Category: Dallas Mavericks Blog

Vince Carter led the Mavericks’ reserves last season, averaging better than 13 points per game while playing less than 26 minutes per game.

His per-minute scoring was his best since 2009-10 when he was in Orlando and was just slightly behind Dirk Nowitzki’s average points per minute.

And Carter likely will have more help on the bench this season. The addition of Wayne Ellington, Devin Harris and DeJuan Blair, all figuring to be backups, should again make the Mavericks’ reserves formidable.

The question, of course, is how they all come together. What the Mavericks have working for them is that most of their bench players have put in a lot of years in the league. Even the still relatively young Ellington and Blair are entering their fifth seasons.

“Yeah, it’s easier now than the first time,” Ellington said about getting adjusted to new players on a new team. “Just being able to make that adjustment and fit in where you need to be on that new team, it doesn’t take forever. We’re all professionals and we have experience. They’ll be some growing pains, but we’ll get there.”

Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon may have highlighted the Dallas Mavericks’ offseason. But Wayne Ellington could make a big difference this year.

In his four-year career, Ellington has averaged 6.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

“I’m bringing a long-range threat, and I’m a guy that’s going to work really hard on the defensive end of the floor,” Ellington told Mavs.com. “I’m a team player, unselfish, and I want to win. That’s what’s most important to me.

“I’m very excited. I feel like we have a chance to do some good things this year.”

Reported by SportsDayDFW

Devin Harris Older but presumably wiser

Devin Harris: Signed to a guaranteed one-year, $884,293 contract.

Much like DeJuan Blair, the Mavs were able to take advantage of acquiring Harris as a veteran minimum signing. Harris is actually being paid $1,272,797, the salary for a nine-year veteran, but the league is paying the remaining amount over the $884,293 total due to the collective bargaining agreement.

Harris comes back to Dallas slightly more polished on offense and more versatile on defense. His progression in Atlanta, where he played alongside point guard Jeff Teague, provided some unique flexibility as he defended the shooting guard position with moderate success.

Reported by Bryan Gutierrez of ESPN Dallas

The Mavericks are among eight NBA teams to commission the services of GPS tracking devices from the Australian company Catapult Sports, which hails itself as the leader in “athlete analytics.” The devices track player movements and body vitals and are designed to optimize training efficiency and mitigate injury risks.

“We just want to be able to get smarter about our players and how to train them and how to put them in a position to succeed,” said Mavs owner Mark Cuban. “So that’s just one component of a lot of different things that we’re doing.”

Athletes wear a cell-phone sized device on the inside of their jerseys between their shoulders, and it records their every movement in all directions as well as their heart rate. This gives coaches what Catapult’s Gary McCoy describes as a “dashboard” for players’ bodies.

Reported by SportsDayDFW.com