All 77 of Dirk Nowitzki’s teammates since 2011, ranked

This is my third straight year making this list. In the 2015 debut edition, we only had 53 teammates available; in 2016, the list had jumped to 62. Thanks to a bevy of 10-day contracts and a high turnover offseason last summer, the number has jumped all the way to 77.

Every year, some people read too quickly and yell at me for forgetting Josh Howard, or something equally ridiculous. Come on, fellas. Here are the basics.

Which players count towards this list?

This list only includes players who Dirk Nowitzki has played with SINCE winning the championship in 2011, and only considers those players for their contributions starting in the 2011-12 season and going until the 2016-17 season.

What do the numbers in parenthesis mean?

The numbers in parenthesis are the number of games those players appeared in for the Mavericks since the 2011-12 season.

How did you rank these players?

In past years, I took the number of games into account. This year, this is based off quality of play. Whether a player played three seasons or just one, his ranking is based off how good he was during the summation of his time here. This doesn’t necessarily account for injuries, either.

Did you consider putting Dennis Smith Jr. first?

I did strongly consider that. (No player acquired this offseason is on the list.)

What’s the point of this list?

This is to point out how little help Dirk Nowitzki got since winning his only championship. There are many reasons for that, and those reasons have been discussed to death (and probably will be discussed some more) here at Mavs Moneyball, and for good reason. Whatever good intentions the Mavericks had, it ended up leaving Nowitzki very little to work with. Of course, despite all of that, he still led the team to four playoff appearances in the six seasons since the title.

The other point is just that it’s fun to rank things. Hell yeah.

All 73 of Dirk’s teammates since 2011, ranked

1. Harrison Barnes (79)

2. Monta Ellis (162)

3. Chandler Parsons (127)

4. Tyson Chandler (75)

5. Nerlens Noel (22)

6. Seth Curry (70)

7. Vince Carter (223)

8. Wesley Matthews (151)

9. Jason Terry (63)

10. J.J. Barea (186)

We’re still looking for improvement from Barnes, but in my eyes, he was clearly the best teammate Dirk has had in the six seasons since 2011, while just 22 games of Nerlens Noel and a season of Seth Curry was enough to sneak them both into the top six. We know all about Parsons’ injury problems, but when he played, he was one of Dirk’s best teammates. Monta had his own problems, but when he was going good, he was just sensational — at least on one end. Tyson Chandler’s one post-title reprisal wasn’t Defensive Player of the Year material, but he was still incredibly solid. Vince Carter is the underrated Maverick of the past decade. JET’s last season here was mostly just a bummer. And shoutout to J.J. Barea, who is still hanging around and actually played the best basketball of his career when healthy last season.

11. Shawn Marion (206)

12. Deron Williams (105)

13. O.J. Mayo (82)

14. Devin Harris (245)

15. Brandan Wright (198)

16. Al-Farouq Aminu (74)

17. Jason Kidd (48)

18. Jose Calderon (81)

19. Darren Collison (81)

20. Raymond Felton (109)

It’s truly incredible how quickly this list falls off. Marion’s three seasons were thoroughly forgettable — I honestly forget he spent three more seasons here — and Deron Williams was nothing but a league average point guard. O.J. Mayo might’ve been a top-five player on this list if his early season hot streak had kept up, but he fell off hard after Dirk returned that season — the one where they grew the big ass beards. Then there’s a bunch of solid bench players on this list ... except Kidd, Calderon, Collison, and Felton all started a bunch of games in their respective times here, which is exactly my point about how Dirk hasn’t got a lot of help since 2011.

21. Zaza Pachulia (76)

22. Delonte West (44)

23. Jae Crowder (181)

24. Richard Jefferson (74)

25. Samuel Dalembert (80)

26. Elton Brand (72)

27. Yogi Ferrell (36)

28. Dorian Finney-Smith (81)

29. DeJuan Blair (78)

30. Salah Mejri (107)

I still love Zaza, even if he was a below average starter during his time here. I also still love Delonte West, who played his damn heart out in his time here. Yogi Ferrell might even be a little low, but I tempered his performance with realistic expectations about his future. (He’s a new age J.J. Barea and that should lead him to having a fine career.) DeJuan Blair? Salah Mejri? Both in the top 30? I forget how upsetting this project is.

31. Dwight Powell (170)

32. Ian Mahinmi (61)

33. Amar'e Stoudemire (23)

34. Justin Anderson (106)

35. David Lee (25)

36. Chris Kaman (66)

37. Brendan Haywood (54)

38. Bernard James (92)

39. Brian Cardinal (44)

40. Andrew Bogut (26)

We’re quickly running out of rotation players. Powell could be higher, and at times he has been much better, but we also have to consider an entire season where he just wasn’t that effective. That’s the sum of his performance here. I like him as a backup big this season! Justin Anderson’s in a similar boat: was very good for stretches but overall below average. Bogut, Haywood, and Bernard James? Goodness.

41. Rodrigue Beaubois (98)

42. Charlie Villanueva (126)

43. Nicolas Brussino (54)

44. Dahntay Jones (50)

45. Wayne Ellington (45)

46. Jameer Nelson (23)

47. JaVale McGee (34)

48. Jeremy Evans (30)

49. A.J. Hammons (22)

50. Shane Larkin (48)

How the hell are there still 27 players left.

Shoutout to JaVale for finding the only team that maximized his strengths enough to hide his weaknesses in Golden State. (I think he also has matured a few ticks more than his time in Dallas, which has helped.) I can’t believe Anthony Morrow was ever on this team. Shoutout to Nicolas Brussino, who was objectively better than 34 people who suited up for the Mavericks at various points. He won them a game! Who else on this list can boast about that?

51. Dominique Jones (62)

52. Ricky Ledo (16)

53. Gal Mekel (31)

54. Yi Jianlian (30)

55. Quincy Acy (6)

56. Eddy Curry (2)

57. John Jenkins (21)

58. Chris Douglas-Roberts (6)

59. Mike James (45)

60. Troy Murphy (14)

The Mavericks have to pay Gal Mekel $315,758 this season before he finally comes off their books. I wish I were kidding. The rest of these names seem like weird fever dreams. Was preseason MVP John Jenkins really a thing? Did Yi Jianlian actually play for this team? Mike James!? Troy Murphy!!?!!?!!

Shoutout Ricky Ledo, the real MVP in my heart.

61. Jared Cunningham (8)

62. Sean Williams (8)

63. Greg Smith (42)

64. Jarrod Uthoff (9)

65. DeAndre Liggins (1)

66. Kelenna Azubuike (3)

67. Quinn Cook (5)

68. Manny Harris (4)

Nice. Josh Akognon (3)

70. Justin Dentmon (2)

71. Chris Wright (3)

72. Pierre Jackson (8)

73. Jonathan Gibson (17)

74. Ben Bentil (3)

What a bizarre collection of 10-day contracts, end-of-the-bench fliers, and .... a first round draft pick? Looking at you, Jared Cunningham.

75. Lamar Odom (50)

76. Derek Fisher (9)

77. Rajon Rondo (46)

We know all about Odom’s problems now, ones that got much worse in Dallas. I hope he’s doing alright. His time on the court with the Mavericks was an unmitigated disaster, of course.

Fisher used his kids to get out of a contract with the Mavericks once he realized they were bad, and then he signed with a playoff contender a few months later. Whatever, man.

And then there’s Rondo, whose mini-renaissance in the past few seasons — it still blows my mind that he led the league in assists in Sacramento — has made his Dallas blowup look even worse. It’s one thing to just not be an NBA player, and arguably, Rondo is a borderline case at this point. But he didn’t try with the Mavericks, except for the occasional games where he felt like it, and that’s an unforgivable sin.