Vince Carter wants to be the new Jet in Dallas

Vince Carter, Sixth Man of the Year?

No, I don’t see it either.

But part of the Mavericks’ success the past few years — part of their championship — is Jason Terry coming off the bench and changing the dynamic of the game. Putting up points, creating shots, draining threes and changing the flow of things.

Vince Carter wants to be that guy for Dallas this year. From the Dallas Morning News.

“I’m down for it,” Carter said when asked if he wanted to be the new sixth man. “I’ll come in and help the team, remain verbal — I do that well. I just try to keep us going forward and not regress. When the second unit comes on the floor, they have to keep it going. I just try to do a little bit of everything to help the team.”

Vince Carter still plays at a level better than some people think. Maybe it’s because of how great a player he once was, maybe it’s residual reputation damage from how he left Toronto.

Thing is, he’s no Jason Terry. Carter shot just 41.1 percent overall lasts year, he assisted on 15 percent of his teammates shots while on the floor and he had a PER of 13.1, which is below the league average, below a standard replacement player. Terry had better numbers than Carter in every single one of those categories last year, shot better from three, and he’s a couple years younger with fewer miles on his body.

Terry changes games. He will do that in Boston this season. Carter… well, he’ll get his chance. But with Dirk Nowitizki out to start the season even more is going to fall on Carter and, well, this could be a tough season in Dallas compared to their standards.