Nembhard is exactly what this team desperately needs
Dallas signed Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard to a two-way deal on Thursday after his four-year career at Creighton and Gonzaga. Nembhard is exactly what the Mavericks need: a floor general, a shooter, and a play initiator. The Mavericks made the choice to become a very large and very long team last season, which came at the expense of any and all ball handling. Sure, Kyrie Irving can dribble. He is one of the best ball handlers in NBA history. But at his age and size, he cannot be expected to initiate the offense and score 30 points a night, especially coming off a serious injury. This, unfortunately, played out in predictable fashion last March when he tore his ACL after leading the league in minutes for an extended period. And, with the only point guard on the roster being Brandon Williams, and D’Angelo Russell being the leading guard candidate to sign with Dallas, the Mavericks and Nembhard could benefit greatly from throwing him into the fire early.
It is not often that I am giddy about an undrafted guard. But Nembhard is the perfect fit for this roster. Currently constructed, Dallas needs a floor general. They have no one to get them into sets and direct traffic, with all due respect to Williams and Russell (who are score-first guards). If you need evidence of how important a real point guard is, look no further than the Pacers before and after Tyrese Haliburton went down in game seven of the NBA Finals. When Indiana’s adrenaline from the injury wore off, the Pacers turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter, effectively ending the game and series. For the Mavericks’ plethora of forwards and bigs to thrive, they need a guy who can effectively break pressure and put guys in positions to score.
Nembhard does just that. He led the NCAA with 9.8 assists per game last season and turned it over less than three times a game. He is a pick-and-roll maestro and, on a roster starved for good shooting, he brings a 40 percent shooter into the mix. His form is very similar to his brother’s, meaning he will not have an issue getting his shot off at the next level. He scores well at the rim (56% last season) and is not afraid to attack. Defensively, he has active hands and stole the ball 1.7 times a game in his senior year. It is a dream pickup for Dallas, and he should start from game one.
The reality of next season is that the Mavericks are going to be fighting for four months and then hoping that Kyrie Irving comes back at 70 percent or better. With Flagg being the new focal point of the franchise, one of the best things you can do with a young forward is pair him with a young guard and let them grow together. Let Nembhard play with the wolves for 50 games, learning as he goes, and hope that when March rolls around, you have a young, established point guard on a healthy team within striking distance of the playoffs. Williams and/or Russell are not adding many, if any, wins by starting anyway, so the reward much outweighs the risk.
Of course, with a rookie guard, there are concerns. Point guard is the most important position and possesses a lot of nuance, so the learning curve is always steep. Nembhard is only six feet tall, so his size will be a talking point in the opponent’s scouting report. And, perhaps the most important aspect, he will be tasked with diagnosing defenses and directing guys around, which is especially scary when the guys he needs to have respect from are Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis. These are the questions Nembhard will be asked, but it seems like he already has the answers.
He was a four-year college player. He comes into the NBA older than guys like Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle and the same age as Paolo Banchero. This is a massive advantage to his peers because nothing can replace experience. Between his college career and the resources he has at his disposal (playing under Jason Kidd, having a brother who just played in the NBA Finals), the learning curve will be flattened immensely. His size will be mitigated by the size of Dallas’ roster. They can afford to have a smaller guard out there with impending doom waiting inside 15 feet of the rim. And as far as commanding respect, players respond to great passers well. If you can be trusted to deliver the ball in the sweet spot, guys like Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg will love playing with you. Nembhard does that as well as anyone who entered the draft, and certainly better than anyone currently on Dallas’ roster.
Nembhard’s body of work already gives him a strong case to start. But the most important advantage he has over Williams and potentially Russell is playing in summer league with Flagg. Chemistry cannot be manufactured; it has to be developed. It is not nothing that he is playing with the Mavericks’ most important player in real games two months before anyone else. In fact, they may look so good together in Las Vegas that when October rolls around, Nembhard will have been converted to a full-time contract, and seeing him in the starting lineup will be a no-brainer.