Justin Anderson is having a hard time getting minutes in his NBA rookie season, so the Dallas Mavericks have put him on the D-League train.
And the Virginia product is dominating with the Texas Legends, scoring 24.2 points per game, shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three-point range.
But how does that translate to the next level up? Anderson is averaging 6.3 minutes, scoring 2.2 points, shooting 41.0 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from three.
The issue for Anderson is that the Mavs have veteran talent in the backcourt, with former All-Star Deron Williams (14.8 ppg, 5.8 assists per game), max-contract free-agent signee Wesley Matthews (12.6 ppg) and reserves J.J. Barea (10.0 ppg, 4.2 apg) and Raymond Felton (9.5 ppg, 3.6 apg) ensconced in coach Rick Carlisle’s rotation.
Devon Harris (7.7 ppg) is the fifth option right now, and he’s getting 20.7 minutes per game.
Four of the five guards ahead of Anderson right now are point guards (all but Matthews), and Matthews is struggling mightily (shooting 37.3 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three).
Which is to say, it would seem that there is opportunity out ahead of young Simba, with his numbers in the D-League suggesting that he might be ready for his look soon.
– Story by Chris Graham
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