The shooting guard position for the Dallas Mavericks seems to be a touchy subject for their fans and the players alike. They have multiple ways they could go with filling the starting spot and the first one off the bench. With the additions of O.J Mayo and Dahntay Jones, the Mavericks have solidified those two spots. The only question is who will start?
After the year Vince Carter had last season i’m going to disqualify him from this conversation. If anything he will most likely backup Shawn Marion at the small forward spot. The Mavericks lost Jason Terry to the Boston Celtics, but gained two quality players this offseason in Mayo and Jones.
The Mavericks love to start a defensive minded player at the shooting guard position, and if this trend continues Dahntay Jones will be the guy. Jones is a great defender who can guard multiple types of players. He’s 31 and already 9 years deep in the league, but has a lot left in the tank. In the 511 games in his career he’s started 138 of them, so he has experience in both roles. Just because he starts doesn’t mean he will get a lot of minutes. He averages just 17 minutes a game a season and has only averaged more than 20 minutes a game in a season twice. He’s a valuable role player that coach like Rick Carlisle will love to have in his rotation. Jones is definitely a below average scorer, but that’s not why the Mavericks got him. Dahntay Jones has a great chance of being the next DeShawn Stevenson for Dallas.
O.J Mayo has all the talent in the world. Personally i think he has star potential. He hasn’t quite lived up to the hype yet, but i think that could change on his new team and in his new role. Mayo also has a lot of experience starting and coming off the bench. In his first two seasons he started every game but one, most importanly he didn’t miss a game. His last two seasons he only started 17 games and his numbers declined because of it. Mayo is a high volume scorer who averaged 18.5 points a game in his rookie season. Mayo has the potential to average somewhere around 25 points a night. He’s still only 24 years old and has a huge upside. He could easily fill the role left behind by Jason Terry as the first guy off the bench. Or if the Mavericks want to go in a different direction this season they could give the starting reigns over to their future face of the franchise. Mayo is no slouch at defense either. In fact, he’s averaged a steal a season, something Jones has yet to do. I think Mayo will have his coming out party next season and live up to the hype that was once surrounded him with the Memphis Grizzlies.
if it was up to me i would go ahead and start Mayo. He’s just 24 years old with a lot of experience already. He’s the second option behind Dirk Nowitzki and in line to take over for him when he’s gone. Jones is a good system guy for the Mavericks coaching staff, but lets face it, The Mavericks need scoring and young legs in the starting lineup. I vote Mayo to start, but who do you think you should get the nod? Leave your opinion in the comment section below.
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