The Best Mavs Rookie Seasons

Luka Doncic's phenomenal beginning to his rookie season has made him the heavy favorite to become only the second Maverick player to win NBA Rookie of the Year. Let's see how he stacks up with the best rookie campaigns in franchise history.

Jay Vincent (1981-82)
Mark Aguirre was supposed to be the Mavs standout rookie after the team drafted him first overall after their inaugural season. However it was the team's second round pick who ended up stealing the headlines, taking advantage while Aguirre played in only 51 games due to injury. Vincent averaged a team rookie record of 21.4 points per game on his way to being named first team All-Rookie, finishing 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting. Vincent would go on to play 5 additional solid seasons for the Mavs but would never reach the heights he did as a rookie.

Sam Perkins (1984-85)
Perkins was drafted fourth overall, a pick behind some guy named Jordan and contributed instantly to a young and talented Mavs squad. Perkins averaged 11.0 points and 7.4 rebounds as he became the team's second first team All-Rookie selection. Perkins upped his game in the postseason where he averaged 16.0 points and 10.9 rebounds in 4 playoff games.

Roy Tarpley (1986-87)
The Mavs had another All-Rookie selection with the 7th pick in the 1986 draft. Tarpley averaged 7.5 and 7.1 rebounds in his rookie season as he backed up Perkins and James Donaldson. Like Perkins he stepped his game up in the playoffs with averages of 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds. Tarpley would build on his rookie season by winning Sixth Man of the Year in his sophomore season but unfortunately drug and alcohol problems wrecked what would have a very productive career.

Jamal Mashburn (1993-94)
The second of the 3 Js to join the Mavs, Mashburn showed great promise in his rookie season on an otherwise dismal 13 win team. Mashburn averaged 19.2 points per game and finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting behind Chris Webber and Penny Hardaway. He also tied for the team scoring lead with the previous year's first round pick, Jim Jackson.

Jason Kidd (1994-95)
Kidd became the Mavs first and for now only Rookie of the Year, sharing the title with Grant Hill. Kidd put up 11.7 points, 7.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game but most importantly helped bump the Mavericks win total from 13 to 36. Kidd would notch 4 of his career 107 triple-doubles as a rookie including a 38 point, 11 rebound and 10 assist masterpiece in a 156-147 double overtime win at Houston on April 11. Kidd of course would go on to have a Hall of Fame career and helped lead the Mavs to the 2011 title in his second stint with the club.

Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels (2003-04)
The Mavs didn't have too many rookies contribute a lot during the long run of success in the Dirk era, but the 2003-04 season was an exception as Howard and Daniels both emerged as valuable rotation members on a 52 win team. Howard, the team's first round pick, contributed from day one putting up 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per game. Daniels, an undrafted free agent, didn't play much at first but finished the year strong. In March and Arpil, Daniels put up 14.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game as he entered the starting lineup. Both Howard and Daniels ended up receiving second team All-Rookie nods.

Dennis Smith Jr. (2017-18)
In his rookie year last season, Smith put up numbers that hadn't been seen by a Mavs rookie in a long time. Starting in all 69 games he played in (nice), Smith was second on the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game as well as second in assists with 5.2 per contest. That was good enough to earn DSJ a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team. The high point of Smith's season came in late December when he became one of the youngest players ever to record a triple double when he put 21, 10 and 10 in a win at New Orleans. He followed up that performance by taking over in crunch time with 19 points in a win at OKC on New Year's Eve.

Luka Doncic (2018-19)

And now we have Luka, who is doing things previously unseen by a teenager. His 19.0 PPG leads all rookies and he also ranks second in rebounds (6.7) and assists (5.1). He's even stepped it up another notch of late, putting up 22.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 7.4 assists over his last 8 appearances. Pretty amazing stuff for someone who won't turn 20 until February 28. Despite a very strong rookie class the Mavs having their second ever Rookie of the Year seems to be a forgone conclusion, barring injuries of course. The Mavs have seen a lot of very good rookie seasons in their 39 years as a franchise but nothing like what we're currently witnessing from the Slovenian teenage Wonder Boy.