What was real and what wasn't from Mavericks' preseason run

NOT REAL: The Mavericks Will Have Historically Great Defense

Dallas had the best defensive rating during the preseason at 97.1, with the next best rating being the Boston Celtics at 100.2. For reference, that would've been the best defensive rating in the NBA for more than 20 years. That's entirely unrealistic.

The numbers were absolutely inflated by the competition, as the Thunder and Lakers didn't play many key players. It's one thing to have a great defense against Dalton Knecht, it's another to do it against Luka Doncic.

I'm not even convinced that they'll have the best defense in the NBA this season, as much as that should be their goal. Smaller players like Miles Bridges and Gabe Vincent gave the perimeter defense some issues. Until we see how they play against someone like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander next week, we won't know how great this defense can be.

REAL: Three-Point Shooting May Be a Struggle

The Mavericks shot just 30.8% from three in their four preseason games, making the 6th fewest per game among NBA teams. There will certainly be some regression to the mean, but three-point shooting is still a major concern entering the season.

Klay Thompson is arguably the only good-to-great shooter projected to see major minutes. P.J. Washington and Max Christie shot well last year, but teams would love if they're the ones shooting unless they increase volume. Otherwise, D'Angelo Russell is coming off the worst shooting season of his career, Cooper Flagg's biggest weakness is perimeter shooting, Naji Marshall shot poorly last year, Anthony Davis has never been a great shooter, and Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford are still non-shooters as of now.

NOT REAL: Anthony Davis Will Be Best as a Power Forward

Anthony Davis has been vocal on his desire to play power forward mostly. With Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford on the roster, the Mavericks can accomodate his desire, something the Lakers couldn't really do the last few years while he was there.

But if he's going to continue to be a below 30% shooter from deep, as mentioned earlier, this spacing is going to be weird and may not work at times. Once Kyrie Irving returns, Dallas' best lineup will likely be Irving, Thompson, Washington, Flagg, and Davis, which makes players like Lively and Gafford harder to play. That's a shame, because they're really good.