The Dallas Mavericks are 49-30 after last night’s road victory over the Charlotte Hornets, and this team continues to remain hot as the season will come to a close shortly.
The Mavs are demonstrating the world that they are serious contenders every single game, and no team in the Western Conference should want to see them. Getting hot at the end of the season matters, and that’s why almost everyone is so bullish on the Mavs right now.
Their defense has improved significantly over the last two months, and fans should be excited about Dallas’ prospects of making a deep playoff run.
There are six Mavericks vying for NBA Awards, along with their respective odds of winning.
While the team performance of his team has been outstanding, there are several individual players who are up or should be up for awards at the end of this season.
Dallas has a handful of men who could be up for various awards this season, and it’ll be exciting to see who wins the awards.
Here are five Dallas Mavericks players who are in the running or should be in the running for end-of-season awards.
6. Kyrie Irving – Clutch Player of the Year
Kyrie Irving remains one of the best clutch players in the NBA in his 13th season, and he continues to demonstrate this on a nightly basis.
Although Irving doesn’t lead the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring as he did last year, he still remains a top closer in the NBA and has a clutch gene that is rare to come by. This season in the fourth quarter, Irving is averaging 7.0 points while shooting 50.7 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from downtown, and 91.2 percent from the free-throw line. Irving takes his game to the next level when it matters most, and Dallas Mavericks fans saw that firsthand on Sunday afternoon.
Irving scored 25 of his 48 points in the fourth quarter and overtime combined on Sunday, and he willed the Mavs to victory. He has even shown that he is arguably a stronger closer than Luka Doncic, and that’s saying something.
Irving’s top play of the season was a game-winning left-handed floater to defeat the Denver Nuggets, and if that play doesn’t scream Clutch Player of the Year, I don’t know what does.
When it comes to the clutch, Irving is exceptional. In the crunch, he is averaging 4.2 points, shooting 60 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from downtown, and 95.5 percent from the free-throw line. Irving always remains calm and collected as the clock winds down, and his ability to flip the switch at the end of games is unreal.
Irving is likely a longshot to win this awaard, but these metrics show that he deserves to be in the conversation.
5. Derrick Jones Jr. – All-Defensive Team
Dallas Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr.’s individual stats may not demonstrate that he deserves to be on one of the NBA’s All-Defensive Teams, but anyone who has watched a Mavs game this season should understand why he at least deserves to be in the conversation.
Jones Jr. is arguably having the finest season of his career this year for the Mavs, and he has been a crucial part of the rotation all season long. He is averaging 8.7 points, 0.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game, and his individual defense on some of the greatest players in the NBA has been outstanding.
Jones Jr. has shut down Stephen Curry, Jalen Green, and Fred VanVleet, just to name a few, and his versatility to effectively guard one through four makes him an indispensable part of the rotation as the playoffs are rapidly approaching.
Stephen Curry when Derrick Jones Jr. is defending him (3 games on 12/30, 4/2, and 4/5)
– 16:21 matchup minutes (85.7 partial possessions)
– 22.7% from the field on 5-22 shooting
– 15.4% from downtown on 2-13 shooting
– 3 turnovers🔒⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fugBo88W55
— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) April 6, 2024
Jones Jr. has accepted every role that Jason Kidd has assigned him throughout the entire season, and he is completely focused on success. Despite the fact that his altruistic demeanor, adaptability, and impact on the Mavs’ defense have largely gone unnoticed thus far this season, he still has the potential to earn an appearance on one of the All-Defensive Teams.
The 15-2 record of the team since Kidd started Jones Jr. and Daniel Gafford increases the importance of Jones Jr.’s overall impact on the group, which merits further discussion.
Given how the NBA constructs its All-Defensive Teams, Jones Jr.’s chances of making it are minuscule. However, the aforementioned arguments demonstrate why he ought to be considered.
4. Dereck Lively II was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Since the opening game of the regular season, Dereck Lively II, a freshman for the Dallas Mavericks, has excelled both in the starting lineup and in his reserve role. In his first career game, he outshined Victor Wembanyama and has been a major part of the Mavs’ success this season.
While shooting 74.7 percent from the field, Lively II has averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game this season. His entire season as Luka Doncic’s exceptional pick-and-roll partner has demonstrated that he merits a spot on one of the NBA’s All-Rookie Teams.
Lively II merits this due to his substantial contribution to the success of his team and his team’s success as a whole. During the first half of the season, the Mavs typically struggled tremendously on the glass and on defense in games that Lively II missed, and he was the third-most essential player on the team behind Kyrie Irving and Doncic. He still remains a crucial part of what the Mavs do, but his injuries combined with the addition of Daniel Gafford have lessened his burden as of late.
Lively II’s injuries are likely the only thing holding him back from being on one of the NBA’s All-Rookie Teams as he has only played in 55 games so far. His impact on the floor has undoubtedly shown that he deserves a spot on one of these teams, but it will be up to the voters to determine where he’ll land.
Lively II has an outstanding shot of making an All-Rookie Team, and it’ll be interesting to see how much the NBA takes his injuries into consideration.
3. Dwight Powell – Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award
All of the other honors on this list have to do with the player’s performance on the floor, but Dallas Mavericks center Dwight Powell is up for an award that has nothing to do with how he has played this season.
Powell is up for the NBA’s Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, and this award “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.” Jrue Holiday has won this honor the past two seasons, but this year, Powell could be someone who snags this award for the first time.
This summer, Powell took a massive pay cut to remain on the Mavs, and all signs were pointing to him receiving solid minutes in the rotation. He was no longer going to be the starting large due to the emergence of Dereck Lively II, but things were lining up for him to be the second-string big. Powell lost his job to a rookie, but he still remained a good teammate through it all, never complained, and was a tremendous encourager from the bench as the backup big.
After a few months, it was evident the Mavs needed more depth behind Lively II, so they traded for Daniel Gafford. This move moved Powell even further down the depth chart, and he still remained a wonderful teammate through it all.
This season would have been a time that would have been simple for Powell to not be engaged and be frustrated with his role, but instead, he is always the first one to encourage his teammates and is always doing work in the community.
Powell is the longest-tenured Maverick by far, and no one merits this award more than him.
2. Luka Doncic – MVP
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic is having a historic season, and he is deep in the chase for the MVP award. It appears like it’ll come down to Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Doncic is proving that he deserves this award as much as anyone.
Doncic is averaging 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from downtown. This has undoubtedly been the best season of Doncic’s career, and his improvements as a shooter and defender have helped form him into the most dangerous player in the Western Conference.
It’s going to be an uphill battle for Doncic to win the MVP this season, but he has shown that he merits it. Winning 15 of the last 17 games during the most important time of the season can’t be ignored, and Doncic is genuinely the most valuable player in the NBA when you look around the league.
The NBA’s MVP race between Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jokic could go down to the wire, and Mavs fans will anxiously await the results. Jokic is the heavy favorite right now, but an unbelievable end of the season for Doncic could convince enough electors to vote for him.
Doncic has improved in all aspects of the game, but an NBA Finals win is something that he is much more focused on.
Doncic will undoubtedly be in the top three for this award, but Jokic looks to be far in the lead unless something changes soon.
1. P.J. Washington – All-Defensive Team
When the Dallas Mavericks traded for P.J. Washington at the trade deadline, fans didn’t know precisely what to expect. Washington was having a solid season in Charlotte, but some fans were concerned that giving up a first-round pick in this transaction was too much.
Washington has swiftly proved that he was worth that first-round pick, and his impact on the defensive end has been huge. Washington is averaging 12.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 42.8 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from downtown.
Although Washington has had some struggles as a shooter, he has been much better recently. He hit several huge threes in Dallas’ overtime win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday and has continually been in the gym working on his craft.
While his shooting has been a significant improvement lately, his play on the defensive end is what has made him so valuable for Dallas and that’s why he should be in the running for one of the NBA’s All-Defensive Teams. He guards multiple positions, rebounds at a high rate, and often defends the greatest player on the other team.
His role will be crucial in the playoffs, as he will likely be defending the greatest player or the floor. He has helped transform the Mavericks defense into an elite unit, and his performance on that end of the floor is enough for him to be considered for one of the NBA’s All-Defensive Teams.
Averaging a steal and a block is impressive on its own, and everything else that he does that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet is also impressive.
Washington likely won’t be in the top of conversation for making one of these teams, but if you examine closely, it’s obvious that he should be.
For all the latest on P.J. Washington and the Dallas Mavericks for the last three regular season games and the postseason, stay tuned.
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