Jul 10, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) looks on in the first quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images | Candice Ward-Imagn Images
With most Maverick fans already moving onto next season after an absolute disaster of a season (really about a season and a half honestly), I wanted to take a quick second to remind them that their future isn’t as bright as it seems. We likely won’t see this team return to the top of the West for a good five years, and I have reasons as to why. But, before I begin, let me preface this by saying that Luka Doncic will not be mentioned whatsoever in this article.
The Current Core’s Lack of Talent
So, the Mavericks have a stellar star in Cooper Flagg; I won’t lie, but that is not enough. The last time a score-first forward won a championship was Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021 (yes, Jayson Tatum in 2024 counts, but that team was too stacked not to win it all that year), and Giannis went nuclear. Now, this Mavericks team reminds me of that 2021 Bucks team, however. For starters, obviously both teams have Khris Middleton, but one Khris Middleton is averaging 20.4 points on 48/41/90 splits, and the other is, well, 34 years old. Also, both teams have scrappy guards filling in the gap on offense/defense, and both teams have premier shooters (Klay Thompson, Donte DiVincenzo, Pat Connaughton). The thing is, this type of team doesn’t work anymore. You can’t have a scoring forward that can’t shoot threes leading a team just by giving him shooters and defensive players. At the end of the day, I trust Shai, Luka, Cade, Jaylen Brown, Anthony Edwards, and Donovan Mitchell more in the clutch than even Giannis Antetokounmpo. That’s where Kyrie Irving comes in.
Kyrie Irving
Listen, I want Kyrie Irving to come back from his ACL tear better than ever and lead this team as a secondary scorer/clutch performer. The problem is, he tore his ACL. That’s incredibly difficult to come back from, and if I was him, I would’ve lost my motivation to return after the issues in the front office. I can only imagine it’s been a difficult year for Kyrie Irving during his injury. Now, if he does come back firing, I can see him helping them to be a solid team, but they aren’t even close to a championship at this moment.
What They Can Do to Fix It
At this point, I imagine next year being a buffer year where they try something in free agency to see if the core of Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg can work long-term, but if they are disappointed by the results, I see them moving on from Irving (and plenty more players as well). I see them trading Daniel Gafford either in this Offseason or by next season’s trade deadline. I see the same thing happening to Klay Thompson (if he’s even tradable at this point). I see Naji Marshall and Max Christie traded as well, because neither of them are good enough to lead a team, but they are good enough to get draft picks. I guess if they keep Khris Middleton, they can get a good year or two out of him, but not two years of contention out of him. So, really, they don’t have much they can do about this.
Conclusion
For the Mavericks, this has been a year of hell. It’s gotten to the point where people are more excited to watch the undrafted point guard averaging 6.2 points (Ryan Nembhard) and the other short, scrappy guard (Brandon Williams) than they are to see Cooper Flagg get 18-20 points a night. Now, I’m not saying they are completely out of luck (although they could be, after using up all of their luck to get Cooper Flagg). I’m simply saying that not only are they terrible now, but the odds are they will be terrible in the years to come. But hey, there’s always a bright side. At least their in-state rivals, their out-of-state rivals, their former franchise player, the Phoenix Suns, and the Celtics are all doing well. Maybe Mavericks fans can root for one of those teams.
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