The Mavericks finally have a little forward momentum again, and a lot of that comes down to the pieces around Cooper Flagg.
Flagg’s rookie year already looked the part of a future franchise cornerstone. He arrived as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft and wasted no time living up to the billing, putting together a season that put him on track for Rookie of the Year honors.
He was a force defensively, played above the rim, and produced some massive scoring nights along the way, including four games with 40 points or more. His biggest explosion came late in the season, when he dropped 51 against the Magic and drilled six three-pointers.
Now Dallas is handing him a much different setup. Kyrie Irving is back after missing Flagg’s rookie season while recovering from the torn ACL he suffered in March 2025, and one anonymous NBA scout told Sports Illustrated that his return could make life much easier for the young star.
“Irving returning will be a big help,” an anonymous NBA scout told Sports Illustrated. “For one thing, he takes the best defender off of Flagg.
In a lot of cases, if a team has one great perimeter defender, he's going to be on Kyrie. So that helps anybody when that is the situation.
And then Kyrie's playmaking, drawing help, maybe Flagg can get some easier buckets off the ball.”
That’s the kind of pairing Dallas had in mind when it kept Irving around instead of moving him. He’s owed over $80 million over the next two seasons, and there was plenty of speculation that the Mavericks might choose a different direction because his timeline is so different from Flagg’s. But for now, the team is giving the combination a real shot.
The scout liked what he saw from Flagg as a rookie, too, especially the way he carried himself from day one.
“Flagg has a real maturity to him, a little bit more refinement to his game. He definitely came out and attacked with aggressiveness, which was good to see for a rookie,” the scout said to SI.
“Obviously, his shot has to get a little bit better for him to really become a complete offensive player, but you really can't argue with the debut that he had last year. I feel like he's on pace to be what everyone hoped he would be.”
Dallas has spent the offseason reshaping the rest of the roster around that core. Masai Ujiri was hired to run the front office.
Jason Kidd and the franchise mutually agreed to part ways after five seasons, and Dusty May was brought in after winning a national title at Michigan. The Mavs also took a swing on several players who could fit the new direction.
Zaccharie Risacher arrived in a trade with the Hawks after Atlanta apparently moved on from the top pick in the 2024 draft. The scout didn’t want to stamp him as a bust just yet, though he was blunt about the uncertainty around his game.
“Atlanta obviously thought Risacher was a bust. But from an outsider's point of view, I feel like you got to give the guy at least a fighting chance,” the scout told SI.
“He didn't get much opportunity last year. It feels like they had already written him off.
So I wouldn't want to call him a bust just yet, but I'm guessing he's not going to pan out to be a typical No. 1 pick either.
“But what does he do? That's the question I like to ask sometimes with these guys.
What's their NBA skill? And if your NBA skill is your body, I don't really buy into that too much, because there's a lot of guys out there that have long arms.
Do you know what I mean? I don't think I've seen it yet, what his bread and butter would be.”
Even if Risacher doesn’t become a major piece, Dallas didn’t pay much to find out. The front office also added Santi Aldama for frontcourt spacing, Marcus Sasser as a bench scorer and shooter, and Morez Johnson Jr., one of May’s Michigan standouts, with the ninth pick in the draft. Johnson brings rebounding and energy to a young group that is still taking shape.
The roster did lose a few names. Klay Thompson was bought out and signed with Miami after the team moved deeper into a rebuild. Ryan Nembhard was included in the Risacher deal and leaves behind some guard depth, which Dallas is hoping Sasser and first-round pick Sergio De Larrea can help replace.
The big-picture outlook is better than last year’s 26-56 finish, and Irving’s return only adds to that optimism. Still, the Western Conference is crowded enough that a huge leap feels unlikely right away. A play-in push is possible, maybe even a surprise run into the playoffs, but the more realistic picture is that Dallas may need another year of growth and more roster movement before Flagg can truly tilt the West.
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Dereck Lively Stands Between The Mavs And A Scary Young Frontcourt
The Mavericks have reason to feel better about their long-term frontcourt picture after watching young talent start to stack up around Cooper Flagg and Morez Johnson Jr. If those two continue to develop as expected, the idea of a big, athletic, modern trio starts to look less like a theory and more like a foundation. Dereck Lively II is the piece that could make it click, giving Dallas the rim protection, vertical spacing and defensive anchor that can let the others play off him.
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Mavericks Could Make A Crucial Hire After Last Season's Medical Shakeup
The Mavericks spent last season dealing with a medical setup that came under the microscope, so it makes sense they are looking hard at the people behind the scenes now. One name to watch is Nico Berg, who has emerged as a candidate for the teams head of medical operations job as Dallas evaluates how it wants to rebuild that side of the operation.
Berg is not a longtime NBA fixture, which adds some intrigue to the process. His only prior consulting work in the league came with Minnesota more than a decade ago, so the Mavericks would be betting on a relatively fresh outside voice to help shape an area that can have as much impact on a season as any move on the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Finally Fixed One Backcourt Problem But Another Doubt Looms
Training camp is coming early for the Mavericks because of their international preseason schedule, and the first thing to notice is how much attention has gone into the shooting guard spot. Dallas reshaped the room by waiving Klay Thompson, moving A.J. Johnson, and keeping Max Christie and John Poulakidas, while also adding Zaccharie Risacher and Tarik Biberovic in an effort to fix a three-point shooting issue that hurt the team last season.
Christie looks like the likeliest starter, with Biberovic and Risacher in line for bench minutes if they can earn them, and Caleb Martin remains a possible option there because of what he brings defensively. Even after the front offices cleanup, though, the backcourt still carries a familiar Dallas question: whether the team has enough reliable two-way production at the position, or whether it is counting on one more swing than it can comfortably afford. [Read more 🡒]