Derrick Jones Jr. was the main defender on the opposition’s best players during the Mavs’ 2024 postseason.
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Defense still wins championships.
If you take out the Dallas Mavericks’ final two regular-season games (in which both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were rested), the 2024 NBA Finals was the worst five-game offense (106.7 points per 100 possessions) of all time season. .
In short, when it came time to win a championship, the Boston Celtics shut down a talented opponent. And they did it because they had several great defenders.
As every other team tries to get to Boston, they could all use more guys who can make things as difficult as possible for the opposition’s best players.
Here are six free agents (in alphabetical order) who could help teams defensively next season.
Kyle Anderson, Minnesota Timberwolves
Number you need to know: Anderson had an effective field goal percentage of 47.2%, up from 55.3% in 2022-23. That was the sixth-largest drop among 262 players with at least 200 field goal attempts in each of the last two seasons.
Anderson certainly hurts Minnesota’s offense, which scored just 105.4 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor in the playoffs (versus 116.6 off the floor). But having reached the conference finals with a star who is just 22 years old, the Wolves likely want to bring it back. They need more than seven capable rotation guys, and Anderson is No. 8.
With a contract that paid him $18 million over two years and with the Wolves likely in the second tax bracket, he will likely take a pay cut. It’s also unclear whether it has more value anywhere else.
Bruce Brown, Toronto Raptors (team pick)
Number you need to know: The Raptors averaged 16.8 points per 100 possessions in his 885 minutes after being acquired from Indiana.
Part of that number was the Raptors playing without Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett for much of the last six weeks of the season. But another piece was the team’s 10.0 per 100 in 324 minutes with Brown and Barnes on the floor together.
Brown is a terrific, undersized defender and offensive connector, but he doesn’t seem like a good fit in Toronto. If the Raptors exercise the $23 million team option on his contract, it could be to trade him for a contender.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Denver Nuggets
Number you need to know: The Nuggets were 15.3 points better per 100 possessions with Caldwell-Pope on the floor (plus-11.3) than with him off the floor (minus-4.0). That was the second-largest on-off differential (behind only that of teammate Nikola Jokic) among 255 players who played at least 1,000 minutes last season.
Caldwell-Pope, who is 31 years old, was a key component on two championship teams and was a great fit in Denver. He’s a capable shooter (40% from 3-point range and 45% from mid-range over the past three seasons) who moves well without the ball, so he doesn’t hurt you offensively like many other elite perimeter defenders.
He should see plenty of interest outside of Denver. If he stays, the Nuggets could be the favorite to win the Western Conference next season. If he leaves, not so much.
Isaiah Hartenstein, New York Knicks
Number you need to know: Hartenstein had a 43.0 free throw rate per 100 attempts from the field last season, up from 21.7 per 100 in 2022-23. That was the biggest jump among 262 players with at least 200 field goal attempts in each of the last two seasons.
Hartenstein is only 26 years old and one of the best players in the league, a big mover who can pass, rebound and defend. That role was expanded when Mitchell Robinson was injured and Hartenstein was essential as the Knicks reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks would certainly like to have him back, but the biggest new contract they can give him is $72.5 million over four years, and other teams can pay him more.
Derrick Jones Jr., Dallas Mavericks
Number you need to know: The Mavs have allowed just 97.6 points per 100 possessions in 247 playoff minutes with Jones and Dereck Lively II on the floor together. That was the second-lowest mark among 103 two-man combinations that played at least 200 playoff minutes together.
Jones is the only free agent in the Mavs rotation and you can certainly find reasons why they would want something different on the wing. But as much as Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington have for Dallas’ defensive improvement in the second half of the season, Jones has been the primary defender on the opposition’s best players – Paul George, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum — as the Mavs reached the NBA Finals and defended pretty well when they got there.
He also shot 18-for-41 (43.9%) on corner 3-pointers in the playoffs, up from 33.8% in the regular season.
Royce O’Neale, Phoenix Suns
Number you need to know: After acquiring O’Neal, the Suns were at their best (plus 9.4 points per 100 possessions) with him on the floor.
O’Neal didn’t help much as the Suns were swept in the first round of the playoffs, making just seven (32%) of his 22 shots through four games. But the Suns had bigger problems than just how much offense the veteran forward (now 31) provided. He’s a good complement to their stars, a wing with some size, shooting and defensive ability.
The Suns can re-sign O’Neale to a deal for the amount he received last season ($9.5 million), but because they’ve already passed the second tax bracket, every dollar they pay him comes with a lot more luxury tax penalties.
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John Schuhmann is a senior statistician for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him to X.
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