The Dallas Mavericks are in a better position than they’ve ever been before during the Luka Doncic era entering a season.
Dallas won 50 games last season, and they followed that up with a spectacular run through the NBA Playoffs that ended with a five-game loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. The Mavs’ duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving was spectacular, but they couldn’t get it done in the NBA Finals.
Boston had all of the firepower in the world, and Dallas’ role players cooled off. The Mavs were clearly one piece away, and they had a strong start to the offseason.
Dallas started free agency by signing Naji Marshall to a three-year, $27 million deal, and while this was a shock at the time due to their previous interest in re-signing Derrick Jones Jr., the Mavs believe they are going to be just fine.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein of the DLLS Mavs Podcast, “within the Mavericks’ walls, there’s a feeling that (Marshall) can be as good or maybe even exceed what Derrick Jones Jr. can do.”
Marshall was always rumored to be the backup option for Dallas if they were to lose Jones Jr. in free agency, and the Mavs seem confident in replacing Jones Jr. with Marshall. Dallas has been grilled for losing Jones Jr. in free agency in some instances, but the potential impact of Marshall continues to get overlooked.
While Marshall can’t guard point guards as effectively as Jones Jr. and doesn’t have the same athleticism, he is still a gifted defender. Standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing 220 pounds with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, Marshall has an excellent frame to be an elite defender on the wing.
He can effectively guard two through four, and in some instances, he can defend point guards. Marshall loves taking tough defensive assignments, and he is excellent when defending isolations on the perimeter.
He backs down from no one, and he fully embraces the role of doing all the dirty work. That is one area that Jones Jr. excelled in as well, and there won’t be a dropoff in that area.
Offensively, Marshall is a good 3-point shooter off the catch, and last season he put up the best shooting numbers of his career. Marshall shot 38.7 percent from downtown for the New Orleans Pelicans last season, and his shooting from the corners is where he flourished the most.
Marshall shot 42 percent on corner threes last season, and that is going to make him an excellent fit next to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Doncic and Irving create tons of these shots, and Marshall’s 42 percent on corner threes is a significant step up from Jones Jr.’s 33.8 percent on corner threes last season.
Outside of catch-and-shoot 3-point shooting, Marshall brings good off-ball cutting and finishing around the bucket. He has an underrated handle for someone his size and utilizes his floater when he gets downhill into the paint. Marshall isn’t someone who the Mavs will depend on to create his own offense, but his ball handling, passing, and finishing allow him to be someone who can be trusted to handle the ball in transition when absolutely needed.
While Marshall may not be throwing down wild alley-oop slams on a nightly basis as Jones Jr. did, he brings many of the same skills and can replace his production for the Mavs. Dallas seems confident in Marshall’s ability to replace Jones Jr.’s impact, and it looks like he’ll play a pivotal role going into the 2024-25 season.
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