Welcome to part two of five as we rank the Mavericks by position against the rest of the league. Today, we will go over shooting guard.
Click here for the intro for our positional rankings along with PG rankings.
At shooting guard, Dallas is ranked #13 with 7 wins.
PREDICTABILITY (1 Dirk- not reliable, 3- somewhat reliable, 5- reliable)
In terms of predictability, I believe shooting guard is still fairly stable for the Mavericks. Wesley Matthews played the most minutes of any Maverick last year and he should have a good chance defend his most minutes played championship belt, even with Harrison Barnes on board. Justin Anderson and Seth Curry will be positives but their exact minutes and roles remain slightly hard to predict for the whole season.
UPSIDE POTENTIAL (1 Dirk- low ceiling, 3- average ceiling, 5- high ceiling)
Potentially this is the position with most upside on the team - Anderson remains the brightest young guy on the team as he earned the trust of the coaching staff and as the team starts to look to the future. Matthews should find his offensive form as he enters Year Two of recovery from his Achilles injury and has to take on less of a defensive load. Curry also has sneaky upside if he can secure regular minutes.
DOWNSIDE RISK (1 Dirk- low floor, 3- average floor, 5- high floor)
It would take a breakdown in Ironman’s durability and tenacity to really introduce risk to this position. Anderson could regress into a sophomore slump and Curry could prove himself just a bottom-of-the-bench guy. However, all their arrows are pointing up heading into the season and even outside the core three, the team has another four or five guys who can spot minutes at shooting guard in a pinch.
OVERALL RATING (1 Dirk- weakness, 3- average, 5- strength)
Like point guard, shooting guard is a solid position but not necessarily a strength. However, there is more room for upside with a strong return to form from Matthews. Growth from the youngsters (Curry, Anderson) are the biggest yet not unrealistic hopes for this unit blossoming into an above-average unit.
Come back tomorrow to see how the Mavericks’ small forwards rank vs. the rest of the league!