The Dallas Mavericks now know exactly what the road ahead looks like in 2026-27, and the opening month alone gives this team very little room to settle in.
Dallas begins the season on October 21 on the road against the Houston Rockets, ending a three-year stretch of opening against the San Antonio Spurs. From there, the first six games are a demanding run: at Houston, at Indiana, vs.
San Antonio, at Miami, vs. OKC, and vs.
Houston.
The full slate also shows a heavy dose of national attention. The Mavericks landed 21 nationally televised games and will deal with 15 back-to-backs over the course of the season.
There are a couple of lighter spots on the calendar, but not many. Dallas’ longest home stand is only four games, and it happens twice: February 6 through February 9, and again from March 9 through March 15. The longest road trip is a five-game stretch from March 17 through March 24, with stops against the OKC Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, and Minnesota Timberwolves.
That March trip stands out as the toughest patch on the schedule, but the Mavs won’t have to wait long for difficult tests. They close the year on April 11 against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Several individual matchups jump off the page as well. Dallas will face Anthony Davis and the Washington Wizards at home on March 11 and on the road on March 28. The Lakers and Luka Doncic show up three times: February 28 at home, which is also Doncic’s birthday, then March 21 on the road and April 6 on the road.
Last season set the bar low. The Mavericks entered with big expectations around Anthony Davis, rookie Cooper Flagg, and the hope that Kyrie Irving would be back soon. Instead, Irving missed the entire season, Davis battled injuries and was eventually traded, and Flagg was left carrying a team that finished with just 26 wins.
This time around, the outside view is cooler. FanDuel Sportsbook has Dallas at 32.5 wins, a number that would represent a 6.5-win jump from last season.
Still, there are reasons to think the Mavericks can push back on that outlook. Getting Irving back, even for 55-60 games, would matter in a major way. Dallas was involved in more clutch games than any team last season, and Irving has built a reputation as one of the NBA’s best in those moments.
Dereck Lively II is another key piece. He appeared in only 7 games last season, and even a return to 40 games would be a major lift.
The roster has also changed around the edges, with more shooting and youth added, plus a new head coach and a new front office. A playoff push may be a lot to ask, but the Mavericks should at least be in the Play-In conversation.
In Other News...
Mavericks Face An Early Dusty May Test They Cannot Afford To Fail
The Mavericks are heading into the 2026-27 season with little room for a slow start, and the early schedule will say plenty about how ready they are to move past a rough year. Dallas opens with five of its first eight games against playoff teams from the previous season, a stiff opening stretch for a club trying to reset under new head coach Dusty May after a 56-loss campaign that left plenty to clean up.
The context around that early test only adds to the pressure. Kyrie Irvings ACL injury and the trade of Anthony Davis helped define a difficult 2025-26 season, and the Mavericks now have to prove that the new direction can produce something sturdier than last years instability. May does not need October to decide the season, but he does need the team to show signs quickly that another down year is not already taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Face A Real Brandon Williams Problem If He Walks
Dallas has spent the summer trying to make sure its backcourt does not get too thin, and the work has already included bringing in Sergio De Larrea and Marcus Sasser. Those additions give the Mavericks some structure behind the starting group, but they are more about adding options than solving everything at once, especially with Brandon Williams still sitting in unrestricted free agency.
Williams remains the tricky part of the equation because his production from last season is not something Dallas can simply assume will be replaced by committee. The front office is preparing for that possibility, and the concern is not just depth for depths sake, but whether the roster can absorb another loss in a spot where the market has already begun to stir. [Read more 🡒]
Dereck Livelys Return Has Created A Mavericks Problem They Didnt Expect
Dereck Lively IIs road back is already looking more complicated than the Mavericks probably hoped when the offseason began. The young center is recovering from a right foot injury that required two major surgeries, and even with training camp approaching, he is not expected to be fully healthy right away. For Dallas, that creates an unusual holdover from the last roster build: the team has a promising big man working his way back, but not necessarily back into the same role he left.
The wrinkle is that the job may not be waiting for him. Daniel Gafford is still on Dallas roster, which means Livelys return could come with a backup assignment rather than a straightforward slide back into the starting lineup. How quickly he gets there, and whether roster moves change the equation, remains unsettled, leaving the Mavericks to manage both his recovery and the shape of the frontcourt at the same time. [Read more 🡒]