John Poulakidas's 13-Game Flash Has to Become a Real…

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Wednesday, October 7

John Poulakidas hit 40.3 percent of his threes and posted a 61.1 true shooting mark across just 13 games last season, a sample too small to settle anything. Dallas now has to decide whether that shooting translates into real minutes in a backcourt already stacked with Kyrie Irving, Max Christie and Marcus Sasser.

John Poulakidas of the Mavericks — John Poulakidas. Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Shot Profile

Poulakidas attempted 5.9 threes a game in his 13 appearances, connecting on 40.3 percent of them to go with 42.9 percent shooting overall and 85.7 percent from the line. That volume on respectable efficiency is the calling card: a catch-and-shoot guard who did not need a huge role to show he can make shots at a real rate. The free-throw mark backs it up, a shooter who gets to the stripe and cashes in once he is there.

The Numbers Behind It

His 61.1 true shooting mark outpaced his own offensive rating of 110.5, and the defense lagged behind at 112.8, pulling his net mark to -2.3. Usage sat at 15.3 percent, modest for a guard getting that kind of shooting look, with assist and rebound rates both in single digits at 6.1 and 5.3 percent. Dallas as a team posted a 110.3 offensive rating and 115.5 defensive rating last season; his individual offensive number tracked close to that, while his defensive number actually ran better than the roster average, even in a tiny sample.

The Minutes Test

Poulakidas is not on the injury report, which matters on a roster where Santi Aldama, Morez Johnson Jr. and Dereck Lively II all carry day-to-day tags. His minutes jumped by 12 a night over his final three games last season once a teammate went down, and his production rose with them. Dallas has a crowded backcourt with Irving, Christie, Sasser and rookie Sergio de Larrea all needing minutes. The verdict is specific: Dallas does not need Poulakidas to create offense, it needs him to keep hitting the catch-and-shoot three at the rate he showed in his small sample, whenever the next minutes jump comes.

How did John Poulakidas play last season?

He appeared in 13 games for the Mavericks, averaging 8.8 points on 40.3 percent three-point shooting and 85.7 percent from the line in 19.5 minutes.

Is John Poulakidas hurt entering camp?

No. He is not listed on the Mavericks' injury report.

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.