Mavericks Offense Undergoes Dramatic Overhaul! Jason Kidd Reveals New Philosophy Amid Injury Crisis

Despite all of Dallas’ struggles on and off the court over the last month, the Mavericks still control their own destiny. Dallas enters the season’s final month on a four-game losing streak and without seven players. As a result of the plethora of injuries, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd has had to change his offensive philosophy, as the Mavericks don’t have a No. 1 scoring option.

Dallas, of course, entered the 2024-25 season with two of the best NBA scorers of their generation, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. But the Mavericks have struggled offensively, with Dončić now in Los Angeles, Irving, and Anthony Davis among the players sidelined. What can the Mavericks do to help, and who could step up offensively?

“There’s no number one option, it’s team,” Kidd told Joey Mistretta of Clutch Points. “Everyone touches it, and whoever is open shoots it. We don’t have a number one or a number two, we’re not built like that right now, we’re built on team… This isn’t to run plays for one person.”

Jason Kidd Talks About Mavericks Changing Offensive Philosophy Due To All Their Injuries

Dallas sits in 10th place in the Western Conference at 32-32. The Mavericks have lost four straight and six of seven as they enter their clash against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. The Mavs hold a two-and-one half games ahead of the 11th-place Suns. They are two games behind in ninth place in Sacramento and three-and-one-half games out of sixth place.

Dallas is 6-9 since trading Dončić. Prior to trading Dončić, the Mavericks were three games above .500 and in eighth place in the West, one and one-half games out of the sixth spot. During this stretch, the Mavericks were eighth in offensive efficiency (115.4) and 12th in defensive efficiency (112.4).

Mavericks Offensive Struggles

Over the last 15 games, Dallas has scored 111 points a game, 23rd in the NBA, and has been outscored by 7.7 points. The Mavericks are over five points less efficient without Dončić, ranking 25th in the league.  The Mavs are shooting 45.5% from the field, which ranks in the bottom of the league over this stretch.

Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie are the only players to play all 15 games since the beginning of February. However, four other players missed just one game during this stretch, and Irving was available for 11 of the first 12 of those contests.

But the Mavs have even been worse since losing Irving for the rest of the season after the 32-year-old tore his ACL after nine minutes of action on March 3 against Sacramento. Irving had increased his production to 26.2 points a game after the Dončić trade, nearly two more points than he averaged when paired alongside the Slovenian product.

In the last three games, Dallas has scored 316 points while being outscored by 54 points. The 105.3 points per game are the second-fewest in the previous three games, ahead of only New York. The Mavericks have compiled 43.2/33.0/81.0 shooting splits in these three games. Three different players have recently led the Mavs in scoring. Conversely, Irving led the team in scoring in each of his last seven contests, which he played at least half of.

Mavericks No. 1 scoring option

Dallas will continue to be severely shorthanded. The Mavs have listed 10 players on the injury report for their 3:30 p.m. (ET) game against the Suns tomorrow. Eight of the players have been ruled out, with Dante Exum and Caleb Martin listed as questionable.

Exum and Martin are the newest players on the Mavericks injury report. Both players played in Dallas’ loss to Memphis on Friday. Exum has played just seven games this season and is dealing with a foot injury. Meanwhile, Martin made his Mavericks debut on Friday, but Sunday’s contest is part of a back-to-back for Dallas, so he may sit out tomorrow.

Davis is absolutely a go-to scorer, but he is expected to be out until at least April. PJ Washington has also shown he can score in bunches and could return soon. So, while the Mavs will have to rely on a committee approach, who could step up when the Mavericks need an important basket or two or three?

Klay Thompson

Klay Thompson is obviously the top choice for Kidd when the Mavs need a bucket. Granted, Thompson is not the player he was when the 35-year-old wing averaged 20 points per season for seven consecutive years. But Thompson is still an elite shooter, as evidenced by his 3.1 treys a game at 40.1%. He has scored in double-figures 43 times this season with 11 20-plus scoring efforts.

Thompson scored a team-high 27 points against Milwaukee on March 5. He averages 15.1 points on 14 shots a game and makes nearly four threes at a 45.5% clip since the all-star break.

“Klay (Thompson) is one of the best,” Kidd added to Mistretta. “He’s a future Hall of Famer, but we gotta set screens and create those opportunities for him.”

Brandon Williams

Brandon Williams is a scorer through and through.  Williams, on a two-way deal, averaged 12.7 points in 24 minutes for Portland in 2021-22. The 25-year-old scored a career-high 31 points to lead the way for the Mavs versus the Grizzlies on Friday, marking the sixth double-figure scoring effort of the season. He is shooting the ball the best of his career, averaging 18.0 points and 5.5 assists per 36 minutes this year.

Naji Marshall

Marshall has shown a renewed ability to score the ball this year. Marshall, known as a 3-and-D guy, is averaging a career-high 11.7 points a contest. He has scored at least 15 points in his last three games, topping the 20-point mark twice. He has eight 20-point games overall.

Max Christie

Max Christie has continued to come into his own since joining the Mavericks. The 22-year-old combo guard has cooled off since getting off to a tremendous start with the Mavs. But he is averaging 12.9 points on 10.6 shots with shooting splits of 42.3/39.1/85.3 over his 14 games with the squad.

 Spencer Dinwiddie

Spencer Dinwiddie is probably the Mavs’ second-best healthy pure scorer behind Williams. The 31-year-old guard has slowed down a little as he has gotten older. However, he can still carry a team offensively when he gets going. He has one 30-point game and has topped the 20-point mark on seven occasions this year.