There will never be another Dwight Powell

In the winter of 2014, I was struggling through my freshman year of college. After spending my entire childhood in the North Texas suburbs, I made the reckless and ill-advised decision to attend a private university in central Illinois. Things weren’t going well for me— my mental health was in the gutter, I was abusing substances and failing my classes, and couldn’t stop feeling desperately, pathetically homesick.

Mavericks’ basketball was a lifeline during this time. Through my angst and depression, I could always look forward to locking in with Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, and Tyson Chandler during the early days of that infamous 2014-2015 season. That team was incredibly fun to watch, and for the first time since winning the title in 2011, it seemed like they could make a serious run. After all, Dallas had the best offensive rating in league history during those first few months.

We all know what happened next: Dallas made the Rajon Rondo trade and nuked their season. I remember being home for winter break when the news broke. My friend and I got the notification and celebrated, sure that our contending team was adding the final piece to the puzzle. Despite concerns about fit (with both the roster and coach Rick Carlisle), bringing in a talent like Rondo was a risk worth taking.

It didn’t work out. Rondo fit horribly, clashed with Carlisle and Dirk, and quit on the team as the Mavericks flamed out in the first round of the playoffs. It was a disastrous trade, one that destroyed a promising season with added potential to set the franchise back for years to come.

But it didn’t. When Dallas made that fateful trade with the Boston Celtics, they tossed a young, undersized big man into the deal. His name was Dwight Harlan Powell, and he became one of the most important Dallas Mavericks in team history.

When Powell first came to Dallas, no one was really sure what he was. Drafted 45th overall in 2014 by the Hornets, Powell bounced from Charlotte to Cleveland before eventually settling with the Celtics to start his rookie season. The Stanford product played just nine total minutes for Boston before the Rondo deal, so Maverick fans didn’t have many reference points. Powell worked his way into a depth role for Dallas that season, appearing in a handful of games and mostly shooting pick-and-pop midrange jumpers. I remember thinking, “This guy can shoot a bit, and he moves pretty well, too.”

But that was never going to be a viable role for a player of Powell’s size and skill level. A classic tweener prospect, Powell was too small to handle traditional center responsibilities at the NBA level. Unfortunately, he also wasn’t a good enough shooter or scorer to play the four spot. To get out of tweener jail and make an impact for Dallas, Powell had to get creative. He understood that a player like him needed to do the little things better than anyone else. Screen setting, dribble-handoff facilitation, offensive rebounding, positioning, and defensive mobility became his calling cards. Through sharpening these tools, Powell turned himself into one of the most proficient pick-and-roll centers in the NBA. Powell leveraged his one big NBA skill (athleticism) into elite finishing as a lob threat, a feat that looks a lot simpler than it really is.

In 2018, the Mavericks drafted Luka Doncic and changed Powell’s life. Doncic, arguably the best pick-and-roll ball handler of all time, formed a beautiful, symbiotic relationship with the 6’10 pogo stick. Powell’s strong, physical screens created so much space for Doncic to operate. His perfectly executed rolls to the rim provided crucial vertical spacing for Dallas offense. All Doncic had to do was read the defense and exploit whatever advantage they created. From 2018-2020, the Doncic/Powell two-man combo posted a 120.1 offensive rating in 1,430 shared minutes. People wanted to give Doncic sole credit for this success, but Powell was absolutely essential in unlocking the lethal Mavericks offense during the Luka era.

In January of 2020, when he was at the peak of his powers, Powell tore his Achilles, ending his season and beyond. As a 29-year-old center whose entire game was predicated on plus athleticism and jumping ability, this was a devastating blow to Powell’s career. Losing even a bit of the juice that made Powell such a dynamic lob threat had disastrous implications, and it was fair to wonder if he’d even be able to hang around the NBA for much longer.

But Powell didn’t let those daunting prospects detour him. Instead, he did what he’s always done: work harder than everyone else. Not content to accept taking a backseat in his career, Powell attacked his rehab relentlessly and returned to the floor in December of 2020, less than a calendar year removed from sustaining the injury. Though he struggled through that season, he was able to reclaim his starting role and play all 82 games during the 2021-2022 run to the Western Conference Finals. Powell remained essential to the Maverick offense, but when Dallas flamed out in the Conference Finals against the Warriors, he was scapegoated for their failure. Kevon Looney, Golden State’s starting center, had a career series and punished Dallas on the offensive glass, where Powell has always struggled. You heard the refrain everywhere you went: Dwight Powell is not good enough to start at center on a contending team.

And you know what? That’s probably always been true. Powell is far from a perfect player, and his deficiencies are obvious to the casual basketball fan. He’s one of the worst rim-protecting bigs you’ll ever see. He struggles to control the defensive glass. He can’t shoot, he can’t dribble, and he can’t post up. All of these things stick out like a sore thumb when things aren’t going well.

But the things Powell does well aren’t as obvious to the naked eye. The average fan might not clock how the timing and cadence of a Powell screen creates an easy shot for a teammate. It’s hard for people to understand how knowing where to be on the floor, when to flow into a different action, and how to move can help an offense. It’s not sexy to always make the right, simple read whenever the ball ends up in your hands. When Powell gets scored on at the rim, it’s easy to deride him. But when he perfectly executes a blitz, recovers to his man, cuts off a drive, and closes out to a shooter, there’s no box score stat to reflect the impact.

This has always been the story of Dwight Powell. Because of his clear weaknesses, modest box score production, and middling team success, Powell has long been the subject of fan proxy wars. Many simply couldn’t understand why Dallas kept wasting their time and resources on the guy. For years and years, folks seemed to think that if the Dwight Powell spot could be upgraded, everything else would fall into place. People pined for far worse players like Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan. Whoever the Mavericks brought in to take his place, Powell proved to be a better option.

This was true until the 2023-2024 season, when the Mavericks added the two-headed monster of Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford. By this point in Powell’s career, he was rightfully transitioned to third-string, vibes-based backup. It was the perfect role for him at this time, and Dallas rode their improved frontcourt rotation all the way to the NBA Finals.

It was never Powell’s fault that he was often overtasked as a starting center; all he did was play his role to the absolute best of his abilities. This remained true even in his final years, when Powell was deployed as a sparkplug depth option when the team needed energy and competence. Because if there’s one thing Dwight Powell is going to do, it’s play harder than the guys in front of him. Even with his skills and athleticism severely diminished, Powell swung countless sleepy regular season games by injecting life into the team.

And apart from all of the genuine impact Powell had on the basketball court, his greatest success in Dallas has to be what he brought to both the organization and community away from it. Ask any teammate Powell has ever had, and they will gush with praise. He leads by example with his work ethic and unselfishness, showing every young player what it means to be a pro. Despite being openly derided by much of the fanbase and constantly having his role in flux, Powell never complained a single time. When Dereck Lively took his starting spot, Powell embraced the rookie with class and elegance, offering nothing but support and guidance. During every single game, no matter how much he was playing, Powell was always the most active and energetic member of the bench. These things matter.

Powell also recognized the importance of making an impact in the community. He cared deeply for Dallas, the fans, and everyone else he came into contact with. Powell devoted a ton of time and effort to community work, the extent of which we really can’t know, because Powell didn’t do these things for show. Like Dirk Nowitzki before him, Powell operated away from cameras and the spotlight. The only time you heard about his charitable exploits was when other people talked about them. Because Powell doesn’t care about attention, he doesn’t care about fame, and he doesn’t care what others think. He tries to show up for others as often as he can. That’s the most admirable quality a professional athlete can have.

Dwight Powell spent 12 years on the periphery of my life as someone I always supported and appreciated. During that time, I went through countless personal ups and downs and became a man. While I am going to miss Powell in Dallas terribly, no one is going to miss him more than my mother, Powell’s biggest fan. She dubbed him “Super Dwight” and was always so happy any time he checked into a game. A couple of years ago, after a particularly good Powell performance, I texted my mom to talk about him. After discussing his game, I asked her to name her top three Dwight Powell qualities. Her response: “Hustle, setting screens, and attitude on the court. Humility, generosity, and charity off the court.” I can’t think of any better way to sum up everything that Powell is about. Best of luck to Dwight in his next endeavor— he will always, always be a Maverick.