Jason Kidd's Big Plans: Can Mavs Replicate Lakers’ 2020 Success?

With Jalen Brunson gone, the Dallas Mavericks have changed the dynamic of their roster by adding big men Christian Wood and JaVale McGee into the mix.

Last season, the Dallas Mavericks' small-ball lineup carried the team to the Western Conference finals. 

Against the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the first round, Dallas deployed a lineup of Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Spencer Dinwiddie, Reggie Bullock, and Dorian Finney-Smith. It proved pivotal, as Doncic, Brunson, and Dinwiddie accounted for 67 of Dallas' 98 points as the Mavs eliminated the Jazz.  

With Brunson now gone, there will be a big difference in the starting lineup … literally.

In July, coach Jason Kidd talked about Dallas “being a bigger team," as Dinwiddie and JaVale McGee will take Brunson and Dwight Powell’s spots in the starting lineup. Kidd has had recent success as an assistant coach with a bigger roster, and he’ll hope to replicate that this year.

"When Kidd was an assistant on the championship-winning Lakers, that team favored two-big lineups and size," The Athletic's Tim Cato wrote. "McGee is signed, and Christian Wood is set to come off the bench. What’s most interesting to me is how much Kidd leans on the stylistic choices he favored two years ago and whether it can amplify a talented roster."

McGee starting at the center could play a key role in helping the Mavs solve some of their rebounding woes. In 74 games, the former Suns big man averaged 6.7 rebounds in just 15.8 minutes, with April being his best month as he tallied 8.3 rebounds in 19.3 minutes.

Although Wood will start the year off the bench, his addition will help the Mavs’ rebounding as well, as he averaged 10.1 rebounds per game for the Houston Rockets last year.

Last season, Dallas failed to have a player not named Luka Doncic average more than six rebounds. The only other Maverick to average more than five rebounds was Maxi Kleber with 5.9. 

As for Dinwiddie, he figures to fill in nicely for Brunson as a ball-handler and scorer next to Doncic in the backcourt. His size could help the Mavs be even better defensively than they were with Brunson starting.

In Game 7 against the Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, Dinwiddie dropped in 30 points, as he and Doncic became the first pair of teammates to have 30 plus points in a Game 7 since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

With training camp starting this week, Kidd and his staff will get their first chance to play around with these bigger lineups.

Lack of rebounding and rim protection were big reasons why the Mavs couldn’t get past the Warriors in the Western Conference finals. Let’s see if these bigger Mavericks can get over the hump.

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