5 Western Conference teams the Sacramento Kings need to worry most about next season

Dallas Mavericks

Do you know who is arguably even more dangerous than the Timberwolves? The team that knocked them (and the Thunder) out of the playoffs: the Mavericks.

And after getting handedly dismantled by the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, the Mavericks were able to use the little resources they had to address their main roster flaw. The main reason the series was so lopsided is that the Mavericks didn't have as many two-way wings/forwards as the Celtics.

So, this offseason, the Mavericks aimed to close that gap, essentially swapping out Derrick Jones Jr. for Naji Marshall, Josh Green for Klay Thompson, and Tim Hardaway Jr. for Quentin Grimes.

In Marshall's case, he is an equal/better defender than Jones while also being a better spacer. Last season, Marshall hit 41.7% of his wide-open threes (per NBA.com). Meanwhile, Jones hit just 35.1% of his wide-open triples.

Thompson isn't as frenetic of a defender as Green, but he at least gives you more size (6'7 compared to Green's 6'5). And it goes without saying (as I proceed to say it) that the former Splash Brother is a more reliable shooter than the streaky Green.

Hardaway's reputation as a shooter has always been overblown. For his career, he is just a 36% 3-point shooter. That is 1.1% lower than Grimes' career average (37.1%). This says nothing about Grimes' superior impact on the defensive side of the ball. Last year, Grimes was in the 79th percentile in DEF EPM (in a down year), while Hardaway was in the 15th percentile.