The Dallas Mavericks may have landed the kind of franchise cornerstone that changes everything, but not everyone is rushing to bump them up the league’s future hierarchy.
Cooper Flagg is already the centerpiece of the conversation in Dallas after a sensational rookie year, and for a player who didn’t turn 19 until December, the Mavericks got just about everything they could have hoped for. His arrival makes the team’s long-term outlook look far better than it did after the infamous Luka Doncic trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, a deal that brought back Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and one future first-round pick.
Even with Flagg in place, ESPN’s latest power rankings for the next three years slotted the Mavericks only 17th. Zach Kram put it plainly: "The Mavericks rank near the middle of the pack in almost every subcategory, so they're a proper fit for the middle of the pack."
He also pointed to the split in Dallas’ outlook. "On the plus side is the presence of 19-year-old Cooper Flagg, the reigning Rookie of the Year and one of the NBA's most promising prospects. On the negative side is uncertainty around Dallas' competitive window, as it's unclear when Flagg and friends will actually start pushing toward the playoffs."
That’s the tension with the Mavericks right now. They have Flagg, and they also have other young pieces worth watching.
Dallas selected Morez Johnson Jr. 9th overall and Sergio De Larrea 25th overall. Dereck Lively II still has starting-caliber rim protector upside if he can stay on the floor.
Max Christie brings value as a shooter. And P.J.
Washington, Naji Marshall, and Daniel Gafford remain useful veteran contributors.
But the biggest swing factor might be Kyrie Irving. He’s 34, he’s coming off an ACL injury, and he could hit free agency next year.
There’s no guarantee he looks the same over the next three seasons, and there’s also no guarantee he stays put. If Dallas isn’t going well, he could be traded at the deadline or leave outright in free agency.
The lack of draft capital doesn’t help. The Mavericks only have the Lakers’ pick in 2029, and they won’t control their own picks again until 2031.
That’s a tough setup for any team trying to build a contender. Still, Flagg may be so gifted that it barely matters.
In Other News...
Mavericks Enter Camp With One Huge Question After Summer Overhaul
The Mavericks head into camp with a completely remodeled front office and bench, the sort of summer overhaul that usually signals a fresh start as much as a reset. Masai Ujiri now sits atop the basketball side as team president and alternate governor, Mike Schmitz has taken over as GM, and Dusty May is in place as the new head coach after Dallas made a series of draft picks, trades and signings to reshape the roster around its next phase.
Still, the biggest question hanging over the team is less about the new faces than the ones who are no longer there and how all the pieces fit together once the games start counting. Dallas has added help in players such as Sergio De Larrea, Brandon Williams, Khris Middleton and Naji Marshall, but the real test of this overhaul will be whether the Mavericks can turn all that change into a clear identity before the season gets away from them. [Read more 🡒]
Kyrie And Cooper Flagg Give The Mavs A Huge New Question
Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg have spent a full season as teammates without actually sharing the floor, but that changes when the Mavericks open their next chapter in October. The offseason has at least given the two a chance to work together some, and Matt MacKenzie, who works with Flagg, sounded encouraged by what he has seen. He pointed to the way their games can fit, along with the mutual respect they already seem to have built.
For Dallas, though, the bigger question is not whether the talent is there. It is how the Mavericks balance Flaggs ability to create with Irvings long-standing comfort as the ball-dominant engine of an offense. The pairing gives the team a fascinating new ceiling, but it also leaves the coaching staff with a real job to do in sorting out touches, spacing and who gets to steer the action when the games start to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Jason Kidds Mavericks Role Just Drew More Scrutiny In The Luka Saga
Jason Kidds place in the Mavericks power structure is back under the microscope after former assistant coach Igor Kokoskov revisited their time together in Dallas on a podcast. Kokoskov said Kidd had personal issues with the way he and Luka Doncic related during their overlap with the team, a detail that adds another layer to the long-running curiosity about how much influence Kidd has had behind the scenes.
The timing only feeds the broader conversation around Dallas, where speculation has lingered about Kidds standing inside the organization and whether he had any meaningful role in the eventual trade that sent Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. No direct evidence has surfaced tying Kidd to that decision, but the renewed scrutiny around his relationship with Doncic makes the Mavericks internal dynamics feel like a story that still has plenty of unfinished business. [Read more 🡒]