Anyone who has been watching the Our Time documentary series on ESPN+ should not be surprised that Mayer is focusing more on defense this year. He said is much in one episode. I don't remember which one, but it's probably the one in which he was talking about his mullet. He is deliberately not focused on scoring as much because he wants to improve his defensive ability, obviously to improve his NBA stock. No doubt the coaches are OK with this because there are plenty of others on the court who can score.

We've gotten spoiled watching score, sometimes spectacularly, in the past few years. There are several memorable dunks & 3 point shots that stand out. But we should also remember there are also so many outstanding hustle plays. One that stands out was in Morgantown last year in which he went out of bounds chasing after the ball & threw it backwards over his shoulder to Teague? who got the bucket.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36