Mavericks vs. Clippers preseason preview: 3 things to keep an eye on as Dallas takes on LA

The Dallas Mavericks travel to Los Angeles for their only preseason away game this year, taking on the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.

Dallas is looking for its first win of the preseason after losing games to Memphis and Utah last week. The Mavericks were not at full strength throughout the preseason, although new Maverick Klay Thompson made his debut against the Jazz.

The Mavericks likely won't have PJ Washington or Luka Doncic against the Clippers, as coach Jason Kidd has told the media he hopes to have them available for the final preseason game against Milwaukee and use that game as a dress rehearsal for the regular season opener .

For now, we'll see more of Thompson in a Mavericks jersey and see how some of the backup players continue to develop. You should pay attention to this:

More Klay!

Klay Thompson debuted against the Jazz, and while his numbers were modest (10 points on 3 of 9 shooting), you could already see how Thompson's skills could dramatically improve the Mavericks' offensive output.

By far the most notable stat from Klay's debut were the three assists. Thompson was a great passer, intercepting pindown screens or setting screens himself – the Warriors' read-and-react motion offense supported this. While the Warriors' frontcourt wasn't bad during Thompson's time there, the improvement at the rim with Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford is notable. Thompson had a smooth assist to Lively for a dunk in the first half against Utah after setting up a ball screen for Kyrie Irving. Thompson represents an improved version of Tim Hardaway Jr.'s skill set, and the Mavericks saw the best years of Hardaway's career in Dallas. Imagining this role with Thompson has Mavericks fans buzzing, so this will be another opportunity to see him in action.

Bank draft

The Mavericks have a mostly set starting lineup with Thompson, Irving and Doncic surrounded by PJ Washington and Dereck Lively up front. We know Gafford will serve as a backup center and occasional starter depending on the game and injuries. The rest of the bank is still somewhat available.

We know that Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes are likely to be important players, but neither have particularly impressed in pre-season. Marshall has shown dribbling skills that can help the Mavericks' at-times stagnant offense, but he's been shooting poorly from the field so far, and Grimes hasn't hit his stride either. It would be encouraging if these two had some bright moments in the last two preseason games.

The backup point guard duties are a battle between Spencer Dinwiddie and Jaden Hardy, with Dante Exum on the shelf recovering from wrist surgery. Dinwiddie is big enough to play alongside Hardy, but it will be interesting to see how Kidd handles those minutes when the games actually count. Hardy had some good moments behind the three-point line this preseason and made some nice passes, but he still struggles to score from two-point range. Dinwiddie was rough to say the least, more like the Dinwiddie of Washington, Brooklyn and Los Angeles than the one who shined in Dallas for about 18 months after being traded here in 2022. Dinwiddie's veteran status gives him some grace, so Hardy must continue to show up in these preseason games.

The role of O-Max

There's a lot to like about second-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper – his athletic build, his motor skills and his personality. He fits the mold of the ideal 3-and-D winger, except so far, when Prosper has been particularly energized during Summer League and preseason, he has used that time to work on things outside of his game and role – namely getting up, doing pull-ups, handling the ball, trying to isolate it and score.

That's just not what Prosper will be asked to do if he gets minutes in the regular season. I've played around with this a few times, especially on the podcast, but I'd like to see Prosper get more minutes if he just plays the role he's supposed to play – getting around the rim, cutting to the basket, the boards crash, play defense. Kidd tried to enforce that against the Jazz by putting Propser in the starting lineup alongside Irving, Thompson and Lively. Funnily enough, Prosper was a plus-1 player, the best among the Mavericks starters that night. Coincidence? Perhaps! (Prosper played extended minutes without the starters in the second half). But I don't think you need to be a rocket scientist to know that Prosper's best chance of winning at this stage of his career is to be an athletic, defensive-minded role player. I would just like to see more opportunities for Prosper to do this.

Here's how to watch

The meeting point is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CST. You can watch it on NBATV, and if it's not available in the DFW area, you can stream the game on mavs.com.