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It's a small step, but another in the right direction. The Dallas Mavericks have filled their final two-way slot with former Orlando Magic lottery pick Jett Howard, signing the 22-year-old to replace the recently waived Tyler Smith. While Howard hasn't proved much in his abbreviated NBA career, he brings a skill Dallas desperately needs: shooting. And his signing is the latest indication the Mavericks still aren't finished addressing that issue.
Dallas was among the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA last season, as they ranked in the bottom five in 3-pointers made per game and 3-point percentage. Their lack of shooting was one of the many reasons the offense struggled so much, and it quickly became their biggest weakness.
Howard only owns a 32.6 percent 3-point clip across 133 career appearances. That begs the question: How can Howard remotely be tasked with remedying Dallas' shoddy perimeter shooting?
Mavericks are betting on untapped potential with Jett Howard
Well, Howard is, at least theoretically, a good shooter. He knocked down 36.8 percent of his triples on 7.2 attempts per game at Michigan, a mark that surely helped vault his draft stock. Ahead of the 2023 NBA Draft, Kevin O'Connor called Howard a "knockdown 3-point shooter," while ESPN's Jeremy Woo wrote, "Howard's shooting ability and size makes him a potentially dangerous perimeter threat in the long run."
Yet, neither draftnik projected Howard to go as high as he ultimately did in the 2023 NBA Draft, perhaps leading to heightened expectations for the son of a former NBA All-Star.
Nonetheless, Howard was buried on an Orlando team flush with wing talent. With Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner set in stone at forward, there was no path for Howard to carve out an extended role. He was pushed even further down the depth chart with Jonathan Isaac sticking around, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's addition, the drafting of the more experienced Tristan Da Silva, and the trade for Desmond Bane.
All in all, it was a tall task for the still-developing Howard to see the floor.
Howard's shooting upside is why Mavericks took the gamble
Even with Orlando's seemingly never-ending need for more shooting, the 6-foot-8 wing just couldn't crack the rotation. But on the bright side, he's shown some glimpses of what he could become. In the only season he spent in the G League (2023-24), Howard shot 37.9 percent from three, and a season ago, in his most expanded role to date, he drilled 37.2 percent of his triples.
Howard's shooting is finally starting to come around, and the Mavericks are in the perfect position to cash in on the budding talent, signing him to this no-risk two-way deal.
While Howard is replacing a similarly once-hyped talent in Smith, who was also supposed to be a floor-spacing threat, the former owns a prettier stroke and has actually demonstrated that it can be lethal, albeit at lower levels.
But, all in all, Dallas doesn't need Howard to step right in and become a knockdown shooter. He's on a two-way deal, for crying out loud. This signing is merely another swing on a once-lauded player whose primary skill set is exactly what the Mavericks desperately lacked a season ago. Shooting.
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This article was originally published on thesmokingcuban.com as Jett Howard's arrival shows Mavericks aren't done fixing last year's biggest weakness.
