Dallas Mavs' O-Max Prosper Details Development After Strong Showing vs. Detroit Pistons

Mavs rookie Olivier-Maxence Prosper played 29 minutes against the Pistons on Friday, showcasing progress in his development.

Apr 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Malachi Flynn (14) and Dallas Mavericks / Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks limited key players' playing time during the loss against the Detroit Pistons while sitting Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. It created a rare opportunity for the Mavs to focus on player development with already having a top-five seed in the Western Conference standings locked in, setting up a matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper took advantage of this opportunity, playing 29 minutes and recording 16 points, six rebounds, two steals, and one block while shooting 6-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Mavs coach Jason Kidd described what he saw from the rookie wing as a "massive jump" in his development.

“O-Max I thought was great,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “When you look at where he started in October to where he is today, massive jump. I give credit to the development group and the G-League for that. His future is bright as we go forward.”

Apr 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Malachi Flynn (14) and Dallas Mavericks / Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Prosper has spent most of his rookie season with the Mavs' G League affiliate, the Texas Legends. In 24 games, he averaged 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, shooting 51.2% from the floor, 42.5% from 3-point range (5.3 attempts per game), and 76.7% on free throws.

“The group that has had their hands on him in the G-League, he’s never complained about being in the G-League,” Kidd said. “He’s worked extremely hard and you can see that’s paid off. As we go forward next year, he’ll be fighting for rotation minutes. Which is a great thing for our depth.”

On Sunday, the Mavs are set to face the Oklahoma City Thunder while sitting out even more players than they did against the Pistons. It'll provide a significant opportunity for Prosper to showcase further growth in his development.

Prosper remains focused on slowing down on the court as he learns from his teammates and adapts to the NBA game. As long as he continues to make better reads and take the correct shots, it's a step in the right direction.

"The biggest thing is just slowing down," Prosper said. "Slowing down out there, seeing what's in front of me, taking the right shots, and just learning how to play with my teammates."

While much focus can be placed on the continued refinement of Prosper's perimeter shooting and ability to create off the dribble, he understands how crucial his defensive impact will be in his NBA career — maintaining it as a major focus of his development.

"I didn't play as much with them this year, but just keep learning how to play with them and just keep working on my efficiency and my defense," Prosper said. "Defense is a big key of my game, and I take a lot of pride in that. And, you know, I'm going to end up guarding the best wings in the world. So I got to keep working on that, and that's what I focus on."

Prosper isn't just talking the talk when he's saying he places a real emphasis on his defensive improvement. He's worked on his lateral quickness using cone drills at the Mavs practice facility during the open-to-media portion of a few practices this season, with countless hours poured into it behind the scenes.

The Legends use similar concepts as the Mavs as most G League affiliates do with their NBA franchises. Instead of sitting on the bench and watching, Prosper has benefited from gaining more reps in those concepts to continue to develop his skill set.

"It helped me a lot, as you guys can see now," Prosper said. "It's just like, being in the G... Don't get me wrong, I would love to be up here and play here. This is the opportunity I had, and I took full advantage of it. I knew it was going to help me with my development and me getting more comfortable.

"There are good players in the G League, so you get good games and then just being able to play out there," Prosper explained. "And then now bringing back here, and then like a game like today, I just felt comfortable out there. It didn't feel like it was new territory."

Jaden Hardy, who finished with 25 points against the Pistons, spent much of the Summer League playing alongside Prosper in Las Vegas. As someone who has that added perspective into Prosper's development, Hardy sees a major improvement.

"I feel like O-Max did a great job today, came on and played with energy," Hardy said. "I feel like you see him as soon as he stepped on the floor, the impact he had with all his energy, hustling around, trying to grab rebounds, stuff like that. That's what made O-Max such a great player, his energy, and I'm super excited to continue to see his growth."

Similar to Prosper, Hardy began his rookie season playing for the Texas Legends but already had experience competing against G League competition given his placement as a prominent prospect with the G League Ignite program instead of playing college basketball.

"I feel like he's been able to go down there and get some reps and be that guy down there and be confident," Hardy said of Prosper. "They're giving him confidence down there and I feel like he was able to go down there and work on his game.

"Once you go down there hooping, it's pretty much the same things, different players," Hardy explained. "So just once he came back up, I figured he was pretty much confident out there and more comfortable. And I feel like the guys, but our team has a great group of guys who cheer for each other. So we wanted to see him."

As long as Prosper continues to showcase progression in his development, Kidd suggested the rookie wing will be "fighting for rotation minutes" next season. Looking ahead, Prosper and Jaden Hardy remain developing players the organization sees as currently waiting for expanded roles but are currently limited in room.

“Very exciting, very promising when you talk about Hardy and O-Max,” Kidd said. ” Those two didn’t get a lot of minutes this season because of our depth. Again, as we move forward with contracts and trades, those are two young guys if others are gone or hurt.”