The official start of the offseason will begin on June 25 when the Dallas Mavericks are on the clock for the 2025 NBA draft.
While it’s safe to presume Cooper Flagg will be the first name uttered by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, the Mavericks remain an unfinished project that will need more roster reconstruction during free agency and trade season.
A champion has yet to be crowned for the 2024-25 NBA season, but it’s never too early to start looking ahead to next season.
We’re taking a look at where the Mavericks stand position by position. Monday’s breakdown featured the Mavericks’ precarious point guard situation. Today, we look at shooting guard.
Shooting guard
On the roster: Klay Thompson, Max Christie
The starter: Thompson. Outside of Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis’ place in the starting lineup, this should be one of the most secure positions in the Mavericks’ starting five.
The wild card: Naji Marshall. Just because the Mavericks have a limited number of traditional shooting guards doesn’t mean they’ll be thin at the position. With an abundance of positionless players, Jason Kidd can utilize several players to play opposite the point guard spot. Marshall could be a good fit here even though he’s best utilized with the ball in his hands. He shot 27% from 3 after posting a career-best 38% from the arc in his final season in New Orleans. His 3-point shooting has plenty of room to improve, which could make him a realistic candidate for minutes at shooting guard.
Outlook: Dallas doesn’t have many guards who excel away from the ball, so it’s up to Thompson and Christie to play the majority of the minutes at the shooting guard spot. Thompson started last season at the small forward position and played a career-high 71% of his minutes there. He was expected to be the full-time small forward alongside the dynamic backcourt duo of Irving and Luka Doncic, but those plans changed in an instant once the Mavericks dealt Doncic to Los Angeles. Expect Thompson to reprise his role as a starting shooting guard, possibly for the first time since the 2021-22 season. A full training camp will be helpful for Christie, who ed the Mavericks in the trade for Doncic. The third-year guard has upside on both ends of the floor and showed a glimpse of what he was capable of in his first seven games post-trade. He averaged 17.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 51% from the field and 47% from 3. Regaining that level of production, which Christie often says stems from his confidence level, will be essential for the team’s potency at shooting guard.
More Mavericks positional outlooks
Point guard: Kyrie Irving injury makes PG depth an obvious priority
Small forward: P.J. Washington starts at SF until further notice
Power forward: Title hopes start with Anthony Davis at power forward
Center: Depth not a problem at center, highlighted by Dereck Lively
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