Earlier this week, we ran a poll asking which of three Dallas Mavericks players would be the odd man out of the starting line up and would have to come off the bench. The results were definitive, but still worth discussing.
I think we can make the assumption that Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, and a healthy Derrick Lively are locked in as starters (but okay toss in Daniel Gafford instead of you want him as the center, it’s fine either way). That’s three guys, which leaves two spots between the guys in the poll: Cooper Flagg, Klay Thompson, and PJ Washington.
Washington getting 50% of the vote of who is coming off the bench makes the most sense. I think I wouldn’t mind Flagg starting the season that way, but PJ is primed to be like Antawn Jameson was for the Mavericks 20 years ago. He hopefully signs an extension soon, so we can worry about his role a little less.
Klay Thompson coming in at second with 34% the vote is interesting. I wonder if the fans who think he should be the guy off the bench forget who else is good at actually dribbling. It’s not a strong suit of PJ, but he’s fine in a pinch. Klay can actually handle the rock and the Mavericks need that.
Cooper Flagg got just 16% of the vote. To me, that means fans want him to start, and second, there’s a growing appreciation for what his ball handling brings to a team that lacks it. Thereare still lots of fun Flagg bets at FanDuel that [you should totally check out here](https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba). Flagg off the bench provides a real punch, but I doubt it happens, Flagg’s just that good.
It’s going to be interesting to see what does and doesn’t work when the Mavericks season starts. They have a lot of options and a somewhat soft schedule to try different combinations.
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