6'10" and 240 lbs. His stats don't scream anything special. 6.4 / 4.4 / 1.2 career averages. 44.3% shooter and 35.4% on threes. Maybe he's a guy that sure misses his share of games. I have never paid attention to him. I'm honestly curious why some are high on Kleber. Defensive metrics or something?
Cuban always said his analytics team loved Klieber because he was one of the best switchable bigs in the league. So that combined with the 3 pt shooting helped the team a lot despite mediocre box scores (similar to DFS)
seems he will return before the end of the season, very good boost for the playoffs, he's still a way better option than Jemison or Len https://basketnews.com/news-220718-maxi-kleber-injury-update.html
So, I was asked to give an update on Maxi by another poster. I've been a Mavs fan since 2002. Dirk was my guy. Then, it was Luka. The organization has done some dumb things along the way. But, trading Luka was my final straw. I'm done with them. Anyway, Maxi is a well above average defender as a big man. He can't play heavy minutes due to injury concerns. When he is out there though the dude is a beast. Other bigs hate playing against him. He does the dirty work on defense. He can stretch the floor some but isn't going to light up the scoreboard. He can still score though. He's not a great 3 point shooter but will take them and make them. He doesn't make mistakes very often. Overall, he's a very good bench big to have. He never complains or causes problems. He works hard and is a great locker room presence. He does a lot of little things that don't show up on the box score like boxing out and stuff like that. He'll be a great backup for Hayes or at the 4 for 15-18 minutes a night.
No problem. He will definitely help in the playoffs. Even if he just at 85%. Luka takes it to another level in the playoffs. He has that dog in him that Kobe and MJ had.
I haven't seen too much of Kleber apart from in the playoffs. I remember being impressed at him guarding PG, Kawhi, Morris, Covington, Batum and their whole range of rangey SF/PFs. I also remember him giving Ayton fits. I'm not sure if he is that player anymore, but if he can get healthy by the playoffs and give us a bit of solid defence while just taking open shots as the back up big for 10-15 mins - that would be an amazing addition. He won't really have much expectation here, just play defence like he knows how to do and take the open shot - and we'll add him to our Gabe, DFS, Vando rotation in the playoffs. He's also a nice backup in case either of DFS or Vando get injured. Something like this: Luka (36) / Gabe (12) Reaves (36) / Gabe (12) Rui (24) / DFS (24) Lebron (36) / Vando (12) Hayes (24) / Vando (12) / Kleber (12) You get 36 mins of some kind of rim protection from Hayes and Kleber, and both can switch onto the perimeter decently.
He seems to be trending down on availability, over these last 4-5 seasons. A big with foot problems is a concern, and looking at his numbers...meh..rebounding isn't his strong suit, he is a decent 3pt threat for a big tho. Defense? I don't watch enough Dallas games, to really say one way or another. Still....12.5M? I would prefer to couple that salary with something else for another player this summer. He might be useful in the playoffs, I won't expect much, but he's probably better than Len.
