When the Bucks signed Mayo three years ago, he was coming off a career year with the Mavericks in which he averaged 15.3 points per game, starting all 82 games. Entering his third season with Milwaukee, Mayo seems to have finally eased into his position as a bench player and veteran presence, a role he had difficulty accepting in his first season with the Bucks. Mayo projects to again serve as one of the first guards off the bench this season, and he'll likely see close to the 24 minutes per game he averaged in 2014-15. Mayo's numbers have remained largely steady over his seven years in the league. Last season, he averaged 11.4 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game while appearing in 71 contests (starting in 15) and shooting 42 percent from the field. While his averages were down across the board, they compared quite favorably to his career numbers on a per-36 minutes basis. Taking that proration into account, Mayo exceeded his career averages in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and field goal attempts. Mayo remains a fantasy option insomuch as he has the skill set and experience to succeed should the Bucks suffer an injury or two in the backcourt. The former USC Trojan also owns a very respectable 38 percent career shooting percentage from three-point range and remains one of the NBA's streakiest shooters. Mayo's time in Milwaukee has not gone as planned, but he's still just 27 years old and entering a contract year in an offseason when the cap is set to skyrocket, so motivation certainly will not be an issue.
Mayo was one of the more disappointing players in the league last season after signing a three-year deal with the Bucks. Coming off of an impressive year with the Mavericks ni 2012-13, Mayo was expected to be handed the keys to the Bucks' offense and have a chance to be a true number one option for the first time in his career. With Dirk Nowitzki hurt for the first half of the 2012-13 season, Mayo flourished as the go-to guy, but his numbers tailed off significantly upon Nowitzki's return. Last season, Mayo's numbers never even had the chance to tail off, as it was clear virtually from the start of the season that he would struggle. A few bad games early on eventually led to prolonged absences from the lineup. Mayo played in only 52 games (starting 23) and finished with averages of 11.7 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.9 rebounds per game. He shot 41 percent from the field and 37 percent from three, while knocking down 86 percent of his free throws. It's hard to believe Mayo transformed into a disappointment over night, and his struggles can likely be attributed – partially, at least – to an ill-defined role within former coach Larry Drew's rotations. Mayo was one of the few Bucks to remain healthy during the first half of the season, and yet he found himself playing 30 minutes one night and 15 the next. He enters Year 2 with the Bucks looking to prove 2013-14 was a fluke. If he returns in better shape, he'll compete for the starting shooting guard job that was taken from him a season ago.
Given the opportunity to serve as the Mavericks' top scoring threat with Dirk Nowitzki sidelined until late December with a knee injury, Mayo appeared on the verge of submitting his best numbers since his rookie campaign with the Grizzles in 2008-09. Though Mayo entered the All-Star break averaging 17.9 points on 46 percent shooting while contributing 4.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, things quickly fell apart for him thereafter. As his usage rates went down in the second half despite his playing time remaining consistent, Mayo averaged just 10.9 points on 42 percent shooting the rest of the way. Mayo ended up opting out of the final year of his contract with the Mavericks and joined the Bucks on a three-year deal, where he'll serve as the team's starting shooting guard. Without having to share the limelight with an offensive star in the frontcourt, as he did in Dallas, Mayo could have a shot at replicating the production he showed in the early part of last season. One thing that remained consistent for Mayo throughout his up-and-down season with Dallas was his marksmanship from three-point range. Mayo drained 1.7 threes per game at a career-best 41 percent rate and should have the green light to fire away for the Bucks.
After being tossed around in trade rumors for the past two seasons, Mayo elected to change locales on his own terms, signing with the Mavericks as a free agent during the offseason. Mayo has the mentality of a go-to player, but often had to defer to Rudy Gay as the team’s primary perimeter option in Memphis. With the emergence of Tony Allen as a lockdown defender at shooting guard, Mayo ultimately was forced to accept a bench role and was limited to 26.8 minutes per game last season. With aging former stars Shawn Marion and Vince Carter representing Mayo’s only viable competition at the wing positions in Dallas, he should have little difficulty asserting himself as the Mavericks’ best offensive player in the backcourt. If Mayo receives 30-plus minutes as expected, there’s no reason to think he can’t come close to replicating the production he showcased in his first two seasons in the league, when he averaged 18.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Dirk Nowitzki still remains as the Mavericks’ No. 1 option offensively, but after a drop in his scoring for the second straight season, he may require some assistance from Mayo. However, if Mayo is to have success as the Robin to Dirk’s Batman, he’ll have to improve upon his shooting percentage, which sunk into the low 40s the past two seasons.
Mayo was moved into a bench role a month into last season, and he remained there until he was inexplicably returned to the starting lineup in the final two games of the playoffs. He replaced Sam Young in the starting lineup, pushing Tony Allen to the starting small forward position. What remains to be seen is whether coach Lionel Hollins was impressed with Mayo in those final two games, and if that will translate to Mayo reclaiming the starting shooting guard role this season. Also muddying the waters is the fact that Mayo was nearly traded to the Pacers at the trade deadline last season. If the Grizzlies are dead set on moving Mayo, a change of scenery could open the door of opportunity for the talented 24-year-old guard. Through 17 games as the starting shooting guard last season, Mayo averaged 15.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.2 three-pointers, 1.1 steals, 0.5 blocks and 2.3 turnovers in 36 minutes. He’s been stuck behind Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph as options in the Grizzlies’ offensive scheme, and to enjoy significant growth, Mayo will probably need to ply his trade elsewhere.
It's not entirely clear how it happened, but somehow the Grizzlies went from a team doomed to collapse under the weight of excessive egos and ball-hoggery, to a team noted for its energetic style of play – even as it became clear they wouldn't be contending for a playoff spot. Despite the changes to the feel of the team, Mayo's sophomore effort – so far as performance goes – was a rough copy of his rookie season. He scored almost the same number of points per game (17.5, after scoring 18.5 in 2008-09), and hit almost the same number of threes (1.8, 1.7) at almost the same rate (38.3%, 38.4%). Steals, blocks, assists – everything was roughly the same. So, provided no major personnel changes – and there haven't been any this offseason – it's only right to expect a similar season in 2010-11. One point to note with regard to Mayo's role: there was talk this offseason of slotting Mayo at point guard while starter Mike Conley is on the bench. After trying and failing with Allen Iverson, Jamaal Tinsley and Marcus Williams last season, the organization is concerned about deploying a dependable ball-handler at the point and, according to reports, Mayo is enthusiastic about the role, going so far as to try out the position during a couple Summer League games.
Mayo’s statistical line resembled a less-extreme version of Stephen Jackson’s in terms of categorical strengths and weaknesses – strong in points, treys and free throw percentage while deficient in turnovers and field-goal percentage. Mayo assumed a spot in the starting lineup from game one and played big minutes throughout the year, averaging at least 36 per game in every month. Ordinarily, we’d expect bigger and better things from a second-year player with that kind of experience, but the Grizzlies’ offseason addition of Zach Randolph could impede Mayo’s progress on a number of fronts. First, it will slow the pace of the entire offense down, meaning less possessions and opportunities for everyone. Mayo and teammate Rudy Gay have put up their best numbers when the offense has been more free-flowing and up-tempo, which is unlikely to be the case this season with Randolph and either Marc Gasol or Hasheem Thabeet clogging up the paint. Secondly, the addition of Randolph means less production for Mayo on a per-play basis as well. They don’t call Randolph a ‘black hole’ on offense for nothing, and with Randolph and Gay both looking to assert themselves on the offensive end, scoring opportunities are going to come fewer and farther between. Expect Mayo to improve on his numbers this season, but be only cautiously optimistic given the team’s personnel changes.
Mayo has been in the national spotlight since being scouted as a junior-high student, and he’s put up big numbers at every level. He averaged 20.7 points, 4.5 boards, 3.3 assists, and shot 41 percent from 3-point range as a freshman at USC last season, and he has the type of 1-on-1 game that should fit better in the NBA than it did in college. Mayo’s not the explosive athlete that some expected him to be, and he is a combo-guard that will have to find his niche in the NBA, but he has a strong jumper and a knack for getting it off at will. Mayo also projects as a plus defender, which should result in his share of steals. Because Mayo’s had cameras chasing him for most of his life, he should have one of the easier off-court transitions to the NBA. Mayo’s also older than most one-and-done rookies as he’ll be 21 in November, which means that he should be physically able to play with the men before some of his contemporaries.
Mayo was the Grizzlies' big prize on draft day, pulling off an eight-player trade with the Timberwolves to land him. Mayo is a great scorer, who averaged 20.7 points for the USC Trojans last year. He hit 40 percent of his three-pointers in college, and was hitting them at a decent pace in summer league. He has good size for a guard (6-5, 200), so he should be able to grab some rebounds if he can get around the basket. He played both point and shooting guard while at USC, but will almost exclusively play the two with the Grizzlies. It's unclear if Mayo will start initially, but he should be win the job sooner rather than later and be in the mix for Rookie of the Year honors.
