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

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Dante Exum signs new contract with the Dallas Mavericks, Dinwiddie exits to Charlotte

Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Dante’s inferno has been relit!

Coming into the offseason, one of the more pressing questions facing the Dallas Mavericks was how they were going to handle the guard spot. With Kyrie Irving set to miss most of the 2025-26 campaign, the Mavs were sorely needing some guard help to help see them through the season. On Wednesday, Dallas took more steps to help bring clarity to the guard room, as they agreed to terms with Dante Exum on a deal to return for his third year with the Mavericks.

Free agent guard Dante Exum has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell ESPN. Exum considered two other contenders but returns to Dallas to share ball-handling duties to start the season with D'Angelo Russell. pic.twitter.com/3GZBxTgb8c

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2025​

Exum averaged nearly nine points and three assists per game last year, seeing just 18 minutes per game on average. In the season before that, Exum averaged eight and three in similar time, playing well off of both Luka and Kyrie during that magical 2023-24 campaign. He found himself closing in several big games down the stretch, including the game against the Houston Rockets, where Exum hit one of the biggest shots of the regular season to send that game to overtime.

(As an aside, a wise man once said “I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them.”

Exum should see himself firmly entrenched in the Mavericks rotation, giving Dallas a nice value here on a vet minimum deal. Since being in Dallas, and when healthy, Dante has been a guy that contributes to winning at a high level. He’s a very high IQ player that has the size to compete defensively and the vision to be a great distributor offensively. Bringing Exum back is a very solid move by the Mavs.

Dinwiddie departs​

Also on Wednesday, it was announced that Spencer Dinwiddie was leaving Dallas to join the Charlotte Hornets. Dinwiddie, who somehow played the most games of any Maverick last year, will get the chance to be a much needed veteran presence in Charlotte for LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Kneuppel and all of the young guys that the Hornets gainfully employ.

Free agent guard Spencer Dinwiddie has agreed to a one-year deal with the Charlotte Hornets, sources tell ESPN. Dinwiddie averaged 14.3 points and 6.2 assists as a starter for the Mavs a season ago and provides a reliable scorer, passer and leader for a young Hornets backcourt. pic.twitter.com/piYDtPQOxt

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2025​

This departure should give Mavericks fans a chance to remember Dinwiddie fondly, as he was nothing short of a consummate professional for the team during the self-inflicted disaster season that the Mavs had in 2024-25. While not exactly landing with a contender, it’s a new challenge for the smoothie king to take on, and here’s to hoping he does just that.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...-spencer-dinwiddie-exits-to-charlotte-hornets

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Reports: Nuggets to sign former Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley

Summer League head coach Jared Dudley of the Dallas Mavericks gestures towards the court against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first half of a 2024 NBA Summer League game at the Cox Pavilion on July 15, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. | Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images

The Dallas exodus of assistant coaches continues this offseason.

Reports are in that the Denver Nuggets will hire Jared Dudley, the now former Dallas Mavericks assistant coach who joined the team ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Dallas Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley is finalizing a deal to become the top assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets under David Adelman, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports tells ESPN. Dudley has been on Mavs' staff since 2021 after a 14-year NBA career. pic.twitter.com/sA5gN2yp8h

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 3, 2025​

Dudley was hired by the Mavs shortly after he retired from a 14-year NBA career with seven different teams. Now he will be on David Adelman’s staff in Denver, after Adelman took on the role of interim head coach this season upon the firing of Mike Malone, then was promoted to head coach in May.

The Denver Post reported last week that Dudley would meet with the Nuggets in Denver at some point this week. NBA Insider Marc Stein had previously reported that Denver had received permission to interview Dudley for a spot on David Adelman’s coaching staff.

Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley will meet with the Nuggets in Denver this week, league sources say. As @TheSteinLine wrote, Denver has received permission to interview Dudley for a spot on David Adelman’s coaching staff.

— Bennett Durando (@BennettDurando) June 29, 2025​

Dudley’s departure follows former assistant Sean Sweeney’s exit last week. Sweeney is now the associate head coach for the San Antonio Spurs under new coach Mitch Johnson, who recently replaced the retired legend, Gregg Poppovich.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said more recently on his Hoops Collective Podcast that Dudley and God Shammgod, the Mavs’ player development coach, would likely leave as well after Sweeney’s departure, citing a reunion with another former Mavericks assistant coach, Jamahl Mosley, who has coached the Orlando Magic for the last four seasons.

While Sweeney was Jason Kidd’s de facto defensive coordinator, Dudley was always the vibes guy on the staff. He related to the players and helped keep whatever shreds of culture the Mavs had in place, in place. Dudley had also reportedly received interest from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies.

It’s been a turbulent offseason with regard to the Mavs’ coaching staff, to say the least. All the recent shakeup follow’s the departure of two more assistants, Alex Jensen, who left last year to go coach at the University of Utah, and Darrel Armstrong, who left under more unceremonious circumstances.

The Nuggets, I’m told, have also shown strong interest in ex-Mavericks guard J.J. Barea for a spot on Adelman’s staff.

Barea has been HC for multiple teams in his native Puerto Rico’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional.

More NBA from @JakeLFischer and me: https://t.co/H5WFmIVlQt https://t.co/e9IxxnB70G

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 29, 2025​

Former Mavericks guard JJ Barea agreed to join Adelman’s Denver staff on Tuesday. Barea had spent his time coaching for multiple teams in Puerto Rico’s professional league, the Baloncesto Superio National (BSN).

The staff turnover to this degree is rather surprising but given the coaches who are coming in as replacements, there should be some optimism about the coaching staff. The team now boast three coaches who have been head coaches before and Phil Handy is highly regarded.

How the team changes as result of these coaching changes is worth paying attention to.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...-sign-former-mavericks-assistant-jared-dudley

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Wings Things: Who is this team, and what have they done with the Dallas Wings?

Dallas Wings guard Aziaha James (10) drives to the basket past Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally (0) and Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper (2) during the first half at College Park Center. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The youth movement is spurring the Wings to five wins in their last seven games.

ARLINGTON, TX — Who are these Dallas Wings, and what have they done with the team that started the season 1-11?

The answer lies in the youth movement that injuries throughout the Wings’ roster have forced upon head coach Chris Koclanes and his staff. The 2025 Dallas Wings rookie class has fully arrived.

The Wings (6-13) started four rookies on Thursday at College Park Center, and the Dallas Class of 2025 took it to the visiting Phoenix Mercury (12-6) from the opening tip in a stunning 98-89 win with only eight players available on the roster.

“Tonight was definitely the rooks’ night,” said Aziaha James, who scored 20 of her team-high 28 points in the first half.

After former Dallas Wing Satou Sabally, who was traded to Phoenix before the 2025 season, hit two free throws on the Mercury’s first offensive possession, Dallas took off on a 19-5 run over the next four minutes to seize control of the proceedings early on. Dallas rookies accounted for every field goal during the run.

“We started with great intention to play inside, then that opens up the outside,” Koclanes said. “Then you get Aziaha going. A lot of the times, she’s getting [defended by] the [opposing team’s] weaker perimeter defender, and it becomes about making the right play and being unselfish.”

The Dallas coaching staff had no other option than to let the kids play in this one, shorthanded as they were due to injuries up and down the roster. DiJonai Carrington missed her fifth straight game with a rib injury on Thursday, but these rookies are putting Koclanes to a tough decision when she returns. Those are what you call happy problems, though — not like the laundry list of issues that plagued the team during its dismal start to the year.

“We’ve won a game without Paige. Now we’ve won a game without Arike [Ogunbowale],” Koclanes said. “Everyone on that roster can contribute. That’s our competitive depth, and everyone is going to continue to buy into that.”

James was so smooth and efficient with the ball in her hands throughout the first half. She set a career-high scoring mark with 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and a new career-high in assists (5) in just two quarters of play. James set her previous high scoring mark of 17 points in an 86-83 win over the Connecticut Sun on June 20. She was a monster on the offensive end Thursday.

Zaza is just too nice with it pic.twitter.com/2dErqcSiiS

— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) July 4, 2025​

James and Bueckers combined to shoot 12-of-13 from the field in the first half. They put on an absolute clinic of offensive basketball while the team maintained a snarling, rabid brand of defense on the other end in stretches. The big moments crested one on top of another until the Wings took a 61-43 lead into halftime. The first half of Thursday was easily this team’s best half all year against a quality opponent.

And at the end of the night, the dynamic backcourt duo became the first pair of rookie teammates to each have 20 or more points and five or more assists in a game in WNBA history.

When the Mercury made their run in the third, it was James who responded for the Wings. After Alyssa Thomas scored a big bucket inside to bring Phoenix to within 67-63 as part of a 13-2 spurt with four minutes left in the third, James made a strong drive along the baseline and finished through the contact of Kitija Laksa to make it 70-63. Then Myisha Hines-Allen finished in the lane before Bueckers made a couple from the free-throw line to put the Wings back up by double figures, 74-63, with 3:47 left in the third.

“We’ve always had it in us. We always have fight. We always have belief,” Bueckers said. “No matter what our record says, on any given night, we feel like we can compete. We’re learning, we’re growing. It’s a whole new team. It takes time to establish, and so we’re sticking with our process and staying together through it all.”

This is no longer a Wings team that wilts in the face of an opponent’s run. This is a team that has the firepower in the backcourt and has added big bodies in the frontcourt to respond in kind and weather the adversity that invariably comes in every WNBA game. The Wings out-rebounded the Mercury 38-26 on their way to their most impressive win of the season so far.

Dallas has now won five of its last seven games, with two of those wins coming against the second-place teams in both conferences: the Mercury on Thursday and the Atlanta Dream on June 24. The Wings have also rattled off four straight wins at College Park Center. It begs the question: Just how much ground will the Wings be able to make up as the season wears on? Is the current trajectory sustainable in the long term? If so, then this becomes a scary, hungry young bunch as the race for the last few playoff spots takes shape in the coming weeks.

We’re not there yet, but it’s certainly a storyline to keep your eye on. If the Wings can follow Thursday’s win up with another against the same team on Monday in Phoenix, the Wings will be the talk of the league.

well alright Paige Bueckers pic.twitter.com/BzOYM7oLtt

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) July 4, 2025​

James finished with 28 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Bueckers added 23 more. Point guard and fellow rookie JJ Quinerly stuffed the stat sheet in her own right to finish with 17 points, seven assists and five boards in the win. And don’t forget about Li Yueru, who had her best game in a Wings’ uniform to chip in with 12 points and 11 boards.

“This was The Aziaha James Game,” Bueckers said. “That was extremely fun to watch and to be a part of. And it’s not just offensively. She was guarding one of the best perimeter players in the league on the other end in [Kahleah Copper], so take that on and just be fearless — I’m so happy for her.”

The contributions from up and down the eight active players on the roster offset a game-high 33 points from Copper and 20 more from Sabally.

Arike Ogunbowale missed the game against the Mercury with an injured left thumb. The seventh-year star appeared to jam the thumb on defense in the second half of Saturday’s win over the Mystics. She finished Saturday’s win despite wincing and holding her left hand for several possessions in the fourth quarter, then sat out Thursday.

Bueckers named rookie of the month​

Earlier on Thursday, Bueckers was named the WNBA Rookie of the Month for June, after averaging 21.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists over seven games. The 21.6 points per game Bueckers scored was third in the W in the month of June. Her Rookie of the Month nod is the first for a Wings player since Ogunbowale did it in 2019.

Her first 20-plus point game of July marks her seventh of her rookie season. Bueckers is on her way to rewriting all the rookie-season records in the franchise record books.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...and-what-have-they-done-with-the-dallas-wings

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

SB Reacts: NBA Free Agency reactions

Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

Fans say things are looking up for the Mavericks

This week’s internal poll here at Mavs Moneyball focused on the start of free agency and NBA Summer League. The National poll looked at free agency around the NBA.

Our first question had to do with new Dallas Maverick D’Angelo Russell.

The vast majority of fans are happy with the signing and I think I am as well, even if I really don’t care for him as a player. Given the options, I’d rather have him than be forced to root for Chris Paul. Hating Chris Paul has been a 20 year experience I have no desire to change now.

The second question revolved around NBA Summer League.

Two in three fans said yes, they’d be watching. To the other third: WHY AREN’T YOU WATCHING?! You can get an early look at the FanDuel favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year in Cooper Flagg (currently -180).

The national poll looked at two things. The first was which player signed would have the biggest impact.

New Milwaukee Buck Myles Turner won the plurality of votes, at 39%. Kind of surprising to me given how weird the Bucks are and how bad Turner was in the NBA Finals. Russell took second place.

The second question had to do with which team had the best start to free agency.

Dallas eeked out the Atlanta Hawks and there must be more Mavs fans participating in this poll than I thought. Dallas has had a fine start, I guess, but the Hawks changed their team in a ton of key ways.

If anything, these polls are a reminder that the best teams aren’t built through free agency at all. It’s through draft and development. Free agency can help close some gaps, but for the most part, the moves made at the start of the NBA’s business year do not move the needle for teams.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/7/4/24461594/sb-reacts-nba-free-agency-reactions

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Cooper Flagg is part of Dallas Mavericks full Summer League roster

Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images

Yes, he’s playing

With just under a week remaining until the start of the NBA 2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas, the Dallas Mavericks were one of a handful of teams who had yet to release their summer league roster. That changed on Thursday, as the Mavericks have finally released their full roster for the tournament. Thankfully for Mavs fans, there are no Cooper Flagg sized surprises to the roster.

Dallas Mavericks Summer League Roster has been Announced pic.twitter.com/qtQne0Y4HN

— No Ceilings (@NoCeilingsNBA) July 3, 2025​

As expected, Cooper is going to be in Las Vegas for at least the first weekend. Flagg is joined by the two undrafted free agents that the Mavericks signed following the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft, as both Ryan Nembhard and Miles Kelly will be on this roster. Both Nembhard and Kelly have already signed their two-way contracts, meaning that they will be around for the 2025-26 season. Nembhard’s former teammate at Gonzaga, guard Nolan Hickman, is also joining the summer Mavs.

Signed, sealed, delivered #MFFL pic.twitter.com/zWsAtx0G2A

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) July 3, 2025​

There is still one open two-way spot remaining. Could it be someone who is on this summer league roster? Melvin Ajinca, who the Mavericks selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, is coming back for his second tour of summer league duty. It is yet to be known if Ajinca is going to head back to Europe for another year, but could a strong performance in these games lead him to sign a two-way with Dallas? Also coming back for another summer tour with the Mavs is Jamarion Sharp, who you might remember is 7’5”.

Maxwell Lewis and Jordan Hall are the only two guys on this roster with NBA experience. Lewis spent the last two years playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets. Hall, meanwhile, last played in the NBA two seasons ago, where he played nine games for the San Antonio Spurs. Lewis is an intriguing player, so potentially he could be one to earn his way back into the league in these next few weeks.

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Also worth a mention is Zhuric Phelps, the Texas A&M product. Phelps was a very highly touted recruit, but never quite developed along the way in college. However, the talent is still there and he could be one that can earn his way into the league with a couple strong weeks.

There is a lot of new with this squad, but getting to see Cooper Flagg as a Maverick for the first time should be more than enough to get you excited. You can watch these very Mavericks face off against the Lakers on July 10th at 7:00p CT on ESPN. Here at Mavs Moneyball, we’ll have you covered for all of the Summer League happenings.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/...mavericks-full-las-vegas-summer-league-roster

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Dallas Wings continue hot stretch with 98-89 victory over Phoenix Mercury

Photo by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images

The nearly wire-to-wire win was Dallas’ fifth victory in its last seven games after starting the season 1-11.

All season long, Dallas Wings head coach Chris Koclanes has highlighted a theme in his press conferences: fans hadn’t seen Dallas play well for a full game. The team showed glimpses during their recent hot streak, but Koclanes always noted the room for growth for his young squad.

On Thursday, they showed just how much they’ve grown in the season’s first 19 games.

Dallas led nearly wire-to-wire over the league’s second best team — a 12-5 Phoenix Mercury squad led by All-Star Satou Sabally, former MVP Alyssa Thomas, and 2024 All-WNBA selection Kahleah Copper — in a dominant 98-89 victory at College Park Center.

“We came out and we established right from the tip how physical we were going to play and that we were going to set the tempo,” Koclanes said. “Phoenix had been coming in with the second fastest [tempo], our tempo has dropped a little over the month of June, but we talked about wanting to get our pace.”

Rookie guard Aziaha James had a career-high 28 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Paige Bueckers, WNBA’s Rookie of the Month in June, had an efficient 23 points, four rebounds and five assists. JJ Quinerly added 17 points of her own as the rookie triplet of guards tore apart Phoenix’s defense — which had been holding teams to 79.3 points per game this season, fourth-lowest in the league.

“It’s really fun to play team basketball like this where any given night, it can be anybody’s night,” Bueckers said.

Koclanes said the team had good intentions early, playing inside-out basketball knowing they’d have a size advantage. The team ran two-center lineups all game with Teaira McCowan, Luisa Geiselsoder, and Li Yueru splitting time. That size gave Dallas flexibility to play different offensive schemes and throw multiple defensive gameplans at Phoenix’s big 3.

The team’s energy was palpable and Koclanes said the team was feeding off each other all night.

“We’re going to capture that, we’re going to build on it, and we’re going to keep moving forward,” he said. “And as [Paige] said, stick to the process,”

With the win, Dallas improves to 6-13 on the season and is just three games back of the eighth seed after starting the season 1-11. Bueckers said the team knew they had performances like Thursday’s in them all year and believes the team’s record could be flipped if the Wings were able to close out a few close losses early on.

Now, Dallas is figuring it out and they’re quickly becoming a team no one wants to face. The combination of size, guard quickness, and defensive communication makes it hard for any team to match up with. Dallas is confident and they’re playing with the swagger of a team that knows they’ve found their true identity.

“We want to play like we’re hunting teams and are being hunted at the same time,” Bueckers said.

On Monday, they’ll likely be the team in the latter position. Dallas will travel to Phoenix for a rematch, a matchup Koclanes is looking forward to.

“Tonight was a great night, now we turn around and go to Phoenix and you can just guess what kind of effort you’re going to get from them. They’re licking their lips that they get us right away, so that’ll be a great test for a young group: How do you respond on the road to a team you just took care of at home? I’m looking forward to that,” Koclanes said.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/7/3/24461402/dallas-wings-win-recap-98-89-phoenix-mercury