A longtime NBA insider has accused the league of undervaluing a critical Dallas Mavericks swingman.
After they made the 2024 NBA Finals, the Mavericks had some big decisions to make about some key contributors. The team opted to let starting small forward Derrick Jones Jr. walk in free agency, traded bench swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Detroit Pistons for guard Quentin Grimes, and and offloaded guard Josh Green to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a six-team deal.
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Dallas replaced Jones with Naji Marshall and Hardaway with Klay Thompson. Thompson was a qualitative upgrade, while Marshall represented an improvement over Jones offensively but a slight downgrade defensively. Grimes was supposed to serve as Green’s replacement, but he was eventually shipped off to the Philadelphia 76ers right before the 2025 trade deadline.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale recently called out the NBA for not appreciating the contributions of one of Dallas’ less glamorous 2024 summer signings — Marshall.
“It would definitely be neat if Marshall both made and attempted more triples,” Favale allows. “But he’s a highly useful player without that glitzy volume and efficiency.”
Marshall, like Jones, is a remarkably versatile defender, who can be counted on to properly cover bigger frontcourt starters on switches but can also stick on quicker perimeter players.
Another thing from my Mavs-OKC game observation: PJ, Maxi and Naji 🔒defense vs Jalen Williams.
J-Dub was 7-of-22 , 6 turnovers, and just 2-of-12 when one of Kleber, Washington, or Marshall was the closest defender. Really liked the switchable Naji/PJ/Maxi lineups👇 pic.twitter.com/AtsDtjxW0C
— Iztok Franko (@iztok_franko) January 18, 2025
“The scope of his defensive assignments regularly runs the gamut of guards, wings and bigs,” Favale writes. “He’s more likely to get moved around so that he winds up covering a star than to avoid tracking one.”
Across 69 healthy bouts (31 starts) for Dallas in 2024-25, the 6-foot-7 Xavier product averaged a career-most 13.2 points on .508/.275/.813 shooting splits, 4.8 boards, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals a night.
The Mavericks’ signings of Marshall and Thompson and trade for Grimes were all designed to augment the greatness of All-Star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Now, the Mavericks are a team in flux, having flipped Doncic midseason for aging All-Star Anthony Davis. Health issues knocked Davis and Irving out of finishing out much of the season, and Irving will be sidelined for a good chunk of 2025-26 as he recuperates from ACL tear.
But the Dallas has also selected Duke phenom Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick in this summer’s draft. Flagg could supplant Marshall’s minutes a bit in the the team’s frontcourt, although his versatility defensively should still earn him minutes.
“What he lacks in dependable outside range, he makes up for with driving acuity,” Favale writes. Marshall is a 30.2 percent shooter from beyond the arc for his career.
“He can bully his way to the rim, but that’s not his default,” notes Favale. “He dusted off a nifty floor game during his first season with the Dallas Mavericks, displaying patience coming around screens, some hesitation handles and a few footwork counters, all without sacrificing efficiency.”
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