‘Definitely Going To Be More Than 9’: Dusty May Plans Deeper Dallas Mavericks Rotation After Studying NBA’s Best Teams

DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Dusty May expects to play more than nine players in his rotation this season, and his staff spent the last couple of weeks studying how the league’s best teams from the past three or four seasons used their benches. May discussed the plan before Friday’s preseason finale against the Atlanta Hawks at American Airlines Center.

Dallas is 1-2 in the preseason after a split with the Houston Rockets in Macao and a 101-97 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. The Mavericks finished 26-56 last season.

Dusty May On The Mavericks’ Rotation Size

Players coming back from injuries are part of May’s thinking. Santi Aldama and Dereck Lively II are out again Friday. The Mavericks also listed Max Christie as out for rest and Tarik Biberović with right heel bursitis. Kyrie Irving played his first game in 19 months on Oct. 11 in Macao, and Marcus Sasser and Morez Johnson Jr. are back Friday after missing time.

The study covered more than the number of players in each rotation. May’s staff also looked at how many minutes each team’s starters and main rotation players logged and how fast those teams played.

“I think with where we are with guys coming back from injuries and things like that, I think it’s unrealistic to be nine,” May said. “We’ve studied in the last couple weeks all the best teams in the last three or four years, their rotation size, their volume of minutes for their main player starters rotation, and then also the tempo which they play at, the number of possessions. It’s another thing if 30 minutes on one team is equivalent to 24 minutes on another team, things like that.”

“So we do anticipate, because of our roster depth, we think that’s one of our weapons. It might be a night where we play a guy eight minutes who’s a rotation player, and then the next game he might play 32 because of a matchup, because of injuries,” May continued. “So we like our lineup versatility and our depth, but right now it’s too early to say, but it’s definitely going to be more than nine.”

Dallas ruled out eight players Wednesday against New Orleans, including Irving and Cooper Flagg, who both rested. Rookie Sergio de Larrea, the 25th overall pick in June, played a team-high 30 minutes that night and finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists.

May On Coach’s Challenges And Game Rhythm

May is in his ninth season as a head coach and his first in the NBA. He spent six seasons at Florida Atlantic, where he took the Owls to the 2023 Final Four, and two at Michigan, where he won the national championship in April.

Under NBA rules, each coach gets one challenge per game, plus a second if the first one succeeds. May has lost two this preseason, one in Macao and one Wednesday against New Orleans. He has still been happy with how his staff has handled them.

“I definitely feel more in rhythm of the game than I did and than we did two weeks ago or whenever we started in Macao, but not near where we will be,” May explained. “We’re trying to find our best processes across the board. There’s a lot of new people, players, coaches, everyone just trying to figure out the right way, the right time.”

“I have been happy with our challenges. I think we have lost two of them. The one that we lost in Macao, we got an email that it shouldn’t have been, so once again, without resulting, we’re happy with that process,” May continued.

“The one in the last game, if it was a tie game, I wouldn’t have challenged it. We knew there was a risk. We knew there was some contact before the grab,” May added. “But at that point in the game, I think we were down maybe eight or 10. It was worth a shot as we were trying to just hang around and trying to survive at that point, just kind of stay in the fight.”

“We’re getting better with our processes every day. Are we where we want to be? No,” May noted. “But I don’t think I’ve ever had a season before it started where I felt like, man, we are really in sync now. You have an offseason, you’re out of rhythm a little bit, you’ve thought about the game a lot differently than you are in that moment in the heat of the battle. So I promise you all we will continue to get better.”

Tip-off against Atlanta is set for 7 p.m. CT. Dallas opens the regular season Oct. 21 in Houston at 7:30 p.m. CT.