After an offseason that saw the Mavericks strengthen their roster with an eye on another deep run, it was finally time to witness the regular season debuts of new players and familiar faces. Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, Spencer Dinwiddie and Naji Marshall joined the usual suspects in their season and home opener against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, which Dallas won 120-109.

Nearly a year ago, the Mavericks ruined Victor Wembanyama’s NBA debut and ultimately won the season series against their division rival. The Spurs added veteran leadership in the offseason with newcomers Chris Paul and former Mav Harrison Barnes, but that wasn’t enough to beat the Mavericks this season.

It’s time to summarize and assess each player’s performance, but since this is the first in a recurring series, we need to lay down the ground rules.

• Grades will be given to all Mavericks players who have logged meaningful playing time/statistics.
• The rating system uses an alphabetical scale of: D, C-, C, C+, B-, B, B+, A-, A, A+ (for those who prefer a numerical scale, you will find that you can easily use ten letter numbers on a scale of 1-10 if you prefer – we like math people too).
• There is no F class. It would defy credibility to categorize anyone capable of making an NBA roster as a “failure,” no matter how bad a game they had.
• Players are generally rated on scale. In other words, a Luka A+ will look different than a Dwight Powell A+ for obvious reasons.
• If a player has logged mostly garbage time and has few or no stats, he will not be included or otherwise receive an N/A instead of a grade.

Without further ado, here are the numbers for your Dallas Mavericks after the season opener.

Luka Doncic

Luka didn’t play in the Preseason and that was clearly visible. His legs were out of control, his rhythm had yet to be established and his shooting suffered. Going 9 for 25 overall from the field and 4 for 11 on threes wasn’t pretty, but he was still just two assists away from a triple-double. 10 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal were nice to see with the shot coming, but 4 turnovers further underlined the idea that the best Luka is yet to come. Still, leading all scorers on a “bad” night is quite impressive and he played a key role in the 12-0 run during the second half. Luka will likely prove to be one of the toughest players to judge from game to game, as he operates on a very different scale than most players. Tonight was a perfect example of that. He wasn’t his best, but still, literally hundreds of players around the league would love to have his stats from this match.

Grade: B+

Kyrie Irving

Irving showed similar shooting issues as Luka, even shooting a worse percentage overall, but on fewer shots. He did shoot very well from three (42.9%). He also had 2 steals, 1 block and 0 turnovers. In an otherwise mundane game by his standards, Kyrie had two very memorable defensive plays. The first was when he chased Tre Jones in the crowded room and eventually forced a turnover. The second was when he got a steal, stumbled, went to the ground and still made a nice pass from his back.

Grade: B

Klay Thompson

Thompson was the second top scorer of the match with 22, behind only Luka (28). He looked completely calm on offense and let the game come to him. He seemed locked in on defense, as if on a mission to prove a point. In addition to his 22 points, he had 7 rebounds and 3 steals. He also hit 6 of 10 threes, giving him the Mavericks record for making threes in a player’s debut. I didn’t expect to give out high marks too often, especially in the first game of the season, but Thompson’s performance was magical tonight and when you break a record like he did, you get your flowers.

Grade: A+

PJWashington

Washington had a quietly solid night. Like most of the team, his shooting left a lot to be desired, but he still put up 11 points, with 6 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal. Aside from a shooting percentage that we would all like to see a little higher, he did what the team expected him to do, and he did it in relatively limited minutes (26). Being on the receiving end of an insane Luka back pass to convert one of the two made threes of the night also gets you some bonus points.

Grade: B+

Dereck Vivid II

While it wasn’t the dunkfest we’ve become accustomed to, Lively was great on the bench tonight. He hit 6 of 8 shots for 15 points, had 11 rebounds (4 offensive) and a whopping 6 assists. If you could find something to complain about in his stat line, it would be the lack of blocks. Regardless, for 27 minutes of play he was very efficient and it’s probably fair to say he had the upper hand over Wembanyama tonight in an overall comparison.

Grade: A

Naji Marshall

Marshall was on the struggle bus in his Mavericks debut. He hit just 1 of 6 shots and had 1 rebound and 3 assists. Aside from his shooting, he didn’t do anything particularly bad, but he didn’t really contribute much to the overall success as he had a minus 7 for the match. An unsung bright spot is his ability to bring the ball up and direct the attack a bit, giving both Luka and Kyrie pause.

Grade: C

Quentin Grimes

Another new face, Grimes had an eerily similar stat line to Marshall, only he had 0 assists. His plus/minus at plus 11 was considerably better than Marshall’s, but it was otherwise an unremarkable evening for the newcomer.

Grade: C+

Daniel Gafford

Gafford did what Gafford does. In a starting role, he brought energy and intensity with 9 points and 6 rebounds in just 18 minutes of play. His 50% from the field seems like an underachievement by his high standards, but otherwise he had a fun night. If he continues to log backup minutes and maintain this level of production, no one will complain. He made a few too many mistakes (5), but was in the right spots all night and played his role well. He gave us some eye candy with a nice dunk and calmly knocked down two free throws that he deserved after enduring a Flagrant 1.

Grade: B+

Maxi Kleber

Kleber didn’t get many burns, but like Gafford, he did everything he was supposed to do while playing. While his stats don’t jump off the page, he led all players in plus-minus with a +18 despite only playing 15 minutes. He scored a nice three and grabbed four rebounds. For the highlights, he had a great block, which came virtually out of nowhere and kept two points off the Spurs side of the scoreboard.

Grade: B+

Jaden Hardy

Not long ago I chose Jaden Hardy as my X Factor, and he seemed intent on proving me right for at least one night. Hardy showed off his microwave scoring prowess as he knocked down 50% of his shots, with all three of his shots coming from three-point land. He also hit both of his free throws on his way to 11 points. His two assists were canceled out by two turnovers, but he at least showed that he wanted more than just scoring. For good measure he also added 1 block. Overall it was a very fun match for him.

Grade: B+

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