![]() Even if his 3-point percentage drops by a point or two, it’s hardly catastrophic. He’s in another contract year after accepting his $19.0 million player option, which should alleviate any contract-year concerns. loves more than shooting 3s? Hardaway fills a necessary role on the roster as a volume shooter, a fully confident chucker with startling accuracy that unexpectedly emerged last season. (Or, at worst, he’s on the same level as LeBron James and James Harden.) But open 3s necessitate teammates who will shoot those 3s, and, boy, is there anything Tim Hardaway Jr. Even a return to his numbers during the 2017-19 seasons would be enough for Dallas, and improvement would be a bonus.ĭoncic is the best creator of open 3-point shots in the league. It was worrisome to hear Sixers beat writer Derek Bodner describe Richardson like this: “He seemed to start hesitating as the year went on, and his struggles from the perimeter became obvious.” But Richardson’s shooting numbers had consistently trended upwards up until last season. Richardson’s shooting definitely matters, too. Where Doncic is an offense unto himself, he can’t create everything. In his last season with the Heat, he averaged 4.1 assists per game. He isn’t a primary ballhandler, of course, but he created his own shot at times in Philadelphia and created for others within the confines of an offensive system while in Miami. Richardson will need to replace some of that in a role that’s certainly going to be larger than spot-up shooting. ![]() But this team has certainly lost firepower without a fully available Porzingis in the team’s opening months. It was necessary to trade offense for defense, which the Richardson deal accomplished, because having a top-10 offense and defense is required to be a championship contender in this league. What Richardson looks like offensively is the single thing I’m most interested in watching once games begin. Dallas can survive without Porzingis, but the fully realized version of its new-look team – one that should be better suited for the next postseason challenge coming its way – needs him at his best. And that’s not to diminish his defensive work, either. But what should matter is getting Porzingis on the court without restrictions or rust by March and April, where his floor spacing and scoring ability should help Dallas return its offense to the best in the league, or damn close. Predicting what his season will look like is awkward, especially considering he started slowly in 2019-20 after a much longer hiatus from games. While Porzingis has finally resumed on-court activities, it will still be weeks until he is cleared for games. So count me out for the hipster MVP prediction being thrown his direction, but count me in on him making more subtle improvements and the continued offensive dominance that results in even more wins for the Mavericks. Plateauing as a top-five player in the league and a perennial MVP candidate is a cozy place to settle down. But the word plateau simply doesn’t mean the same thing to him as it does most anyone else. ![]() Doncic has pushed limits and exceeded expectations his entire life this coming year will likely be one where he starts to plateau.
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