Dirk Nowitzki is supposedly retiring. Supposedly. He hasn’t said he’s doing so yet, just implied it, but everyone seems to think that this is it for him because he keeps getting standing ovations at every arena he visits. So let’s just say, for the sake of example, that he is retiring. Wow! Great career, yada yada, one of the best, blah blah blah, classy guy. Whatever. But now there is a hole in the Mavericks that needs to be filled. The truth is plain: they need an ersatz Dirk. But who can fill this void? Let’s take a look at the options:
Maxi Kleber. This is the big one, not only because he’s a big man. He checks all the boxes. German? CHECK. Big? CHECK. Shoots threes? CHECK. He’s three for three on the Dirk replacement checklist. He doesn’t have quite the same scoring pedigree, but hey, neither did Dirk when he came into the league.
Kristaps Porzingis. This is the other big one. He almost checks all the boxes. Big? CHECK. Shoots threes? CHECK. German? …NOT CHECK. I’m sure if you dug around in his DNA you could find some Teutonic strands, maybe a few Bavarian helices in there or something, but his nationality is pretty firmly Latvian. But he does have more of the Dirk-esque scoring numbers, which may be more important to Mavericks fans and their FO than being strictly AUF DEUTSCH.
Luka Doncic. In terms of pure superstar potential, this is the guy who matches up with Dirk the best. You could argue Porzingis is there too, but did you see what happened to his knee? Big pause. I am pausing for a long time because of that knee. Doncic isn’t athletic enough to have something that bad happen to his knee.
J.J. Barea. I’m not really feeling this one, because he doesn’t check any of the boxes. He did win a championship with Dirk, though, the only remaining Mav to do so, and everyone loves him. So he can be the replacement for a season while the other options are evaluated.