Brandon Williams was the Mavericks surprise last season, can he do more?

The Mavericks' lineup is full, but lacks creativity and organizational ability, which makes the 25-year-old Williams look particularly special. Can he go a step further in this team that desperately needs organizers?

If you rack your brains, you can't find any good memories of the Mavericks' 2025 season, I fully understand. Since Luca Doncic's trade triggered many chain reactions on and off the court, most fans may have tried to throw everything related to this season into the "forgetful hole" in the mind (the hole in "1984" that throws files into the hole to destroy them to "correct" historical memory).

Even as a senior hardcore who has watched all 84 games last season, I have to admit that it is not easy to choose moments worth remembering. But there is still an overlooked clip that still impressed me - it was in the Mavericks' first playoff victory over the Sacramento Kings, from two-way contract guard Brandon Williams, who has now signed a multi-year contract with Dallas.

At the end of the third quarter, the Mavericks controlled the game with an advantage of 18 points. Bwee dribbled 45 degrees on the left, while Drake Levley II set up a cover on the left. This is usually what the NBA defense wants to see: let the ball holder dribble to the sideline rather than the middle, thereby compressing its operating space. Although Lefly's cover was quite solid, Kings center Jonas Valanciunas chose to follow the cover to the high post to defend. If you press the pause button the moment Lefly sets up cover, Buwei in the screen seems to have been forced into the dead corner of the sideline.

However, in a blink of an eye, Williams had wiped two Kings defenders into the penalty area. He made a dexterous change of direction and moved, drifting across the defense and killing towards the middle, forcing the opponent to defend, thus creating an absolute three-pointer opportunity for P.J. Washington. Buwei's pass was just right to Washington, but unfortunately the latter failed to hit a three-pointer.

The game play-by-play round record will not mention Williams' breakthrough, only showing "Washington missed the shot." But this round made me click the playback button to watch it repeatedly. The Mavericks' 2025 season is like falling into hell, while Buwei is one of the few lights in the dark road. As an unexpected surprise, he made the boring match in March worth watching, and this round perfectly interpreted its value.

This is crucial because when the Mavericks start the new season in October, Buwei will once again take on the heavy responsibility. Kyrie Irving is recovering from ACL surgery and is most optimistic that it will also take one month to come back. In reality, Irving may miss 25-40 games, and the Mavericks' response to his long absence is to sign Tangiero Russell smartly - but that's all. Unless another unexpected deal occurs, the rotation on point guards on Opening Night will be Russell, Bwee and Jaden Hardy. The Mavericks may claim to be fighting for the win, but apparently they are maintaining a more patient strategy against Irving's injury and Cooper Flagg's draft. Of course, it is also unbelievable that it is Bwey's performance at the end of the season that affected Dallas' relatively quiet operations during the offseason.

Williams will get the opportunity, and he will have to stand up again and take on a more important role. Last season was his third year as the 2021 undrafted NBA. When the Mavericks fell into the injury wave after Doncic traded and Irving was injured, his data set career highs. In 33 games, Buwei averaged 14.8 minutes per game, scoring 8.3 points, 2.3 assists and 1.8 rebounds. After the All-Star Weekend, his data soared again - averaging 14.6 points per game, shooting 54.8% from the field and 39.5% from three-pointers in 14 games. Buwei scored extremely efficiently, with a 48.6% 3-point shooting percentage from the ball and 48% of the scores came from the paint area. For reference, according to the NBA's official website data, about 37% of Irving's scores came from the paint area in the 2024 season.

Bwee injected a ray of fresh vitality into this organizational ability that deeply missed Irving and the once dull attack. Except for Najib Marshall, no one can continue to hit the inside like Buwei - it was him who broke the defenders who were already accustomed to standing by. They had to quietly watch the Mavericks players perform one-man show of back-and-single and singles.

This is exactly why he was so dazzling that round when he was against the King. Even in a healthy state, Irving no longer often plays a powerful breakthrough player at this stage of his career and is gradually transforming into a more orderly scorer. This is not a derogatory view of Irving, after all, he can show off at any position on the court, but the Mavericks do lack a breakthrough player in the Mavericks lineup. Flag can certainly help, but this is essentially a team that focuses on ending, with few offensive initiators. Buwei has demonstrated his breakthrough ability on specific occasions last season, and this is particularly important if the Mavericks want to maximize Davis' talent - this big man is best suited to a defender who is good at using cover to kill the middle, break through defense and attract a defender. Davis certainly has the chance to attack with the ball, but Dallas must also create a way for him to score easily. Buwei's decisiveness and ball-holding rate will be key. 80 of Williams' 188 shots last season came from the penalty area, and his shooting percentage in the penalty area was 63.8%, which is relatively good but there is still room for improvement. And his non-assisted rate in the penalty area is more than 70% (in comparison, Irving's non-assisted rate in the penalty area in the 24th season was 51.1%. Buwei performed outstandingly in creating opportunities at the basket independently. The next step is to continue to use breakthroughs to create high-quality opportunities for his teammates, but he has taken the first step of success to be able to continue to break through the basket cleanly and neatly. This is especially important because Russell is not a breakthrough backcourt threat point, he prefers to cruising outside and fire and hitting three-pointers. Before Irving returns, Bwey could become the Mavericks' most dynamic point guard - a miracle for the undraft who has been in the NBA and the Development League and finally found a home in Dallas.

If we have to tell what positive side of Dallas was last season, it would be that many young players have obtained opportunities that were impossible to get. Although Williams' rookie season received a lot of playing time in Portland, he was a team that was uncompetitive and did not know where he was going. Although the Mavericks were not considered a strong team last season, they still maintained hope for the playoffs, which also allowed Buwei to go through a high-pressure test in two playoffs. In fact, he handed over the most stable answer among the Mavericks players in the play-offs: he made 17 points, 5 assists and 0 mistakes against the Kings; he made 16 points, 7 assists and 0 mistakes against the Grizzlies.

Of course, this is still the data under a small sample. Williams has been shining for only two months in the NBA-level field, and as opponents begin to study his game footage, he may face a dilemma of falling back form or targeting the defense. In addition, there are problems on the defensive end: insufficient height will inevitably limit Buwei's defense, but with many defensive forwards and centers, the Mavericks are expected to become the largest team in the NBA lineup. If all members are healthy, the height of the lineup should be enough to make up for the defensive shortcomings of this 6-foot-1-inch (1-meter-85) defender.

At this moment, I can't help but recall how fast Buwei was as fast as lightning and lightly tearing the defense. If you want to create enough wonderful memories in the new season and use it to fill the "forgetful hole" of last season, the Mavericks need their surprise point guard to contribute more such wonderful performances.