Mavs’ young players will get heavy minutes against the Pelicans

BOOSIER CITY, LA – Look for a high infusion of minutes from a lot of young players by the Dallas Mavericks when they face the New Orleans Pelicans at 7 p.m. Saturday at CenturyLink Center.

Sources said it’s very unlikely that Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bogut, Devin Harris, Deron Williams or Salah Mejri will play, although coach Rick Carlisle said he’s not going to talk about who will or will not play against the Pelicans.

"I’m not going to talk about anything happening to do with who’s playing and not playing or any of that until tomorrow night,’’ Carlisle said after Friday’s practice at American Airlines Center. "We’re not going to stretch minutes too much, so we’re going to have a chance to look at young guys.

"We’ve got seven young guys fighting for two spots (on the final 15-man roster), which is pretty exciting. Any time you come into an NBA training camp, you have a chance.’’

The seven young players vying for the final two spots are guards Jonathan Gibson, Kyle Collinsworth, Keith Hornsby and C. J. Williams, and forwards Nicolas Brussino, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jameel Warney. From action in the first four days of training camp, it appears as though the two spots will be grabbed from a list that includes Gibson, Brussino and Finney-Smith.

But that’s not etched in stone as of yet.

The 28-year old Gibson is a 6-2, 185-pound point guard who played at New Mexico State. The 23-year old Brussino is a 6-7, 195-pound small forward from Argentina.

And the Mavs considered drafting Finney-Smith this past June, but instead drafted A. J. Hammons. Finney-Smith, 23, is a 6-8, 220 small forward from Florida.

Needless to say, Carlisle and his staff will be closely monitoring which of the young players are able to step up their game against the Pelicans.

"We had four very good days of practice here, so even though this game is coming very quickly I think it’s a good time for a game, so that’s good,’’ Carlisle said. "There were some encouraging signs in the first four days, so we’ll find out more tomorrow.

"We hope to play well, play efficiently. We’re certainly trying to win the game."

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Mavs’ young players will get heavy minutes against the Pelicans."