As a native Tennessean I have mixed feelings about O.J. Mayo joining the Mavericks. On one hand, I'm disappointed that Memphis could not find a way to keep him. Mayo was a solid sixth man and dangerous scoring option (when he was on the hot side of streaky). On the other hand, I'm glad that Mayo gets a fresh start in my new hometown...Dallas. I read today the Mavs have O.J. penciled in as a day one starter...um....please don't do that! I know that Mayo's career numbers suggest otherwise (17.7 pts per game as a starter / 11.5 pts per game as a reserve), but these numbers do not tell the whole story. Mayo was not benched because of a lack of production. Mayo had a lack of production because he was benched.....
Mayo entered his third season as the starter for Memphis. Early into the 2010-2011 season, things went left for O.J. He was first benched for being late to a game day shoot around in November. He followed that up with a fist fight with a teammate (yes...a fist fight) on a team flight (yes...a team flight). Not to be outdone by himself, O.J. followed the mile high melee up with a 10 game suspension for a banned substance. It's not even February y'all....of course he was benched!!!!
Mayo's numbers dipped as a reserve, but he was a much better player on the court the last year and a half. O.J. is a natural scorer, and a volume shooter. As the sixth man he could carry the offensive load, and often did. His three point and free throw shooting kept him on the floor late in games, and he was brilliant in Memphis' first round upset of top seeded San Antonio two years ago.
Dallas is getting a good player, and I know it has to be tempting to start Mayo right away. I see Mayo as a younger and more athletic Jason Terry. Dallas could start newly acquired defensive specialist Dahntay Jones alongside Dirk, maybe put Jones on the other team's best player...a la Memphis and Tony Allen. Mayo would be the offensive spark off the bench and closer. It worked really well for the Grizzlies as a team the last couple of years. I could for Dallas as well. follow @plcolter
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