News Mavericks Team Notes

[Dallas Mavericks]

Symmetry in the Rafters: Mark Aguirre, Cooper Flagg, and the quiet case for number 24

Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images

A hero from the Reunion Rowdies era returns home.

On June 25, 2025, the Dallas Mavericks drafted Cooper Flagg with the number one overall pick—the first since Mark Aguirre.

And right on cue — as if time were bending back on itself — Aguirre walked through the doors of the AAC. He returned. Welcomed. Home.

For younger fans, the moment might’ve felt ceremonial. A nice nod. A gentle nostalgia beat. But for those who know? It meant more.

Mark Aguirre
Made 3 All-Star teams and averaged 24.9 PTS, 5.8 REB, 3.8 AST over his first 7 seasons with the Mavs

He averaged 29.5 in his 3rd year in the leaguepic.twitter.com/CYw0IQnwIX

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 26, 2025​

Because long before Luka, and even before Dirk, there was Mark Aguirre — one of the first faces of the franchise.

Drafted first overall in 1981 from DePaul, Aguirre averaged 24.6 points per game over seven seasons in Dallas. He scored 29.5 a night in his peak year — a mark that stood as the highest single-season average in Mavericks history until Luka Dončić’s 33.9 PPG campaign in 2023–24 rewrote the record book. Aguirre played a pivotal role in pushing the Magic Johnson-led Showtime Lakers to Game 7 of the 1988 Western Conference Finals.

And then… he was traded. Not because he couldn’t play. Not because he didn’t lead.

That is simply what happens sometimes in young franchises with growing pains and front office friction. They break what they don’t yet understand how to hold. Aguirre left for Detroit. He won a ring. And for decades, he stayed away.

Until now.

Former Dallas Mavericks guard and the only other No. 1 pick in Mavs history, Mark Aguirre, sheds some tears multiple times and Mavs fans erupt with cheers.

He clearly missed Dallas over the years and is so glad they have reconnected once again after years of being separated.… pic.twitter.com/jq3tlQTvIj

— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) June 26, 2025​

What is striking in that video was not just the applause. It was his voice. Grateful. Awestruck. Honest.

“I never thought this time would happen… I didn’t know how I’d get back.”

No bitterness. No score-settling. Just appreciation for having the hand extended from the franchise that never stopped feeling like home. And maybe that’s the part worth pausing on.

Because as the Mavericks stand at a franchise crossroads — with Luka gone, Dirk distanced, and a fractured fanbase squinting toward a hopeful future — there’s something quietly powerful about seeing Aguirre return.

Especially when the man with a statue outside the arena has only attended one Mavericks home game since the Luka trade — and it was the night Luka returned to Dallas with the Lakers. The silence is loud.

So maybe that’s why they called Mark. Not to paper over wounds, but to open a different kind of door. And if you’re asking the obvious question — why honor him now? — The answer is already in the rafters. Brad Davis. Rolando Blackman. Derek Harper. All foundational. All beloved. All players who, like Aguirre, built the bones of this franchise.

He wasn’t perfect. But he was ours. And he gave this team a scoring anchor, a swagger, and a shot at greatness before anyone had ever heard of Dirk or Luka or Flagg.

So no, retiring Mark Aguirre’s number wouldn’t fix everything. But it might do something else. It might remind people that this franchise knows how to remember. Knows how to honor. Knows how to say you mattered — even if the ending got messy.

If this is about goodwill, fine. If it’s about symmetry, better. But if it’s about finally recognizing a man who helped build the house, then there’s nothing performative about it.

Some rafters aren’t just structural. Some are emotional. And maybe, just maybe, it’s time 24 joined them.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...cooper-flagg-and-the-quiet-case-for-number-24

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Roundtable: Raising the Flagg

Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images

Reacting to the Dallas Mavericks finally getting to select the Duke mega-prospect

Cooper Flagg is now a Dallas Maverick. We’ve been reacting for weeks, this isn’t news. But now that it’s real, what does it mean to you and where does your mind go next for the Mavericks?

Jack: I find myself satisfied and mystified. The pure elation and excitement I felt when Luka Doncic and Paige Bueckers were drafted are somewhat absent. And it has nothing to do with Cooper Flagg or the quality of player he is. Objectively, this is an amazing thing to happen for the Mavericks and my fandom. But I don’t think it’s really going to hit until I see him play basketball. Everything that’s happened with this organization since February 1st has just been too damn weird. So, as amazing as Capturing the Flagg should feel, I still find myself waiting to feel the basketball joy that was ripped from us.

Josh: I’m just thankful I have something to think and talk about with the Mavericks that isn’t relentlessly depressing. Contrary to popular belief, I do not want to talk about, or write about, the Luka Doncic trade every damn day. I’m sick of it. Maybe seven to 10 years ago, when I was a bit younger and more full of piss and vinegar? Sure. But I don’t care anymore. I don’t want to fight, I don’t want to have online discourse, I just want to talk about the basketball, and the Mavericks for the last five or so months did everything they could so that there was nothing else to talk about. With Flagg in the fold the franchise at least regains relevance and has both an interesting present and future. Now instead of waiting for the carcass of the franchise to wash up onto shore, we can figure out how Flagg fits in Dallas’ weird, jumbo-sized roster. We can talk about how Jason Kidd can develop his playmaking, how he can learn from an elite defender like Anthony Davis, or how to become a great scorer from Kyrie Irving. The Mavericks roster doesn’t really make all that much sense, but it’s fun and interesting, with Flagg the main reason why. Thank goodness.

Tyler: The drafting of Flagg doesn’t make up for everything, mainly because the people who caused the pain we felt from February on are still here. But Cooper is a generational player that is going to win over everyone who gets to see him play. I’m happy for the fans who do choose to stick around. I’m happy for those in the non-basketball side of the organization who have taken a beating since February.

But this is nowhere near the end of the story. The team is far from complete, and truth be told I’m fairly disappointed they didn’t make a move to get back into the late first round as Sacramento did. Cooper can certainly playmake a bit and I’m very excited to see him tap into that, but he’s not an initiator yet. The offseason is still young, but that needs to be addressed.

It also doesn’t help that Nico continues to make an ass out of himself at every possible juncture, so the thought of a press conference with he and Cooper together is rather terrifying. Even still, it was a good night for you if you are a fan of the team.

Matt M.: I don’t trust this Mavericks front office to be good stewards of the amazing opportunity Cooper Flagg represents. The delusional focus on Dallas as a “win now” destination, based primarily on the declining years of Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, is distorting the expectations of a good chunk of the fan base. Flagg is going to be a major point in this team’s favor, and I have big hopes and expectations for him in the long term. He’s going to win Rookie of the Year, score close to 20 points a game and help this team in his first year, too, but most of the rest of this team is going to have to turn over before the ultimate success is a possibility. The fact that the front office is in win-now mode and is trying to play the two-timeline game is a huge bummer, and I don’t think that’s going to be successful at all, but Flagg is going to develop into something special regardless of roster churn around him. He’s an important enough cornerstone-type player that I wish the Mavs would take an honest look at their past mistakes and make the moves that would ensure the greatest probability of success as Flagg develops into the force of nature we all think he’ll become. The fact that the team appears unwilling to ditch the win-now timeline (and trade Davis for picks to build around Flagg) makes me question whether, when Flagg is fully realized, the Mavs will have the capital to build a proper championship-caliber roster around him. I’m excited to watch Flagg in a Mavericks uniform. I just wish I had more faith in the decision-makers at the top of the organization to maximize his and this team’s opportunity for success.

Michael: It was no mystery that Flagg was going to be the selection, but now that it’s official I found myself feeling very basketball-grateful. The Mavs got Dirk, then got Luka. A literal and perfect segue from one generational star to another that seems almost impossible (maybe even less than a 1.8% chance!). When Luka was traded, one of the myriad feelings I had was that the team blew a nearly impossible scenario and the shadow of that trade would loom for a long time. On Draft night, the team managed to likely have done it again, and now that it’s official, I find myself feeling grateful the Mavs received an opportunity to greatly shorten that aforementioned shadow. I’m also very excited about how Flagg carries himself. It’s one thing to get a star, but another to get a star that seems to possess the same values and humbleness shown by past franchise favorites. It felt to me there was a culture shift in the franchise since the ownership change, but Flagg feels like the type of player that just plainly made sense as a Mavericks, and I am thrilled that he now officially is.

Bryan: The Mavericks once again have a key that opens the doors to relevance and contention. Purposely threw the previous key out the window while going full speed on the highway, but we have a key once again. When Nico’s gone, the doors open.

Clint: I was out. When the trade happened, my heart was broken and I had resolved that I wasn’t watching anymore. I was done. But, the one thing that could have possibly changed that somehow happened. If I don’t enjoy the impossibility of the Mavericks having Cooper Flagg, it’s like I’m being punished all over again. So things will never be the same as they were for me, but I’m back in. Sorta.

Sudarshan: I’m excited to have a player on MY team whom I can be a complete fanboy about, and it’s always that much sweeter when you get a chance to do that from the very onset of their career. Yes, I will root for players acquired in a trade because they’re part of the team, but it’s not the same. I’ve been blessed as an NBA fan since 2000 to have rooted, almost irrationally, for homegrown superstar players like Dirk and Luka, and now we have Mr. Flagg - The Poster Boy. The rational part of my brain, which takes into account the reality of the incompetent FO regime, is still sending caution signals in an attempt to dampen the enthusiasm. For a little while at least, though, the JOY is definitely back.

Kirk: This is good. It’s a start and since the roster is going to be weird the basketball is going to be REAL weird. But that’s fine, it’s different and that can be exciting. Long term, this is simply outstanding, what a building block to have to start all over. Let’s go Mavs.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...ons-dallas-mavericks-jason-kidd-nico-harrison

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Wings Things: On Paige Bueckers, Kyrie Irving and becoming ‘unguardable’

Kyrie Irving #11 of the Dallas Mavericks and Paige Bueckers #5 of the Dallas Wings smile after the game against the Indiana Fever during a WNBA game on June 27, 2025 at the at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. | Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving and his daughter were in attendance at Friday’s Dallas Wings game at American Airlines Center, and the two guards shared a moment after the Wings’ 94-86 loss to the Indiana Fever.

DALLAS, TX — Though the possibility of the moment surrounding the Dallas Wings’ 84-86 loss on Friday to the Indiana Fever may not have bloomed to its full potential on the court, there was a moment after the game that stood out to Wings’ rookie phenom Paige Bueckers.

She got to meet her favorite player, Dallas Mavericks’ guard Kyrie Irving, who was in attendance at American Airlines Center, along with first-round draft pick Cooper Flagg and Mark Cuban, the Mavs’ former owner.

Bueckers and Irving shared a smile, a hug and a brief moment of conversation on the floor after the Wings’ comeback attempt fell short against the Caitlin Clark-less Fever. Irving is rehabbing an ACL tear this offseason that could hold him out for most of the 2025-26 NBA season, but will reportedly sign a three-year extension with the Mavs this offseason.

Which makes Bueckers the biggest game in town at the guard position for the time being. Heck, with her star appeal and shot-making ability, that may remain the case for as long as she calls Dallas home.

“It was pretty surreal,” Bueckers said of the opportunity to meet Irving. “That’s somebody I’ve looked up to and has been my favorite player since I was really, really young. So for him to come out and support us, to support women’s basketball, have his daughter there and get to meet him in person was a great moment.”

Both are shot creators and all-around playmakers. Both are natural scorers who can find their teammates with dimes out of nowhere when the double-team comes. So, how does Bueckers view her game in comparison to her childhood favorite?

We’ve been waiting for this link up @DallasWings // #MFFL pic.twitter.com/quQpzR4Vzq

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) June 28, 2025​

“I want to be as unguardable as possible, and I feel like Kyrie is probably one of the most unguardable people to ever play the game,” Bueckers said. “That starts with scoring at all three levels, so adapting the mid-range game was super essential for me and my game, while also being able to get to the rim and shoot from the 3-point line.”

Bueckers hit 2-of-3 from beyond the arc in Friday’s loss to the Fever, including a halftime buzzer-beater from 35 feet away to cut the Indiana lead to 56-43 at the break. She also drained a fourth-quarter step-back 3-pointer with Lexie Hull’s hand in her face to bring Dallas within two, down just 79-77, wth 6:20 left to play. She had a little something to say on her way back down on defense, too.

Moment for life

Paige leads the squad with 27 pts & 6 asts at A Night in Dallas with her sixth 20-point game of the season! pic.twitter.com/Mcgkqo0Izv

— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) June 28, 2025​

Bueckers had two larger-than-life 3-point plays in the first half, eerily reminiscent of some similar plays that Irving has dazzled the crowd with during his 14-year NBA career. She scored 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting and continued her season-long assault from the mid-range while also finding open teammates for the customary six assists.

She is inching closer toward the ideal of becoming “unguardable” with each game. With Friday’s gargantuan effort, Bueckers became the first player in league history to record a game with 25 or more points, five or more assists, two or more steals, two or more blocked shots and zero turnovers. Opposing coaches are well aware of her game-wrecking ability in just her first year in the W.

“You just try to make everything as difficult as possible [for Bueckers],” Fever head coach Stephanie White said after Friday’s game. “Let her see multiple bodies, different kinds of matchups, just make her really work for everything she’s going to get. When you’re playing against great players, you’re not going to stop them. You just have to try to make life as difficult as possible and make them try to beat you with tough ones.”

RING THE ALARM https://t.co/3IAhSIbXFx pic.twitter.com/DGuBy3WnRU

— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) June 28, 2025​

Making tough ones is another trait Bueckers shares with Irving. She does it night in and night out. Both Irving and Bueckers have that ability to make the spectacular play — the play only a creative genius with the basketball in their hands is able to see. It’s what makes each of them worth the price of admission on their own.

The trick, in both cases, will be putting a winning team around them and doing it as quickly as possible.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...ueckers-kyrie-irving-and-becoming-unguardable

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Wings Things: No Paige, no problem as Wings ‘muck it up’ in 79-71 win over Mystics

Myisha Hines-Allen #2 of the Dallas Wings goes to the basket as Stefanie Dolson #31 of the Washington Mystics defends during the first half at College Park Center on June 28, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. | Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

Paige Bueckers sat out the second game of a back-to-back set on Saturday against the Mystics, but the Wings won their fourth in the team’s last six games.

ARLINGTON, TX — On the second night of a back-to-back set, with only eight available players on the roster and with rookie superstar Paige Bueckers on the shelf with right knee soreness, the Dallas Wings (5-13) may have played their best first half of the season on Saturday.

But if this topsy-turvy (mostly turvy, you’d have to admit) Wings season has taught us anything, it’s that volatility is the only constant with this team. After building an early 21-point lead, the Wings outlasted the Washington Mystics’ (8-9) comeback attempt to preserve a 79-71 win at College Park Center.

The Wings started Friday’s 94-86 loss to the Indiana Fever at American Airlines Center in a serious funk, just like they did the first time they met the Mystics on Sunday, in what ended up as a 91-88 overtime loss. The Wings started both of those games in the freezer, with matching 1-for-13 cold spells from the field.

They allowed the Fever to hit 13 of their first 14 from the field in Friday’s loss at the big house. But, oh, how the turntables, on both fronts. Dallas connected on 11-of-18 attempts in the first quarter and held the Mystics to just 3-of-17 shooting from the field. They led 28-9 after one, despite coming in facing deficits in rest and roster availability. The nine points Washington scored in the first are the fewest allowed by Dallas in any quarter this season.

The Wings cobbled together a 17-2 run over a nearly five-minute span from the 2:08 mark of the first quarter to the 7:38 mark of the second, fueled by — get this: backup big Myisha Hines-Allen, rookie point guard JJ Quinerly and the seldom-used forward Hayley Jones, who joined the team on a hardship contract on June 17 after long-term injuries to guard Ty Harris and forward Maddie Siegrist, as well as the departures of both Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsoder. McCowan (Turkey) and Geiselsoder (Germany) are Over There for Eurobasket competition, which wraps up on Sunday.

“We need to come out punching like we did tonight,” Quinerly said. “Just show [the opponent] that we’re going to make that stand for the game. That was a big piece of us winning tonight.”

The first-half effort was as scrappy as it was crucial for Dallas. The Wings were gathering momentum with wins in three of four games last week, but followed that stretch with a somewhat deflating loss to the Caitlin Clark-less Fever on Friday in front of the biggest crowd of the season.

Without Bueckers and her 18.4 points, 5.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, the onus fell early on Arike Ogunbowale to generate the scoring punch the Wings were missing. But the cavalry, though limited in sheer numbers, was en route when the second team put its stamp on the first half. Quinerly led the Wings with 13 points, four boards and four assists at the half. Ogunbowale added 10 more by creating solid looks in the mid-range and finishing through contact when necessary.

The Wings may have taken a 45-31 lead into halftime, but the Mystics had already embarked on a game-changing 22-6 run in response to the Wings’ earlier 17-2 jolt. Washington outscored Dallas 10-4 over the last 2:46 of the second quarter, then continued with another 12-0 spurt out of halftime to bring the Mystics to within 45-43 on rookie Sonia Citron’s wide-open corner 3-pointer with 7:33 left in the third. Citron led the Mystics with 22 points and 10 rebounds, but shot just 6-of-15 from the field in the loss.

THREEE BALLL FROM ZA pic.twitter.com/c3hOLDs80a

— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) June 29, 2025​

This is a team trying to figure out how to win consistently. There are going to be wild swings in performance from time to time — sometimes quarter to quarter, sometimes game to game as the Wings continue to make the pieces fit.

“We’re at our best when all five players on the floor are hunting within their roles,” Wings head coach Chris Koclanes said. “We are searching as a team for our identity, because it changes night to night. You know Paige and Arike are constants, and that’s all defenses are going to focus on, so I keep talking about our competitive depth and how it’s a strength for us, and you’ve seen it. We’ve just got to win in all sorts of different ways, and tonight we had to muck this game up. It didn’t look the prettiest, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get wins in this league.”

And this time down the stretch, something clicked for Dallas. They didn’t buckle under the pressure of the Mystics’ run. They answered it, this time with a 17-5 run spanning the last three minutes of the third and first three of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 71-56. Aziaha James hit two 3-pointers as part of that decisive run and scored 15 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep in the win. Quinerly matched James’ team-high scoring mark of 15 points, and Ogunbowale added 14 more in a win that required contributions from all over the roster.

Photo by Mercedes Oliver/NBAE via Getty Images
Aziaha James #10 of the Dallas Wings drives to the basket during the game against the Washington Mystics on June 28, 2025 at the College Park Center in Arlington, TX.

“Down the stretch we got off the ball — gave the ball to [Hines-Allen] and let her bring it up the court to relieve the pressure on our guards,” Quinerly said. “And she kind of just took that over. She was getting to the hoop, was getting a lot of spray outs to shooters and we we’re getting paint touches out of that.”

So in the end, it was two rookies not named Bueckers who led the Wings to the win over Washington. The future appears to be brighter than a 5-13 record may indicate.

Koclanes said in his pre-game comments that Bueckers’ absence against the Mystics was “precautionary.”

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/6/28/24458054/dallas-wings-defeat-washington-mystics-79-71

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Hypothetical trades and the NBA’s waning attention span

Where the NBA offseason meets entertainment

It’s that time of the year again for NBA fans. The NBA Finals are over, the draft has come and gone, and the preseason looks about a million miles away. But as the need for stimulation to distract the average adult from the chaos at home and abroad is at an all-time high, many in the world of NBA information dissemination have taken to the bombastic art of predicting blockbuster trade scenarios from their various digital platforms, almost relentlessly.

Occasionally, they’ll utilize some scrap of factual data to support their hair-brained idea, such as a misconstrued sound bite from a press conference, or something which might assist in constructing believability in whatever distracting nonsense is being unveiled as food for your thought. More often than not, though, the trade proposals in question are presented with little to no evidential proof. These scenarios are meant as flights of fancy, not to be taken with seriousness or to be attributed to any honest workmanship. They’re typically accompanied by a few slapdash paragraphs that essentially amount to: “If this actually happened... that would be, like, totally crazy to think about!”

It amounts to a hard pull from a sugary Big Gulp when you’re stuck in your cubicle. It’s a little sad, but as your brain has been trained to crave endorphin shots every half hour, you embrace the sugar high and the brain freeze. If I’m letting a seemingly harmless thing get under my skin, it could be due to the fact that it seems that their sheer numbers have increased exponentially this offseason. I can’t scroll through team news without being confronted with the bait of some hypothetical situation that would blow the roof off of the league, something you’d hate to be the last person to know about, installing in your psyche a need to check in on things more and more frequently, like any good investor would. Maybe there are other reasons for this new phenomenon of constant trade speculation and “proposals” aside from boredom and the sickly condition we find ourselves in thanks to the 24/7 news cycle and smartphones.

The term blockbuster is applied to trades in the sports world when they involve high-profile, very wealthy athletes shuffling passed each other on their way to different franchises in different US cities, often completely reimagining the style of play the respective ball clubs have been known for as a result. Notwithstanding the casual apathy that picture is drawn with, these large scale asset swaps can truly change the course of a franchise, and (more importantly) change the course of a league itself, showing that the only thing that’s predetermined here is change (and theater).

The NBA is, after all, not just for the athletes who compete in its games. The fan is unquestionably just as important to the league as the players are. Without the fan, there is no money to be made on the enterprise. So when ratings drop due to various factors, such as changes in viewing habits or due to the existence of other kinds of entertainment, which are immediately discoverable in every direction at every moment, the marketing team has to consider how to best re-engage their audience. And when there’s no action to watch on TV because the season has ended and the players get to blow their millions for a few months instead of playing games every night, something has to be done to keep people interested in the interim.

Now that we’re well into the era of players forcing trades, as well as the era of television sports analysts waxing hyperbolic on the importance of their own personal opinions, it has begun to feel as though the league is following in the well-defined footsteps of professional wrestling. Lately, it’s gotten to the point that major trades are turning the league into a bit of a sideshow, with conspiracy theories abounding in the wake of questionable agendas.

It’s obvious that the league itself has only aided the constant, nervous expectation of these major shifts in team personnel. In the end, it’s all about generating money for the very wealthy, often at the expense of the bored, which isn’t surprising in any way, but when it goes so far as to disrupt the heretofore fixture of team-loyalty, it suddenly feels that to be a fan of an NBA team requires a greater willingness to have your intelligence insulted than was ever previously needed.

What does that have to do with hypothetical trades? Ever since LeBron James forced his way to the Miami Heat, the NBA has been mostly about forming super teams. It’s all about the Big 3 in today’s game. That’s just how things have evolved. To a younger fan, that’s just the fabric of the reality that we live in. Major blockbuster trades have become the rule, rather than the exception. It’s part of what drives the entertainment. Like everything else, there’s no longer need for any patience here. Today’s losers will always have a chance of being tomorrow’s winners, and now we have hypothetical trade proposals to constantly reinforce the fluidity of that dichotomy. It’s the offseason. There has to be something to talk about, after all.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...cal-trades-and-the-nbas-waning-attention-span

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

The Mavericks should start Ryan Nembhard from opening night

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Nembhard is exactly what this team desperately needs

Dallas signed Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard to a two-way deal on Thursday after his four-year career at Creighton and Gonzaga. Nembhard is exactly what the Mavericks need: a floor general, a shooter, and a play initiator. The Mavericks made the choice to become a very large and very long team last season, which came at the expense of any and all ball handling. Sure, Kyrie Irving can dribble. He is one of the best ball handlers in NBA history. But at his age and size, he cannot be expected to initiate the offense and score 30 points a night, especially coming off a serious injury. This, unfortunately, played out in predictable fashion last March when he tore his ACL after leading the league in minutes for an extended period. And, with the only point guard on the roster being Brandon Williams, and D’Angelo Russell being the leading guard candidate to sign with Dallas, the Mavericks and Nembhard could benefit greatly from throwing him into the fire early.

It is not often that I am giddy about an undrafted guard. But Nembhard is the perfect fit for this roster. Currently constructed, Dallas needs a floor general. They have no one to get them into sets and direct traffic, with all due respect to Williams and Russell (who are score-first guards). If you need evidence of how important a real point guard is, look no further than the Pacers before and after Tyrese Haliburton went down in game seven of the NBA Finals. When Indiana’s adrenaline from the injury wore off, the Pacers turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter, effectively ending the game and series. For the Mavericks’ plethora of forwards and bigs to thrive, they need a guy who can effectively break pressure and put guys in positions to score.

Nembhard does just that. He led the NCAA with 9.8 assists per game last season and turned it over less than three times a game. He is a pick-and-roll maestro and, on a roster starved for good shooting, he brings a 40 percent shooter into the mix. His form is very similar to his brother’s, meaning he will not have an issue getting his shot off at the next level. He scores well at the rim (56% last season) and is not afraid to attack. Defensively, he has active hands and stole the ball 1.7 times a game in his senior year. It is a dream pickup for Dallas, and he should start from game one.

The reality of next season is that the Mavericks are going to be fighting for four months and then hoping that Kyrie Irving comes back at 70 percent or better. With Flagg being the new focal point of the franchise, one of the best things you can do with a young forward is pair him with a young guard and let them grow together. Let Nembhard play with the wolves for 50 games, learning as he goes, and hope that when March rolls around, you have a young, established point guard on a healthy team within striking distance of the playoffs. Williams and/or Russell are not adding many, if any, wins by starting anyway, so the reward much outweighs the risk.

Of course, with a rookie guard, there are concerns. Point guard is the most important position and possesses a lot of nuance, so the learning curve is always steep. Nembhard is only six feet tall, so his size will be a talking point in the opponent’s scouting report. And, perhaps the most important aspect, he will be tasked with diagnosing defenses and directing guys around, which is especially scary when the guys he needs to have respect from are Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis. These are the questions Nembhard will be asked, but it seems like he already has the answers.

He was a four-year college player. He comes into the NBA older than guys like Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle and the same age as Paolo Banchero. This is a massive advantage to his peers because nothing can replace experience. Between his college career and the resources he has at his disposal (playing under Jason Kidd, having a brother who just played in the NBA Finals), the learning curve will be flattened immensely. His size will be mitigated by the size of Dallas’ roster. They can afford to have a smaller guard out there with impending doom waiting inside 15 feet of the rim. And as far as commanding respect, players respond to great passers well. If you can be trusted to deliver the ball in the sweet spot, guys like Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg will love playing with you. Nembhard does that as well as anyone who entered the draft, and certainly better than anyone currently on Dallas’ roster.

Nembhard’s body of work already gives him a strong case to start. But the most important advantage he has over Williams and potentially Russell is playing in summer league with Flagg. Chemistry cannot be manufactured; it has to be developed. It is not nothing that he is playing with the Mavericks’ most important player in real games two months before anyone else. In fact, they may look so good together in Las Vegas that when October rolls around, Nembhard will have been converted to a full-time contract, and seeing him in the starting lineup will be a no-brainer.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...should-start-ryan-nembhard-from-opening-night

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Reports: D’Angelo Russell to sign two-year deal with the Mavericks

D’Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 20, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. | Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Early reports indicate that the deal is worth $12 million with a player option in the final year

The start of NBA free agency is upon us, and the Dallas Mavericks have reportedly identified their stop-gap point guard.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported in the wee small hours Monday morning, still hours before free agency officially begins at 5 p.m. CDT, that the Mavericks are “widely expected” to sign D’Angelo Russell to a two-year deal. That came after Stein’s report last week that the Mavericks were the “leading suitor” for Russell’s services, simply because he was “more attainable” than the other options on the table.

Shams Charania of ESPN says the deal is for two years and is worth $13 million. Stein says the deal is worth closer to $12 million. Given Sham’s recent inflation of actual contracts in early reports (see, Daniel Gafford), we’re going with Stein. Shams followed up to add that the final year of Russell’s contract will have a player option.

The Mavericks have indeed secured their long-anticipated verbal agreement with D’Angelo Russell on a two-year deal worth nearly $12 million, league sources say.

More NBA from @JakeLFischer and me: https://t.co/WoNqIgMcqE https://t.co/ZPLVOTk7hE pic.twitter.com/bhUnG89qiD

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 30, 2025​

Russell was traded from the Lakers to the Brooklyn Nets, along with Maxwell Lewis and three second-round NBA Draft picks in December for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. He averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 assists in 58 games for the Nets and Lakers last year.

Russell has already played for four different teams and had two different stints with two of those four. He tends to wear out his welcome, but if all the Mavs need from him is to be a bridge until Ryan Nembhard is ready for primetime or until Kyrie Irving works his way back from that ACL tear he suffered in March, maybe it could work?

If it is the earlier reported $11.7 million number, over two years it allows the Mavs to use the taxpayer mid-level exception for 2025-26. The space ($5.7 million) to do so was carved out under the second salary cap apron with Irving’s new three-year, $119 million deal, which the recovering star is expected to sign after declining his $43-million player option for the upcoming season.

The new three-year deal (two years plus a player option) nets Irving just over $36.7 million in 2025-26.

Mavericks roster

* Kyrie projected new contract

* Dallas still has a $1.5M buffer below the 2nd apron if they use the $5.7M tax ML pic.twitter.com/H68EqlrSde

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 25, 2025​

Take a look at the Mavericks’ projected salary cap situation entering free agency, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

There are still a couple of wild cards in the mix for the Mavs, though. The team just signed Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard, the brother of Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, to a two-way deal following the 2025 NBA Draft. Our own Draftnik David Trink is high on Nembhard, even going so far as to suggest that he could work his way into a starting role for the Mavericks despite going undrafted. Nembhard averaged 9.8 assists per game while shooting better than 40% percent from the 3-point line last year for the Bulldogs, and our boy Trink makes a strong case for feeding him to the association’s wolves early on if he shows promise and chemistry with Cooper Flagg in NBA Summer League play.

Stein also reported early Monday morning that Dallas is trying to create additional space to re-sign the oft-injured Dante Exum as a backup, by shopping Olivier-Maxence Prosper. Exum played in just 75 games for the Mavs over the last two seasons — just 20 in 2024-25 — as injuries once again marred his tenure with the team. He did show flashes on a few occasions, but he’s not a pure point guard, of course.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...o-year-deal-dallas-mavericks-free-agency-2025

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

SB Reacts: Dallas Mavericks free agency

Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images

What’s your take!?

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Dallas Mavericks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

The off season marches on. Give us your vote, we’ll see how it stacks up to the rest of the community!

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/7/1/24459138/sb-reacts-dallas-mavericks-free-agency