The Western Conference has already turned into a mess of injuries, uneven starts, and a few teams trying to survive on star power alone. Through that chaos, the Dallas Mavericks have quietly put together one of the league’s most encouraging early runs.
Dallas is 4-2 after October, a start that looked a lot different when people first sized up those opening six games. Kyrie Irving’s return and Cooper Flagg taking a second-year leap have changed the feel around this team fast. What looked like a group that might be scrambling just to stay afloat now looks like one that belongs in the playoff conversation.
That’s a big shift from where most preseason projections had the Mavericks, which was somewhere in the 9-12 range in the West. There are still 76 games left, so nothing is settled yet, but Dallas has already made itself hard to ignore.
The wins have been real, too. The Mavericks have beaten the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, a battered Oklahoma City Thunder team, and the Houston Rockets. The Rockets were without Alperen Sengun, who is arguably their best player, but it was still an impressive win.
And that Thunder result matters because Oklahoma City has been hammered by injuries. Cason Wallace and Jalen Williams are likely already out for the year, and now Chet Holmgren is out for 8-10 weeks after a knee procedure this week.
The reigning two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is still there, but the talent around him is thinning fast. After a 4-0 start, the Thunder have dropped two straight.
The West, though, is packed with teams trying to make sense of themselves in the early going. The Sacramento Kings are off to a brutal 0-6 start, with only one loss coming by single digits, and even that one was by eight. The Utah Jazz, expected by many to take a step forward, are 1-5 and have only one win, a one-point grinder against the Pelicans.
New Orleans is 2-4 and has plenty of interesting pieces, but the roster has the feel of a team built for constant movement. Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, and Dejounte Murray are all names that would be on the block in a more conventional setup, though this front office doesn’t fit that mold.
The LA Clippers are 1-4 and will stay annoying because of the coaching, but the talent level is a real issue. Brandon Ingram is also expected to miss most of the season while recovering from a partially torn Achilles.
Phoenix has already sparked concern because of the lack of a true point guard, and the Suns have only one win so far. Still, somebody has to land in the Play-In mix, and they look like the best bet among the teams near the bottom even at 1-3.
Golden State picked up a big win over the Lakers on Friday, but until Jimmy Butler gets back from injury, the Warriors look like they’ll just keep treading water. That’s exactly what they’re doing at 3-3.
Minnesota is also dealing with a major absence. Anthony Edwards will be out for around two months after an arthroscopic procedure on his knee.
LaMelo Ball is supposed to help keep things moving, but he and Rudy Gobert haven’t been on the same page. The Timberwolves are 4-3.
Portland has been one of the more interesting teams so far because of its deep backcourt of Ja Morant, Damian Lillard, Scoot Henderson, and Jrue Holiday. Add in All-Star scorer Deni Avdija and defensive anchor Donovan Clingan, and the Trail Blazers at 4-1 look like a tough out.
Memphis has been the biggest surprise of the bunch at 6-0, though the schedule has helped. Those wins came twice over the Jazz, twice over the Kings, and once each against Portland and Golden State. It’s a hot start, but it still leaves plenty of people wanting to see them against a team everyone knows is good.
The Lakers sit at 4-2 and have a strange roster around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. They’ve also used up nearly all of their tradeable draft capital to get Walker Kessler, but Doncic is still such a strong offensive engine that they should stay competitive for most of the season.
Denver’s situation isn’t all that different in some ways. The Nuggets are 3-2, haven’t picked up a good win yet, and still have Nikola Jokic.
San Antonio started 0-2, then ripped off four straight wins. Victor Wembanyama was rough offensively early on, but he looks like himself again.
For now, the Mavericks sit in the middle of all this noise looking like the best team in the West at 5-1. They just broke Houston’s unbeaten run on Friday, and even with Sengun out, it was another sign that Dallas has arrived early in the conversation.
In Other News...
Kyrie Irvings Surge Has Mavericks Fans Watching One Crucial Thing
Kyrie Irvings season-high 35-point night offered the Mavericks a reminder of what he can still bring offensively while he works his way back from a torn ACL. More important for Dallas, it was another sign that the guard is settling into the rhythm of the season and finding a better balance between production and the daily grind of recovery.
Irving has talked about the mental and physical fatigue that comes with that process, saying his goal is to keep playing without overthinking the injury. He has also expressed confidence in the Mavericks medical and coaching staff as he continues to build his conditioning, which makes every strong outing feel like part of a larger test of how quickly he can sustain this level. [Read more 🡒]
Cooper Flagg Is Already Changing What Dallas Can Dream About
Cooper Flagg has already given Dallas a different kind of optimism to talk about, the sort that goes beyond a hot start or a few eye-catching highlights. Through the opening stretch of the season, he has looked like a player who can tilt games in multiple ways, piling up points, handling the ball and helping on the glass while also showing up well in the advanced numbers that tend to separate real impact from empty production.
For the Mavericks, the bigger question is no longer whether Flagg belongs in the conversation around the leagues rising stars, but how high that conversation can go if this keeps up. It is still early, and plenty can change over the course of a season, but the early returns have already pushed Dallas into a more ambitious place than many expected when the year began. [Read more 🡒]
Kyrie Irving's Hot Start Just Raised Dallas' Biggest Deadline Dilemma
Kyrie Irvings strong start has only sharpened the conversation around what the Mavericks do next. He has said he is committed to Dallas despite the trade chatter, and for now he remains one of the key pieces in the teams backcourt, giving the offense a level of shot-making and late-clock security that is hard to replace. But with his long-term future still unclear, every bit of production only seems to add to the sense that Dallas is sitting on a complicated decision rather than a simple one.
Around the league, Irving is viewed as the kind of player who could draw serious interest if the Mavericks decide to listen before the deadline. The appeal is obvious: a proven scorer, a high-end creator and a name that would instantly change a contenders outlook. For Dallas, the real question is whether the value of keeping him for a playoff push outweighs the possibility of getting a major return if the right offer comes along. [Read more 🡒]