Dallas Mavs Rookie O-Max Prosper Shows Off 'Massive Jump' in Development: 'His Future Is Bright'

The Dallas Mavericks gave their main guys a well-deserved rest on Friday night against the Detroit Pistons, and promising rookie forward O-Max Prosper took full advantage of his opportunity to play more minutes.

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With an NBA playoffs first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers already locked up, the Dallas Mavericks decided to give Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving a well-deserved rest on Friday night when they faced the Detroit Pistons for the final home game of the regular season.

Along with Doncic and Irving being out, head coach Jason Kidd also only played his other starters limited minutes, meaning more opportunities opened up for players who haven't seen much playing time this season. Promising rookie forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper took full advantage of his opportunity, finishing with 16 points (6-12 FG), six rebounds, one assists, two steals and one block in 29 minutes off the bench in a 107-89 loss.

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"I felt pretty good about it," Prosper said of his performance. "It was a great opportunity for me to be able to get some minutes. I feel good coming into today, and obviously we didn't get the result that we wanted, but it was great for my experience and just being out there, playing with my teammates. I felt like I did solid today."

Prosper has spent a good amount of time learning and growing in Frisco with the Texas Legends this season, and Kidd sees a "massive jump" in his development since the start of the season to now.

“Great. Great. I thought everybody played well. No one got hurt. We played everybody. There were a lot of good things," Kidd said. "O-Max, I thought was great. When you look at where he started in October to where he is today, massive jump. Credit to the development group in the G League for that. His future is bright as he goes forward.”

At the rate Prosper's development is going, Kidd sees him as having a real opportunity to join the Mavs' rotation next season. At 6-8, Prosper's length and athleticism opened many scouts' eyes last summer, which ultimately enabled him to become a first-round draft pick.

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“O-Max plays hard. The game has slowed down and you could see that tonight," Kidd said. "Again, the development by the group that has had their hands on him, the G League, his response time, his effort of putting in. He’s never complained about being with the G League or the development. He’s worked extremely hard, and you can see that work’s paid off. As we go forward next year, he’ll be fighting for rotation minutes, which I think is a great thing for our depth. A lot of positive stuff from O-Max.”

For a team that already has solid depth around Doncic and Irving with Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II, Derrick Jones Jr., Dante Exum and others, Prosper eventually developing into a consistent contributor would just be icing on the cake for the Mavs.

“It’s very exciting," Kidd said of the team's future. "It’s very promising when you talk about [Jaden] Hardy and O-Max, just the development. Also, just the depth that you can see because those two didn’t get a lot of minutes this season because of our depth.

"Again, as we move forward with contracts or trades, you have that ability of those two young guys that can fill the spots if others are gone or hurt. Just understanding what those two are doing right now, being patient, waiting their turn.”