This Is EVEN BETTER Than What We Thought...

This is even better than what we thought. The Dallas Mavericks, for the most part, have solved their point guard problems. At the time of this recording, we still have Jaden Hardy, we got Brandon Williams, we just signed D'Angelo Russell, and we're still trying to find a rush spot for Dante Exum. In yesterday's video, we went over how a potential trade with the Cavaliers for Dean Wade could open up a spot for Dante. But there's one other player that's been turning heads, showing that he has the potential to crack our rotation. And that player is 5'11 point guard out of Gonzaga, Ryan Nimhard, who, although only being on a two-way roster, only had to play three games of Summer League before the coaches shut him down, citing that they have seen enough. He is ready for the NBA right now. So in today's video, we're going to take a look at Ryan Nimhard, see how well he actually played in Summer League, how can he crack the rotation and get quality minutes with the team, as well as go over an article by Grant Afseth that breaks all of it down. How's it going, everybody? My name is Marcel Martin. This is Mavericks Digest bringing you the latest news on everything Mavericks related. And before you start with today's video, we're currently sitting at 21,656 subscribers, getting oh so close to our goal of 22k. But if you want to be up to date on everything Mavericks related all summer long, as we're getting just one day closer to the start of the season, make sure you subscribe. And I'd appreciate it greatly. But the Dallas Mavericks, for the most part, have solved their point guard problems, knowing that Kyrie Irving will be out for at least the first half of the season. They say that he's trending upwards. He could be back late December, early January, but they don't want to rush it. So let's just say February is when Kyrie Irving will return. And in that time, the point guard position will be occupied mainly by D'Angelo Russell, Dante Exum, if we ever find a roster spot, as well as Jaden Hardy and Brandon Williams. And for most people, that's not enough. That's not a good point guard rotation, while others feel like they can hold it down somewhat till Kyrie Irving returns. But there's one other player that's really been turning heads, showing that he can easily crack this rotation and could possibly get minutes over other players. And that player is Ryan Nimhart, our two-way player out of Gonzaga, who led all of college basketball in assists. And again, only at five feet 11, he has shown signs that he is ready for the NBA right now. And if we take a look at just really quick, and in his debut, he dropped 21 points, five assists. He was 8 of 14 from the floor, certified bucket. And that game was absolutely amazing. And for that being our first summer league game with Ryan Nimhart and Cooper Flagg, all eyes were on Cooper Flagg. But in that game, it was Ryan Nimhart, as well as Miles Kelly, that really shined. And although in this second game, he didn't really look that great, he did have a bounce back game in game three. And after that, the coaches said, we've seen enough. Ryan Nimhart is the truth. Obviously, he's going to be playing for the Texas Legends, the G League team. But if he does impress enough, if he puts in that work, Ryan Nimhart could easily find his way onto the roster in some capacity. And if we take a look at this right here, an article by Grant Afseth titled, He's Smart As Hell. Dallas Mavericks Ryan Nimhart earns praise with strong summer league showing. An article follows by saying, Nimhart appeared in only three summer league games for Dallas before being shut down. But that short stint was enough to solidify his status as one of the top performers in Las Vegas. The Gonzaga product averaged 11.7 points and 6.7 assists, while operating with a level of control and polish that exceeded expectations for a two-way signee. In a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Nimhart posted 21 points and five assists, including the game-winning bucket. A moment that crystallizes his poise and ability to manipulate, I'm sorry, to manipulate late game situations. And in that first game, it was amazing. Like I said, all eyes were on Cooper Flagg. He's the number one pick. It's his first, I guess, NBA game. We wanted to see what Cooper could do. But it was Ryan Nimhart that really did shine. That shows that, yeah, I'm a two-way guy. I'm only five feet 11. They say my defense is a liability. But he went out there and showed that he had a lot of heart. He had 21 points. He had six, five or six assists. And he averaged about six assists a game in those three summer league games that he played. And although we know that he's a two-way guy, I'll remind everybody again, last season, we relied heavily on our two-way guys. Brandon Williams got a contract because of it, as well as Kessler Edwards and Kai Jones and the few other two-way guys that we had as well. They all helped the Dallas Mavericks immensely last year when we could have easily forfeited games because we didn't have enough players. And Ryan Nimhart still has a lot more to show and a lot more to prove. But right off the bat, he's starting on a good foot. The article does continue by saying Ryan Nimhart steps up without Cooper Flagg. Nimhart's most complete outing came in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets, a game the Mavericks played without Flagg. In 25 minutes, Nimhart finished with 11 points and a game-high 8 assists, orchestrating the offense from start to finish and adjusting his approach as the team leaned more heavily on his playmaking. He's been asked to be off the ball more with Cooper, Broghammer said, the head coach. And then against Charlotte, I think he almost had a double-double in limited minutes. I think you can see he can run the team or he can play off the ball. That performance came just one day after Nimhart struggled against the Spurs, finishing with two points on one-of-ten shooting and five turnovers. But the bounce back was immediate. He opened the next game with back-to-back threes and settled into the pace the Mavericks needed. All of that is very important to take into context because although some of you, myself included, are very high on Ryan Nimhart, I truly do believe that he could be a future Maverick on the actual roster, but I think he could really get a real NBA contract from the Mavericks and could easily be a piece of a future championship team. He has all the qualities and one of the qualities that I really did like that, although Game 2 of Summer League was horrible for him. One-of-ten shooting, five turnovers, that's trash. That's something you expect from a two-way guy. But what was important was the bounce back in that third game, lighting it up with three straight threes, having eight assists in that game. And yes, in Game 1 and 2, he had to play off-ball to Cooper Flagg. We all know that they want Cooper to be a ball handler and experiment with that, so he had to play a little bit more off-ball. And in Game 1, he flourished in it. Game 2, a little bit of a struggle. But in Game 3, without Cooper Flagg, he was able to orchestrate the offense, get guys involved, as well as find his own bucket. And if you've watched Ryan Nimhart play in any of these Summer League games, he's not that bad of a defender. I know he's only 5 feet 11 inches. He's shorter than me. But he is a very pesky and tenacious defender who will pick up the other team's ball handler 96 feet, all the way from the other end. Ryan Nimhart has a lot of heart, and it takes more than that to make in the NBA, but he also has the skills to back it up as well. And the article does continue, saying, Scouts take notice of poise, tempo control. NBA scouts in Las Vegas took notice. Not just the numbers, but the finer details. He was one of the best pick-and-roll decision makers I saw in this class before the draft, one Western Conference scout told Dallas Hoops Journal.com. He's undersized, but he's really crafty. He doesn't just make the simple read. He waits for the big to commit, manipulates the tag, and he can make the pocket pass, the spray out, or look to score himself. He checks a lot of boxes. Mavericks wing Matthew Cleveland, signed to an Exhibit 10 contract, praised Nimhart's competitive edge, calling his vision and quick change of direction impeccable. Again, a lot of high praise for Ryan Nimhart. He's going to be great in the NBA one day. I hope he's great for the Mavericks one day. And just knowing that we have a player who led all of college in assists, which is not an easy thing to do, especially when you're only 5'11", while also averaging about 10-11 points per game, you're generating a lot of offense, not just for yourself, but for your team. And if in some capacity that can translate to the NBA level for the Dallas Mavericks, not as a starting point guard, maybe not even as a backup, but possibly take minutes away from someone like Brandon Williams and Jayden Hardy, I can definitely see it. And although he is a shorter guard, he will have to commit more to defense to prove that he isn't a liability on the court, and that he deserves to be out there. Because although you can have 8 assists, 11 points, knock down a couple threes and look good, you can't give up that on the other end. You still have to be a good defender, even as a shorter player. And yes, there are other guards in the NBA that aren't the best defenders that teams do hide. Players like Jaylen Brunson. We all love Jaylen Brunson. I do too. He's not that good of a defender. Other players like Steph Curry, also a not that good defender that does hide on defense to make up for those defensives, the lack of defense. To put it bluntly. But Ryan Nembhard is a player that if he can commit to just being a better defender, that's all he really has to do. The playmaking is there. The decision making is there. Being that good in the pick and roll and passing is absolutely amazing, as well as getting your own shot. He has all the makings of an NBA point guard. He just takes time, but I feel like he's already ahead of schedule. The article does continue, saying path to playing time could come sooner than expected. The Mavericks staff saw enough to shut him down early, a signal they believe in both his short and long-term impact as a player. With Kyrie Irving still recovering from ACL surgery and D'Angelo Russell signed to help bridge the gap, depending on how training camp unfolds, Nembhard could emerge as a viable backup and provide additional depth in addition to Dante and Brandon Williams. Nembhard, 22, averaged 10.5 points, 9.8 assists per game for Gonzaga last season, while leading the NCAA tournament in assists. Younger brother of Indiana Patriots guard Andrew Nembhard, he brings a similar combination of high IQ, steady decision-making, and defensive competitiveness that helped his brother transition quickly to the NBA. So there you have it. I mean, he could easily take those minutes from somebody else. I mean, yes, we have, for the time being, we have Jaden Hardy. Not sure if another trade could possibly happen where we don't have Jaden Hardy, but we do have Jaden Hardy, we have Brandon Williams, and I feel like those two players will have to fight Ryan Nembhard for their spot. If they still want to be the backup and backup backup point guard, they're going to have to make sure that they outperform Ryan Nembhard during training camp. But from everything that I've seen from Ryan Nembhard, the decision-making, the ability to just be so effective in the pick and roll and the pick and pop, just being able to be a good defender for the most part, for what he's able to do at his size, is amazing. He has high IQ, which is also important for this Dallas Mavericks team, and he's not that bad of a free throw shooter. We all know our guys are horrible at free throws. He's not that bad. But time will tell. Ryan Nembhard has all the makings of an amazing point guard, amazing backup point guard that the Mavericks could use now and in the future. And I, for one, am very high on him. And before we end this video, we're starting a whole new segment for the foreseeable future, where if you drop a question, I may just feature it in the video. And for today's question of the day, someone asked, what would or what trade or move you would actually feasibly make to improve this roster? And that's an easy one. I can answer that right now. I would quickly, without a doubt, trade Caleb Martin for Luka Doncic. That's what I would do to make this team better. Let me know in the comment section down below, what trade would you do that could feasibly make this team better? I think you'd trade Caleb Martin for Luka Doncic. It would make everything better. I truly do think the Lakers would actually do that. But I appreciate you guys making this far into the video. Check out our Twitter and Discord. Link in the description below. And as always, y'all take care. Drink water. Peace.