The Dallas Mavericks' signing of guard Sterling Brown made him officially the first of the "new guys.''
But being "first'' in that pecking order means nothing now.
As the Mavs begin training camp this week, Brown (who signed a two-year, $3.2 million deal) will be looking to carve out for himself a bench role featuring some much-needed scoring punch for a reserve unit that struggled to score last season.
During the 2020-21 season, Brown averaged 8.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest with the Houston Rockets. It was a career-best season for him, and one in which he converted on 42.3 percent of his 4.2 attempts from three.
Could he do more in this offense? More with more minutes? Where do those minutes come from?
It might not help that he has local ties after spending his college career in Dallas at SMU before he was taken with the No. 46 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. But it might help that he's a "Kidd guy.''
It so happens that Brown, 26, spent three years in Milwaukee, part of which was under the tutelage of new Mavs head coach Jason Kidd. With the Bucks, the 6-5, 219-pound Brown averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Expectations For Brown
Again, the numbers were never big, and would have to be bigger for Brown's minutes to truly grow. But the idea of him as a long-ball marksman, maybe playing alongside superstar Luka Doncic, is obviously part of the Dallas attraction here.
In this NBA, if you are a 3-point shooter, you have a chance to be a contributor. At the very least, and in whatever capacity, Brown should be able to have a more favorable impact on this team as an actual shooting guard than former Maverick Josh Richardson did.
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