Dallas Mavericks – Fantasy Basketball Analysis

The Dallas Mavericks have roughly the same team that they had last season, but with a new coach at the helm, expect big changes. Rick Carlisle is promising to let the offense be faster paced than it was under Avery Johnson. He’s also going to make the defense more of a gambling unit than a bend-but-don’t-break unit.

All told, these changes should have positive effects on may of the players on the roster in terms of their fantasy basketball status. Dirk Nowitzki should see his scoring average rise and should also see more three-pointers. If his numbers would go down anywhere, it might be rebounding because Carlisle doesn’t have him crashing the boards as much as Johnson did.

The player who this new offense should really help is Jason Kidd. Under Johnson, Kidd looked totally uncomfortable playing for Dallas. But now with the offense basically under his guidance, expect Kidd to put up a lot of triple doubles and a lot of nights with a big amount of assists. The only thing that could stop Kidd this season is age or injury.

Josh Howard and Jason Terry should both see their numbers go up a bit. If Howard is used more at power forward, his rebounding and blocked shot numbers could rise. Terry may start at shooting guard for Carlisle, which would be good for his scoring numbers and his overall consistency.

Other than these four players, there doesn’t seem to be much potential for quality fantasy basketball players to emerge from this roster. Erick Dampier might be a surprise if he plays big minutes, but foul trouble usually limits that from happening.