The Dallas Mavericks have spent the offseason turning over just about every corner of the roster, and that shake-up has created one clear theme heading into the 2026-27 season: jobs are open.
Between trades, a waived contract, draft picks and free-agent additions, Dallas has remade itself into a team with a lot of new faces and very few guaranteed roles. The front office appears to be done dealing for now, but the roster is still in flux, and that means plenty of players will head into camp with a real chance to carve out a bigger piece of the rotation.
What the Mavericks are bringing back is only part of the story. Their current 15-man roster includes just eight players who logged minutes for the team last season, plus Kyrie Irving, who returns after missing all of last season with an ACL tear.
From the 2024 NBA Finals team, only four players are back. Two of those, Irving and Daniel Gafford, have already shown up in trade rumors this offseason.
Dallas is clearly in the middle of a transition, moving away from the group assembled to support Luka Dončić and toward a new core built around Cooper Flagg. The organization is leaning into upside, betting on players with talent and room to grow. That approach could make this a season of discovery, with the Mavericks not fully knowing what they have until well past the halfway point.
That uncertainty is also what opens the door for so many players. With so much roster churn ahead, very few spots feel secure. Under Dusty May, almost anyone on the roster can make a case for more minutes if they seize the right opportunity.
The setup also gives Dallas a chance to experiment. The Mavericks have enough flexibility and low enough expectations that they can spend this season figuring out what kind of team they need to build around Flagg long-term. Right now, the roster features a logjam at center and plenty of wing depth, but injuries and a desire to develop young talent should keep the minutes moving around.
In fact, this group could roll out a dozen different starting lineups as May tests combinations and searches for the right fit.
More changes could still come, but they will depend on who proves worth keeping. Irving and Gafford look like the most obvious candidates to be moved if the trade rumors around them turn real. There’s also a path for other movement, including Max Christie or Zaccharie Risacher if one clearly separates himself from the other and the Mavericks decide the two can’t reasonably share the floor.
Risacher is one of the more intriguing pieces on the roster. After not fully meeting the expectations that come with being the No. 1 overall pick, he enters the season with something to prove. He should get chances in a variety of lineups, but he may need to show enough by October 31, when Dallas has its deadline to pick up his $17.4 million team option for 2027-28.
The rookies could also get an early look. First-round picks Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio De Larrea may see playing time right away if Kyrie Irving and Santi Aldama are still working back to full fitness at the start of the season.
Both rookies bring different tools the Mavericks will want to use, and in a roster built around Flagg, giving young players real minutes is part of the plan. Neither is likely to open the year fighting for a starting job, but both have a chance to show they could be part of the future at their positions.
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The conversation around Kyrie Irving keeps circling back to Dallas, even as the offseason gives way to the next layer of roster speculation. For the Mavericks, the point is not just whether Irving stays in place, but how the market views him over the next several months and whether any outside interest can be weighed against what Dallas wants to get out of the season first.
Houston has become part of that chatter, though the Rockets have bigger internal priorities of their own after locking up Amen Thompson on a five-year extension. The more intriguing question there is how the team evaluates its young core if the season does not unfold as planned, with Alperen Sengun the name most likely to enter the trade discussion down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Let One Guard Decision Turn Into A Real Depth Problem
Brandon Williams found his next landing spot, and it comes with a little more security than most late-summer deals. The guard signed a one-year contract with the Warriors, giving him a chance to build on the career season he just turned in while trying to carve out a place on a crowded roster in Golden State.
For Dallas, the move is another reminder of how quickly backcourt depth can get thin when a familiar name walks out the door. The Mavericks did have some interest in bringing Williams back after his best year, but they ultimately passed, leaving them to live with the tradeoff of keeping flexibility while watching a useful guard land elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]