end at the NBA level like he did back in Kentucky. and as a result, he has not been an above-average NBA defender.
These things improved in his short time with Golden State, but only slightly. And so although he can score on the roll not unlike Powell, Cauley-Stein is a defensive and rebounding downgrade. Certainly, his acquisition is a good patch-up job, and for a nominal fee - Dallas did not even have to give Golden State their own second-round pick back - but not a player who has ever proven himself capable of being a big-minute recipient on a good team, nor looked likely to be.
With that in mind, then, the key to Dallas maintaining a competitive level of play at the centre spot without Powell will be the play of Kristaps Porzingis.
It is true that Porzingis, the regular starting power forward, is the one who needs flanking. It is also true that he has not been at his sharpest or most consistent in his return from a year and a half missed due to injury. While productive if streaky as a scorer and retaining the shot-blocking ability he always had, Porzingis has always been a below-average rebounder and neither a player built to handle the physical challenges around the basket, nor the mindset to do so, instead better suited to the four spot despite his tremendous height.
That said, that height and shot-blocking ability does give Dallas the potential to play some intriguing small ball line-ups. Units with Porzingis at the five and, say, Dorian Finney-Smith at the power forward position could run opponents off the court and add a new wrinkle to an offense that is already the league's best. For Porzingis an individual, the injury to Powell just makes him all the more important. And for Dallas as a team, the unfortunate injury may have a positive side effect if it can galvanise the play of their second star.
