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Okay, I had to give in. I was a die hard Pokémon fan when I was growing up, and now it's making a comeback with Pokémon GO, so, we might as well make some comparisons to the Maverick world. What if the guys on Dallas' team were in the Pokémon world? I know, this is some hard hitting journalism. It's time to let your inner nerd out with this one.

Deron Williams = Alakazam 

Alakazam is said to be one of the wisest Pokémon. His brain can outperform any super computer. Deron Williams is a wizard out on the court. He makes the smart passes and makes things happen in crunch time. Alakazam can confuse any opponent it comes across, just like Deron Williams can lose a defender with his deadly crossover. Finally, Alakazam is the final stage of Pokémon evolution, just like Deron Williams is in the final stages of his incredible career.


Wesley Matthews = Magneton

Wesley Matthews is the Iron Man. Magneton is a Pokémon made 100% of metal. It's a natural fit. Plus, and this one may be a stretch, Magneton has three eyes, and Wes always has his eyes on the three. Man, that was cheesy. One of Magneton's features is being sturdy, and Wes Matthews is known as being one of the most sturdy players in the league, especially coming back the way he did from an Achilles injury. 


Harrison Barnes = Fearow

Harrison Barnes' little known nickname is actually Black Falcon. Fear's wings are arguably the biggest in the Pokémon world and this allows it to stay in the air without having to rest. Harrison Barnes' athleticism allows him to dunk all over his defenders and going up and over anyone. Fearow's hidden ability is sniper, and well, Harry B is secretly a really really good three point sniper, it was just hidden behind the splash brothers and Draymond Green.


Dirk Nowitzki = Mewtwo

Dirk is one of a kind. There's never going to be another player like him. A 7 foot power forward that shoots threes from deep the way he does and basically invented his own shot? It's like he was created in a lab. Mewtwo, arguably the strongest Pokémon in the first generation, was created by scientists after mixing and matching a bunch of random Pokémon DNA. Dirk is Dallas' Mewtwo. 


Andrew Bogut = Nidoking 

Nidoking basically just uses its sheer force to defeat any opponent it comes across. It's huge, so that's natural. Andrew Bogut is a big man that uses his body to bang around in the paint and keep his opponents out of it as well. They're just a natural pair, don't mess with either of them.


JJ Barea = Pikachu

Pikachu is a Pokémon fan favorite. JJ Barea is a Dallas Maverick fan favorite. Pikachu is tiny. JJ Barea is usually the smallest one on the court. Pikachu is an electric Pokémon. JJ Barea is often the spark Rick Carlisle and the Mavericks need off of the bench. Pikachu and JJ Barea are a match made in heaven.


Seth Curry = Squirtle 

Squirtle is first in the line of evolution toward Blastoise. It has room to grow and is a water type Pokémon. Seth Curry has a lot of room to grow and will get that chance with the Mavericks next season, plus, his jump shot is wet. I'm extremely excited to see what Seth Curry can do for us in the coming years. 

Justin Anderson = Arcanine

At this point, most people know that Justin Anderson is one of the best rookies Dallas has drafted in a long time. Anderson's nickname since middle school has been Simba. Arcanine is a fire type Pokémon that is modeled after a mix of a lion and a tiger. I guess that's a liger? anyway. Simba is a lion and Arcanine has the mane of one, so this was an easy match.

Dwight Powell = Aerodactyl

This one was a bit of a stretch, but I chose Aerodactyl for two reasons. 1) Dwight Powell has some really long arms and he uses that to his advantage on both sides of the ball. Aerodactyl has a long wingspan, literally because wings, and uses those to his advantage as well. 2) Dwight Powell is an incredible athlete and gets way up when attacking the basket. Aerodactyl can fly, so there's that. 

Salah Mejri = Exeggutor

I had to go with this one based purely off the name. If you try to drive on Salah, your shots going to get executed, as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and James Harden and countless others learned this past season. He's basically a tree in the paint, no one can shoot over him; Exeggutor is literally a tree, so yeah.

Devin Harris = Diglet 

Okay, I could not figure one out for Devin Harris. Basically, Devin Harris can sometimes seem to disappear and then other times, he hits you out of nowhere, just like Diglet disappears under the ground and then pops up to attack. I told you, this one was the biggest stretch of them all. 

Jonathan Gibson = Chameleon 

Jonathan Gibson proved in the Summer League that he can heat up in a heartbeat. Charmeleon is the second stage of evolution towards Charizard, a fire Pokémon. Gibson is 28 years old and still has a little room to grow, but at the age he is, he's close to his full potential. 

Quincy Acy = Machoke

Just look at this thing. Then look at Quincy Acy. Y'all know that this is the perfect match. Acy is a physical beast and will literally take someone out if it means a win for his team (John Wall). I am a huge Quincy Acy fan, and I really think that he is going to help this team for a long time coming, especially only being 25 years old. 

AJ Hammons = Slowbro

Hahaha okay, I'm sorry. Hammons has been deemed as a bit lazy on the court, but when he wants to, he can be a real asset to his team. Slowbro is said to be a bit oblivious from time to time and can forget what he's doing, but that can actually be a positive as it throws his opponent off. Hopefully Hammons can prove those people wrong that call him lazy and turn into a steal for Dallas.

This was by far the biggest nerd-out post I've ever written, but it was fun. Hope y'all enjoyed. Oh yeah, I decided to leave out Nicolas Brussino and Dorian Finney-Smith since it was already hard enough to match Pokémon up with players that I actually do know a lot about.