“It Wasn’t Steph Bombing 3s”: JJ Redick Warns Age Old Mavericks’ Weakness Stating 6’7 Stephen Curry Teammate Knocked Luka Doncic and Co Out of WC Finals

Despite losing in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Luka Doncic had a monstrous individual showing. He averaged 27 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in the tournament. With the Slovenian sensation in elite form and Kyrie Irving returning on a 3-year $126 million contract, the Mavericks are looking like an offensive juggernaut. But according to retired NBA player JJ Redick, Dallas’ problem lies on the other end of the floor.

Discussing Dallas’ off-season moves, Redick recalls Luka Doncic and Co’s 2022 Western Conference Finals loss against Stephen Curry’s Warriors. And according to JJ, there is one weakness from that series that Mark Cuban has still not taken care of.

JJ Redick exposes Dallas Mavericks’ age-old weakness

On the Real Talk segment of The Old Man & The Three podcast, JJ Redick addressed the missing pieces in the Mavericks roster. Even though adding former Celtics forward Grant Williams to the roster improved Luka’s team significantly, the move did not add any rim protection to the team.

“Where is the rim protection on this roster?” asked JJ, as he assessed the undersized Dallas team. The lack of rim protection has haunted the Mavericks for years. In the 2022 Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, Luka Doncic and Co. suffered an embarrassing 4-1 loss because of the same weakness.

“It wasn’t Steph bombing threes that beat them,” said JJ, recalling it was not Chef Curry’s shooting prowess that led to the downfall of Dallas. “It was points in the paint.”

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Due to the lack of rim protectors in the roster, Steph’s 6’7” teammate, Andrew Wiggins, dominated the paint in that series. JJ believes Dallas is going to face the same issue this season.

Are Luka Doncic and Co. good enough to win?

Going all-in on the superstar duo of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, Dallas looks very strong offensively. Their biggest off-season signing was 6’6” forward Grant Williams. Williams was a solid role player for the Boston Celtics and will look to elevate his game by playing alongside Uncle Drew and Luka.

Dallas has Big Men Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell to protect the paint, but they are not at the level of some of the superstars in the league. Mark Cuban also picked up 7-footer Dereck Lively II in this year’s draft, and he can also prove to be a solid rim protector for the Mavs. He is being compared to the Former Defensive Player of the Year, Tyson Chandler, in terms of defensive presence and rim protection. But JJ does not think that a rookie will be ready to handle such responsibility so early in his career.

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Even though the Dallas Mavericks roster looks good on paper, fans will only know what they are capable of when the NBA season starts. If they work on the weakness that led to their exit from the 2022 playoffs, they might sweep the season.