How Good Can The Mavericks Defense Be Next Season? | DLLS Mavs Podcast

How Good Can The Mavericks Defense Be Next Season? | DLLS Mavs Podcast

Will the Mavericks have a top five defense this upcoming season? Plus, the latest on NBA free agency. All that more coming up next on the DLS Mavs podcast. Hey, what’s up DLSS Math Nation? It’s your man Kevin Gray alongside Mavericks beat me big writer Tim Ko Mavericks analyst Bobby Carell and of course our national NBA insider Mark Stein we are DLLS Mash your favorite guys covering your favorite team every single day especially during NBA free agency will the Mavericks have a top five defense this upcoming season plus the latest in and around the association and the Mavericks potentially looking to extend Jason Kidd. We’ll get into all that more on today’s wonderful Wednesday episode of the DLLS Maths podcast. Tim Ko, what’s going on? I
think this is the first show we’ve done during the annual first Wednesday at noon tornado siren test. Fabulous call out. I think
highly doubt that. Uh it’s definitely not bleeding into the audio, but uh we heard it.
It’s exciting nonetheless. It’s It’s letting the Metroplex know that powerful takes are incoming.
Honestly, pretty much for an entire month, I wonder if our tornado sirens are still working
up until that first Wednesday.
And then I’m relieved. God, just the it just washes over me. Yeah.
Carella, what’s going on? How we feeling?
Uh, feeling good, man. Feeling good. Ready to talk some defensive tactics and NBA free agency and all sorts of good stuff.
Mark Stein with his lovely bag, his computer, and phone cooking already. Good to have you back in studio. How are you?
I’m good, guys. How are you guys doing?
Good. Pretty good.
I might let you do a lot of the talking on the defensive segment while I do things.
You’re breaking news. And if there could be sourcing calls, so if I
sourcing calls,
if I have to jump up and leave, I apologize in advance. Don’t trip over anything on the studio. Hopefully, because it is Wednesday that we’re hopefully that won’t be necessary. It is kind of We were talking before the show. Uh there’s like been really nothing that’s happened so far today,
which is kind of weird. I mean, a lot of a lot
there’s still like, you know, we see the best remaining free agents. There’s still a list of, you know, 15 20 pretty good players and obviously a lot of vets and stuff that could sign for the minimum. Um so there aren’t necessarily a lot of huge names left. But the fact that nothing has happened this morning is surprising to me and does make me think there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. Well, let’s get into some of that because some teams have already had terrific off seasons. The first thing we’re going to get into today, who’s had the best off season so far in the NBA given the moves that we have already seen. I’m talking about the Houston Rockets. I’m talking about the Denver Nuggets. Obviously, your Mavericks signed D’Angelo Russell. Who so far has had the best offseason? Let us know in the chat. Sarah, it’s good to see you in the chat as well. Who’s had the best offseason so far in Timo?
I mean, the two obvious names, the two most commonly cited names here is is going to be Houston and Atlanta. And hard to really disagree with that. Houston getting KD and, you know, quickly, you know, grabbing Dorian Finny Smith as a, you know, Dylan Brooks replacement, just rounding out a roster that, you know, looks like they pretty much keep their identity and add to some of the the things that they most needed. Then Atlanta, you know, grabbing that unprotected New Orleans or Milwaukee pick for uh next season. And you know, Chris Sporzingis is on their team now. Uh they’re starting to fill out the bench. I like a lot of what both of them are doing.
The Kale Alexander Walker now a member of the Hawks there.
It’s it’s all it’s all consistent. It’s all logical and consistent within where the teams were last season and where they’re headed.
I think the best season so far or the best offseason so far, the Denver Nuggets.
Oh, you stole mine. That’s a good one.
I think they’re cooking. They got an actual backup for Joker. I mean, they’ve been they’ve been spinning the block at back up five for years now. And you know, KG, we talked yesterday like he’ll play 36 minutes and they’ll be plus 20. He’ll sit for 12 minutes, they’ll be like minus 18. And
they’re having to grind out a win. And this happens every game, you know.
Uh, and now a new coach and potentially a new system or altered system and different lineup rotations and stuff could mask that. But Jonas Valenunis is a legit NBA big that can play 20 minutes, not just 12 or 28 minutes, you know, and give Joic some time off, which could help. Also, I think, you know, getting Cam Johnson was a fantastic move. Getting Bruce Brown, great move. I don’t know the exact terms on the Tim deal, but I think they might have got Timmy for the minimum. Yeah. Uh, and for the Nuggets, that is unbelievable. Like Tim Hardaway Jr. at the minimum. A guy that can knock down 200 threes in a season in his sleep. and they have, you know, the the quality both off the bench and in the starting five to where if he’s 0 for five, they don’t have to play him. They could just sit him, you know, but if he’s riding a heater, dude, put him in the starting lineup. He’s going to play with one of the best passers of all time. Like, I think that they’ve had an unbelievable off season. Um, you know, going into last year, they lose KCP on the heels of already losing Bruce Brown. I was kind of starting up the funeral for them. They still managed to get uh to the second round and take OKC all the way to the brink of elimination.
That’s right. Bruce Brown is now back with the Nuggets.
Yeah. And they got way they got way better from what they were last season whenever I was thinking they were about to be done. I mean, they’re significantly better. So, it would not surprise me if they’re potentially even battling OKC for the top seed in the West this year.
Yeah. According to Spotrak, a uh go-to source of ours. Yeah. Good.
3.6 million.
Yeah. Vetmin. Yeah.
Yeah. with uh with Valenunis. Look, big men get played off the court because of their defense and Valenunis is at risk of that just as DeAndre Jordan was at risk of that. But when DeAndre Jordan went onto the court for the Denver Nuggets, you were hoping please grab one offensive rebound like please don’t you know turn it over like travel on a on a uh dribble hand on a DHO above with Valenunis. There’s at least like he is at risk of that. There are going to be situations where it’s very difficult to play him, but he at least gives you something. You know, he’s giving you something. Uh, and this is just talking playoff setting. Uh, for the regular season, he is there’s no there’s no Jokic. There’s no player like Jokic. There’s certainly no backup center like Joic. you know, like long gone are the days of the Plum Lees and you know, but but Valenunis is somebody that you can throw the ball into as a kind of high post hub in the same spots that Jokic sometimes plays in in the regular season and hope that you know, some of the same action, some of the same cuts still work. It’s it’s again, it’s not it’s not perfect. It’s not a it’s not a, you know, a playoff uh solution probably as you go deeper into the rounds, but I like it. It’s it’s a much higher floor. Uh there’s just more stuff that a center like Valenunis can do.
I do think that those three teams in some order are probably your top three offseason so far, but I’m going to channel my inner marks sign here. Um the Mavs have also had a really really good offseason. You know, these are things that we that were not surprising, right? Like we all expected Kyrie Irving to resign and he did. And we were kind of hoping and kind of almost expecting that it would be for a little bit of a a pay cut off of what his option was and he did. Um, so that’s something that we knew was going to happen, but don’t take it for granted. Uh, the Mavs also got Cooper Flag in the draft, which is pretty pretty badass. Uh, we knew that was going to happen, but it still is something that did happen. So, even though I wouldn’t say either of those things were a surprise, um, I still think taking care of those two things and and, you know, getting those guys, um, it doesn’t get them on the medal stand, but, it gets them at least an honorable mention. even though I am a little worried. I’m still very worried actually about their playmaking situation, all that stuff. But the Mavs are able to get Cooper Flag and Kyrie at essentially a discount. So, I mean, that’s pretty incredible.
Don’t Don’t forget about Orlando’s off seasonason either just because they made the trade uh for Desmond Bane a while back. Picked up Ty Jones. I like I like that. I think Philly sneakily in the in the specifically in the context that they are building around Tyrese Maxi and their younger players. I think that’s very clear. This is not a team like this is a team that has a young core that if Embiid can join the party, that’s fantastic. They’re still trying to win now with him and with Paul George. But it seems very clear to me that they’re now reorientating their team around the fact that they do have multiple young players who are interesting. I did forget too. Um, Young Lightskin in the chat says, “Got to mention Gaffford’s contract,
especially compared to what Yaka Purle got yesterday.”
Yes,
that is a it’s a it’s a great deal to keep Daniel Gaffford and getting Ryan Nhard, too, especially um as an undrafted two-way guy. That’s a that’s a great deal as well. So, Mavs have had a very good offseason, even if they haven’t done exactly the gone as far as I would hope them to. You know what I love about this show, and we’ll get into more of it later on, but as we’re discussing who’s had the best offseason, that gentleman over there to your right is over there breaking news because the uh New York Knicks have decided to land on Mike Brown as their new head coach uh going forward there. So,
did anybody report that yesterday that it might happen?
Uh that’s right, Mark Stein. Uh so, Mike Brown is going to be the new head coach of the New York Knicks. So, we’ll get into some of that a little bit later on. That means the kids saga is over.
It’s over. It’s over. Damn it. It’s officially officially over
the whole Jason King
or is it
or are they going to be traded? Is it a sign and trade?
I I just think that
maybe we should see what Mark Stein has to say about that. We can get there.
We will get there for sure. Uh I’m going to nominate Houston uh as the team that’s had the best offseason. The fact that they were able to get Kevin Durant and not have to give up any of their young core, whether it be Tari E, whether it be Jabari Smith, obviously Amen Thompson is pretty much untouchable at this point. you’re able to keep opering and you were still not only to get Kevin Durant, you turned Dylan Brooks, who you moved on to the Phoenix Suns. You turned him into Dorian Finny Smith. The Rockets have had a pretty damn good off season so far when you look at what they’ve got top to bottom. They got Fred Van Vleet back on a discounted deal as well for the next couple of years. Houston to me, if we’re just looking at what’s on paper right now, I think they have vaulted themselves um to where they were last year as a number two seed. I think they were the number two team right now uh in the West behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. You can throw Minnesota in there if you want to. Obviously Denver, but Bobby has mentioned what they have done. Uh but I love the thing that Houston is doing down there. They’ve got young talent now. They’ve got a proven scorer and champion in Kevin Durant. Uh but also they haven’t lost their defensive identity either. Uh they got Steven Adams back on a nice cost control deal as well. So Rafael Stone, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, I think has done some pretty damn good pieces of business uh to have them right in contention, not just for now, but also uh in their future given the young talent that they have and the leaps that we’ll hopefully see from if you’re a Rockets fan that is uh from K Whitmore, Reed Shepard, obviously Aman Thompson going into another year. Uh the Rockets are really nicely positioned for now in the years to come to really compete uh at a high level in the Western Conference, which I is extremely difficult to do given the complexion of what the Western Conference looks like uh right now. So Houston, I think has done an incredible job because damn, they’re good and they’re young.
They’re very good. And that’s a team that can they can line up a lot of different ways, too. And in the next segment, we’ll talk about versatility and all this stuff. Uh particularly defensively, but Houston can also do that offensively, too. I mean, you know, they they can just play so many different ways. Now, you
guys talk any Hawks? Hawks in this discussion?
We did.
Decat mentioned them.
I did. I I think the Hawks are the team that most changed my expectations of how good they can be, how fun they can be. And I thought they were actually cooking up something a little bit fun last year. And and some of this is just uh Jaylen Johnson coming back.
He is so good, man.
They still got Tyson Daniels, too.
Extremely extremely good. So, I’ll tentatively say the the Hawks are my winner or Orlando is probably right up there with me. But these are all good options. Denver’s a great option. I mean, maybe maybe it is Denver. Maybe Denver is just the right objective choice that, you know, they reshaped a team around Jokic right when they needed to. Right after years years of not being able to do that, all it took was a new front office. Defensively, I think Atlanta might be fun. the kill Alexander Walk and Dyson Daniels defending together night after night in the Eastern Conference
and you know Reese Shay’s very tall Jaylen Johnson very tall that’s a team that can get out and run they got a lot of speed a lot of athleticism shooting
you know Trey obviously is a great passer but so is Jaylen Johnson like that’s a skilled team man very skilled team
it’s going to be a tough out I mean that could be like they play they’ll play a little differently but that is essentially going to be the Indiana Pacers you know just very fast
chaotic ball movement and a whole lot of athletes.
Yeah, I think I think it was Zach Low on on his podcast yesterday. He made a very good point about Trey Young and how I believe he even said that Atlanta like internally in Atlanta, there’s some people who were watching Indiana and thinking that could be us and maybe telling Trey over the summer like just just look at look at Tyrese like look if you if just a little bit more just a little bit more like that. You’re not you’re not Tyrese Hallebertton. just give it up a little quicker. Uh sometimes try to buy in defensively a little bit more. Uh this isn’t it like this is finally a team talented enough that doesn’t need to be the trade show. And we’ve seen that heliocentric basketball centered around one operator, one single primary initiator. Uh just running pick and rolls.
Clarence Hill in a cowboy hat. Sure looks like
or don’t get him coming over here. He didn’t talk for
seen that. We have seen that is not really
I shouldn’t have said anything. You have not really the way the NBA is going. Do you have a hoodie on? It’s over 9,000° outside, man.
Like the young fellas, man. The young fell. They wore hoodies in the song.
And the young fellas look dumb doing that. Y’all got to relax. Y’all got to relax.
You got us in trouble on Twitter with your Luca take from uh from musical chairs day.
What do I say?
We ain’t got time. We ain’t got time. Get out. We need a break. Get out. I get no.
Oh, how you doing? Good.
Oh my god.
Killing folks. Let me get
I responded to you on Twitter.
Oh, um Brunson.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
This morning on Twitter, you my dad like, “Are you telling me something about my dad?”
He was like, “What’s my dad coming back to the scene?”
I think I think he was being facicious.
I’m going to go on a limb.
I just want to know.
Give Jason Ker’s agent credit for the finess of the
Oh gosh. Get out of here.
You’re about to get us in more trouble. Tell tell
you really want to be on our show. You really want to be on our show.
He wants to talk basketball these days more than he does football. He’s got enough of that.
And hey, you I mean you got all this time with my guy Van Exel. I got I mean I want to be on your guys show. Let’s take our first break here on the DLS Mavs podcast. When we come back, what can the Mavericks learn from the best defenses from a season ago? And what do those defenses have in common? We’ll talk about it next on the DLS MAS podcast. First, I saw Mr. Crazy in the chat say wearing a hoodie. It’s really hot outside. You know what that means? You’re sweating. And if you’re sweating, Clarence, or if you’re sweating watching at home, heck, when I go outside and I sweat, you’re going to maybe be a little stinky or maybe be a lot of stinky. Okay? And our friends at Mando have you covered from head to toe. Every part of your body, fellas. It’s not just your armpits that sweat this time of year. It’s your neck. It’s your chest. It’s your balls. It’s your butt crack. It’s your grundle. It’s your feet. It’s your legs. It’s literally everywhere. And with Mando, they are going to get you smelling good, not just in the moment, but also in the hours to come. You got to go to work. You’re going on a date. You’re hanging out with your friends or your family. You don’t want to be that guy. You don’t want to be stinky. So, get Mando and get right. Mando starter pack is perfect for new customers. Comes with a solid stick deodorant, cream tube deodorant, two free products of your choice, and free shipping. So, what are you waiting for? As a special offer for our listeners, you get $5 off a starter pack with code DLLS at shopmando.com. Support our show and tell them we sent you. Smell fresher, stage, and boost your confidence from head to toe with Mando. I know that some of y’all just are budget people. It comes easy to you. It’s natural. You just love spreadsheets. You love lining things up. When I work with spreadsheets, I tend to put in uh basketball statistics and three-pointers made. When it comes to my own money, sometimes it’s nice to have a little bit of help because finances can be messy. They can be confusing. You can have two subscriptions to the same service or quite frankly, you can have your girlfriend’s subscription and be like, I should probably cancel my own. You know, a little sneaky on the sly thing, but you don’t even like you forget you forget that you’re you’re also still paying for the same thing. So, that’s where Monarch Money comes in. And they’re here to help. They’re more than just an average budgeting app. They’re a complete financial command center for all your accounts, investments, and goals. You can start managing your finances, and you can build out the life that you actually want. Uh, get control of your overall finances with Monarch Money. Use code DLS at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code DLS. What do the best defenses in the NBA have in common? And what could the Mavericks learn from what these defenses do have in common? Plus, we’ll dial up the Stein line a little bit later on in our show with the latest on the Mavericks when it comes to Jason Kidd, a possible contract extension. Obviously, the Knicks have now hired their next head coach. We’ll get into all that and more.
Are we sure? Are we sure Jason Kid is coaching the Mavericks next season?
I think it’s We got to stick around till 12:30 to find out. Find out definitively. Um, but let’s talk about it because the Mavericks are expected to have one of the best defenses in the league this upcoming season. Obviously with Anthony Davis anchoring this defense, they now got young Cooper Flag coming into the fold as well. Daniel Gaffford, Derek Lively the second. This team’s front court is one of the best, if not the best and most deepest in the league today. But what does that mean in terms of them being one of the best defenses in the league, Tim Ko, as we take a look at some of the best around the association and what the Mavericks could potentially learn from those teams.
I think our stances are pretty clear. We’ve had a lot of time to talk as this off season has kind of been known. It’s been formulating no small part thanks to Mark Stein who has, you know, kind of uh cleared the way for everything that has happened. And so we’ve been talking about the team that we all expect to go into next season. And there’s a few things that we’ve pointed out, but one of them is is that this team does not really have point of attack defenders. Clearly to some extent Dallas disagrees with us and and so I have found myself in a position really examining like why why why do I feel this way? Why is point of attack important? Is it important? Uh couple seasons ago Dallas was in the NBA finals and Carrie Irving and Luca Donuch were playing a lot like a whole lot on the ball. Like this is what opponents did to them. They went hunting for those mismatched guys and Dallas, you know, they had to live with that. They had to live with the fact that a lot of the times like the best player on the other team was going to be hunting their be, you know, their their worst perimeter players. And I do think at times Dallas did a really good job masking that with schemes that that channeled and funneled these opponents, these guys guarding, you know, or these guys being guarded by Luca and Kyrie. They funneled them into the paint and
Gonzalez thinks it got a lotier on my phone.
Unbelievable. even Smith’s around here.
Unbelievable. Albert,
relax, Albert.
So, what I will say is Albert, don’t don’t play with Stein.
Albert, I thought Albert, I thought we were friends.
So, I’m looking through
that hurt.
The top five defenses. We can extend to the top 10. Top five defenses last season.
It was the Thunder, the Magic, the Clippers, the Celtics, and the Rockets. Top five is hard. Top five is really hard in the NBA. the Thunder were, you know, a a a whole head above everybody else, but it’s really hard to be, you know, like it takes a cohesive group. And I look at this team that has size and shot blocking glor. And once again, I’m going to say yet again, I think uh I think this team might run a lot more zone than uh than may maybe we anticipate. I think that kind of matches some of their strengths and and hides some of their weaknesses. Should we stop down real quick for Daniel? Thank you so much $50 super chat. Let’s go, Daniel. Appreciate that, man. Thank you so much. Daniel Escobar with the $50 super chat. Enjoying the show, fellas.
Hell yeah. Daniel, Daniel, for sure. Appreciate you.
What I will say about these five teams, Thunder, Magic, Clippers, Celtics, Rockets, all of them have a elite point of attack guy. And in the modern NBA, obviously, if you have a weak link on the floor, teams will hunt it. You know, every single NBA offense. You guys see that Durant clip with the mind the game guys that
we did. I think Yeah. Yeah. This actually plays right into it. Um, every single team has versions of mismatch hunting within their offense. Some teams lean into it a lot more than others. At some point, you are going to have to go mismatch hunt. What’s awesome about having a player like Aman Thompson, about Derrick Jones Jr., uh, two of the four about Alex Caruso, three of the four Jaylen Suggs, that’s four of the five teams. uh Boston Celtics with Derrick Wright and Drew Holiday. These are guys that will sometimes get bumped off, will get screened off, will end up with conceding a matchup. They don’t do it every time. They make it a lot more difficult to get to that mismatch and they just muck it up. They gum it up. And that is still something that I see this Dallas roster missing. We can get into why that matters, but I think I did enough setup here. Yeah, I I think uh another thing that came out of that KD thing on on mind the game was a tweet this morning. Um someone asked him, you know, about his concerns about small guards and the Mavs, frankly, now I mean when Kyrie’s healthy, Kyrie and Brandon Williams are considered small guards, but D’Angelo Russell is not. He’s 6’5, 6’4, 6’5. Um but this this tweeter uh asked KD, “Do you think it’s better to have a bunch of switchable defenders? Think of like Boston for example, or is it more effective to have a scheme with one or two main rim deterrence to funnel two, which is basically how the maps are going to play, like funnel everyone into AD or into Lively or into Gaford or into even Cooper. Uh, and KD said, I think both are effective. I also believe, this is a direct quote, I also believe that offenses are too good to only show one look all game. The great teams can execute both schemes. Being a versatile unit is key in my humble opinion. And I think that’s really important because let’s go back to the 21-22 Mavs. They had two, in my opinion at the time, elite point of attack defenders in Dorian and Reggie Bullock. And then whenever they would go with Maxi at the five, they could switch everything. And Maxi at that point, even after some injuries, was still able to switch pretty effectively, almost one through five. Um, one through five in some matchups and they they were able to kind of mask the weaknesses of Luca and Jaylen Brunson throughout that run. Now, the Mavs had a different look in 24. They had elite rim protection in Lively and Gaffford. They did funnel in. They had better wing defenders and they had a really good one really good point of attack defender in Derrick Jones. So, both of those two teams were kind of different, but I thought the 24 team was more versatile than the 22 team. The Mavs could switch and stuff, which is really good. But that 21-22 Mavs team going up against a team that had a big dude like Joic or really effective uh interior scoring or big giant playmakers was almost it wasn’t an auto loss because offense still exists but it was going to be really really tough to win that night. Whereas the 24 team still had Maxi. So they could still go Maxi at the five and Lively could switch a little bit or they could go jumbo ball with Lively or Gafford on the inside and say, “I’m going to stand here and I’m going to see if you can beat me.” You know, um, this Mavs team as constructed can play that way. They can all stand there and there’s four of them that are going to be like the Monstars around you. You’re going to bring that weak stuff in here. I’m going to send it 94 ft down. I’mma block this shot so hard that we’re going to score. Yeah. you know, but they don’t really have that kind of manic perimeter presence right now that the 22 team had. So, they have this they have this one way that they can play that I think they’ll be the best in the NBA playing that way. But, KD’s talking about versatility. I don’t think they have that kind of versatility, multi-dimensional look, unless it is just zone. Let’s stand like this and see if you can dribble past us. So, here’s here’s a really really interesting stat. Maybe maybe this pushes back against what we’re feeling. The most drives allowed per 100 possessions in the NBA last season, uh, regular season and postseason. The most drives allowed by a defense, Minnesota, Houston, Dallas, Golden State, Milwaukee, Orlando, and Boston. Boston, Orlando, Golden State, Houston, and Minnesota. That’s five of the top six defenses last season. It is actually absolutely becoming a trend with modern NBA defenses that you do want to allow drives. You want people driving in to a set defense. And these teams did it a lot. Like the team that allowed the fewest drives, the Utah Jazz. Horrible team.
That’s because you don’t have to drive against them. Like it’s more times than not, there would be another way that this defense was going to break down that this defense was already going to give something up. So this is a combination of two things. I I do think it shows that teams had to redrive and redrive and redrive because every time against these good defenses, you’re just, you know, an opponent’s going to drive on you more if you’re stopping more of their drives in the same possession. Dallas obviously was not a good defense last season. Did they have the right schematics and just not the personnel, just too many injuries? You can make that argument. They still do not have they are still very clearly lacking the perimeter presence. Cooper Flag. Uh, again, I I think he’s not the guy to scale down against quick point guards. The only specifically against quick point guards, I think they got a lot of perimeter presence for like LeBron Giannis type players.
Yes, they do. Yes, they do.
And you know, like really the only player I like guarding those, and I’ve said this before, it’s is Kayla Martin. And then a little bit less than that, Max Christie. At this point, Klay Thompson defends up, not down. you know, uh PJ Washington defends up or even more ideally kind of as a ROR, you know, but also kind of ideally that’s what Cooper should be doing, but also kind of ideally that’s what uh you know, Anthony Davis would be doing. And if this team was built around Derrick Lively as the five and Cooper as the four and a lot of times sometimes Derrick Lively would be the ror like just I don’t know who
Caleb specifically and then also Max really max I don’t know who those guys are going to get minutes instead of is the thing like that that goes back to the conversation we had yesterday. right?
They got 12 dudes that could play a lot of minutes in an NBA game right now. And you’re not playing 12 games, 12 guys a lot of minutes. Like, this is not happening. So, so basically to summarize my point, I I do think that these numbers, the the idea that Dallas is going to force opponents into help, I think that’s the right idea. I think that is absolutely the right idea. I think that’s what good teams do. Good defenses throughout the league, we saw last season, that’s what good defenses do. They make you drive into the teeth of their defense and they’re going to be there. They’re going to be ready. They’re going to be rotating. They’re going to be frantic. They’re gonna be, you know, just like like sprinting at you. That is what good defenses do. That is absolutely the idea for Dallas. My question and in my belief is that not having those high energy uh disruptive guards, wings, perimeter players on, you know, to to start things because those guys are also going to have to be the guys rotating. If you drive into the Dallas defense and it’s set once and then you drive in for a second time and it’s set for a second time, by the third time that happens, my concern is that it’s going to be Klay Thompson or D’Angelo Russell rotating from one side of the floor to the other. And that’s a little bit different than Alex Cruso rotating from one side of the floor to the other because it’s not always about what Alex Cruso can do 94 feet guarding point of attack just stopping a one-on-one drive. It’s also about how they get from one point of the floor to the other. I thought the loss against Brooklyn, we talked a lot about a lot about it at the time, that was an example where Brooklyn didn’t, they scored a little bit in the paint, but it felt like a lot of times they got in there to break down and they didn’t get the ball out to three-point shooters
and they were just spamming three-pointers all night.
Yeah. Yeah. And that’s why I think this was it was earlier this week or last week I said it’s not that initial thrust that is ever going to concern me because again, the Mavs have they literally have 10 guys on this team that will block the absolute S out of that weak stuff, you know. um it’s the second or third or fourth drive, you know, and then it’s the kick out and can do you have guys that can get out there. So many guys want to defend around the rim. Can Gaffford close out? Can AD close out? Can PJ close out? I I know that Cooper can and obviously all of them have smaller players can, but these bigger guys are just not they they’re not going to be able to get out there, you know. So
big men do not cover as much ground.
Yeah. And so great defenses are not so much necessarily even about the shots you do allow. It’s the shots you don’t allow. And you know, it’s not about the number of drives you allow, it’s the kind of drives you allow. How much time is left in the clock. Is it are you on their hip or is it a blowby? Um does that drive lead to a really heavily contested 9- foot floater or a wide open corner three, you know, and that’s the that’s the stuff that we’ll see if if the Mavs can, you know, figure out in time.
It’s why coaches and analysts and and a lot of people around the they talk about paint touches.
Yeah. Because a paint touch is not anything. You can go touch the paint with the defender all over you and then have to reset and kick the ball out. But that is how you start the rotation,
which is why I think Brandon Williams is so valuable. Jason Kidd has talked about paint touches. Jason Kid talked a lot about paint. Was it two seasons ago? Yes. Whereas it was a very like he would bring it up constantly over and over again. So
yeah, and the Mavs have whenever I worked there. I don’t get that this stuff anymore obviously, but uh whenever I worked there, I had access to their own stats that they kept. And the difference in points per possession when the ball touched the paint versus when it didn’t for both the Mavs and their opponent across 10 years was unimaginably vast. We’re talking top offense in the league versus like college level offense just for the ball at some point during the possession getting within 15 ft of the basket. Uh it is extremely important and that’s why point of attack defense and ability to rotate and versatility and all that stuff matters so much to me because you have to make it really hard to get in there and uh you know I I don’t want to invite it. I want to have to make teams earn it.
And and the question is going to be is is the rim protection having this many guys playing this big. Does that negate the fact that they don’t have the point of attack defense that as we go through this list of who has been the best defenses in the NBA? They don’t have those guys. Is this is this a new path? Is this a new strategy? a new a new way to build a truly elite defense even lacking some of these fun just because you you you put more you pour a little bit more a few more percentage points you know you get just a little bit more talent on on one side than the other.
There’s no no hate no na hate that we love the knife on this podcast. He’s our favorite player. But um I think last year we could all agree that he was he was very good offensively but he did take a little step back defensively versus what he was able to put on film in New Orleans. So hopefully this year with a lowered offensive role because they just will be healthier and have better players, he won’t have to, you know, be the point guard for 35 minutes a game. Hopefully he’ll be able to expend a little more energy on defense because I think he can be extremely disruptive and good defensively. Terrific discussion there on the defenses that the Mavericks are trying to build and what that’s going to look like. It’s going to be exciting to watch them put it together this upcoming season. Let’s take our next break here on the DLS Mavs podcast. When we come back, we dial up the Stein line with our National NBA insider Mark Stein. The latest in the coaching news in the association, plus the latest in NBA free agency. All that more coming up next here on the DLS Mavs podcast. First, I want to put some cash in your pocket, and I can do so with Cash App. It’s a safe, easy, and fast way to send, receive, and transfer money to family and friends. It’s easy to set up as well. You can just enter your phone number, email, and there’s no bank account needed. My little brother sent me some money a few days ago for my daughter’s birthday. Was able to get it safely and secure it securely and be able to give it to my daughter for her birthday. If you’re going to be sending your money to a scam, Cash App will give you alert to let you know, hey, you don’t want to send your money there and it protects you every step of the way with every transaction with Cash App. With Cash App, for a limited time only, new Cash App users can use our exclusive code to earn some additional cash. And there’s no catch. Just download Cash App and sign up. Use our exclusive referral code DLLS Maths in your profile. Send $5 to a friend and within 14 days you’ll get $10 dropped right into your account. Remember, terms apply. That’s money. That’s Cash App. Just like your team needs a home court advantage, your home needs a home floor advantage. And I was in a pool yesterday, actually. It was wonderful. And I was there with some of uh my friends. And then we went back inside and we were all a little wet and water got everywhere. And if you got dogs, you know, dogs are going to be running around and rolling around and that stuff and tracking in water their own all the time, especially if it’s raining. Water can have a lot of damage on your floor. If you need to get a new floor or you just want to get stuff that’s not going to get damaged, hey, our friends at Empire Today will get you right. Their stuff is going to be able to weather the elements. It’s going to be able to withstand all of that stuff. No wear and tear. You’re getting top quality for a very good price. They can bring the showroom to your home and schedule an installation as soon as the next day. So, they’re not only going to get you right, but they’re going to get all that done very quickly, very efficiently, very safely, very effectively. Schedule a free and home estimate today because some things are just better at home. DLLS listeners can receive a $350 discount using promo code DLS. That’s right, a $350 discount with DLS. Restrictions apply. Visit empire today/dls for full details. Let’s dial up the Stein Line here on the DLLS Mavs podcast and you can always do so on X at the Stein Line with our National NBA insider Mark Stein. Good to have him in studio with us here on the DLLS MAS podcast. Remember, download and subscribe to DLLS MAS wherever you get your podcast for free. Give it a fivestar rating and write a review for it while you’re there. Let’s get into it with our guy Mark Stein because we are seeing coaching news be um confirmed and now moving forward for the New York Knicks. Could Jason Kid be looking at a contract extension? Let’s just start there because it appears Mark Stein that the New York Knicks exhaustive quote unquote coaching search uh is now over and Mike Brown appears to be the new man in the Big Apple. Yeah. Look, I mean, I think you guys know where we’ve been on this. I think the ship had long since sailed in terms of the Knicks really being an option. The reality was for as long as the Knicks didn’t have a coach. And without the Mavericks announcing an extension for Jason Kidd, the story was not going to go away in various media circles. And I do believe that Jason Kidd was at the top of the Knicks original list. You know, they asked permission to speak to five coaches who were under contract. They got denied by Houston for Eay Udoka, Minnesota for Chris Finch, Chicago for Billy Donovan, Atlanta for Quinn Snyder. When the night that Tibido was fired, the two names I heard the strongest, I reported it that night, were Jason Kidd and Eime Udoka. I think Kidd and Udoka were would have been at the top of the Knicks wish list if they could have gone after whoever they wanted. We’ve already seen Udoka get his extension in Houston. I don’t know when it’s going to be. I don’t know the terms of what it’s going to be, but the firm expectation at this point is that in some form or fashion between now and training camp, Jason Kid’s contract will be extended. That is the clear expectation. Now, last summer or we saw it during the playoffs. They won the Clipper series. They got out of the first round. He was immediately extended because the Mavericks were fearing that the Lakers were going to come after Jason Kidd to replace Darvin Ham. The extension has not happened yet. The Mavericks have had a lot of stuff going on. Obviously, they just drafted Cooper Flag and welcome Cooper Flag to town. And Cooper Flag is in town in the facility. Saw him making an appearance yesterday at Fort Worth Country Day, which is in the same Oh, were you?
I was.
Nice. Same league. Same league as my Green Hill Hornets. There have been many Stein family trips to Fort Worth. Did you give those kids buckets while you were there or did you just interview Cooper?
Please tell me you did not touch the ball. Touch it any kind of
Ask Cooper about it. Okay. Tim said, “Let me give you this work.” Work.
Yeah. I don’t know if he wants to talk about the humbling that Oh, wow. Oh wow.
There’s no chance if you put any shots up they they were that they aren’t on social media.
Yeah, cuz Cooper was swatting them kids shots out like crazy yesterday. Kind of disrespectful, but I get the competitive nature. I do want to ask you real quick. Is he a locker room problem?
Wow. Wow. Tim Ko. Yes.
Oh wow.
Damn.
Uh I do want to ask you this real quick, Stein, when it comes to now that this is put to bed from the Knicks and you know obviously you know bringing in Mike Brown as a head coach. Do we know or do we have any sense of whether or not Jason Kid was ever interested in the Knicks job himself? We obviously know how well chronicle it’s been that the Knicks were interested in Jason Kidd. Do we know or have any sense of whether or not Kid was actually interested in going to New York? I think I said it at the time when the story first broke. I think Tibs was fired on June 3rd. There is not a coach on the planet who would discourage interest from the team known to be the most freespending team in the league. Any any of those coaches, like we’ve already seen, Udoka got an extension. Billy Donovan, I reported on June 15th that he and the Bulls were already in extension talks. The presumption is that they already do have a deal, but nobody knows because the Bulls just refuse to announce these things. If you remember the last time Billy Donovan got an extension, it wasn’t announced and somehow immed it I don’t remember exactly it got out like a month into the season and then the Bulls had to say yes, we actually did extend Billy Donovan before the season. The Bulls just won’t. So again, we don’t know for sure does Donovan H actually have the extension, but we do know I have confirmed and have reported that they have talks. So all any coach in Jason Kid’s position or any of these other guys we named, you would want the Knicks to be interested because it only helps your situation. But I mean to like I feel like there’s nothing I can say that can dissuade people from that notion, but like what have we seen since the Mavs won the lottery? I think we’ve even seen Jason Kid sitting in this in this very chair talking about Cooper flag. I mean to from from what I know, from what I can see, getting ready for next season has been the focus. And look, he he Jason K has a lot of work to do because right now there’s the only front of bench assistant that he can be sure of who will be sitting next to him next season is Jay Triano. Alex Jensen has gone to the University of Utah. They’ve replaced him with Jay Triano. Sean Sweeney, I can’t I still can’t believe it when I say it out loud or I write it. Sean Sweeney is now with the San Antonio Spurs. And again, I never imagined Sean Sweeney not coaching beside Jason Kidd until he got a head coaching job. But Sean Sweeney is a spur now. And so we’ve talked about this. Jason Kidd is actively working to convince Frank Vogle to step into that seat. Obviously, that would be huge for the Mavericks and huge for Kid to have Vogle, a championship winning NBA coach, move into the number one seat and basically take over the defense. And you know, something else I know we’ve we’ve covered before, Jason Kidd was such a fan of Frank Vogle’s defense when he was a when he was Vogel’s assistant with the Lakers. keep a lot of those Vogle defensive principles that has that the Mavs are the Mavericks have been using those in their defense defensive work for the last four seasons. So, they’re going to try to get Vogle, but Jared Dudley, Denver wants him very badly for the number one spot. So, if Jared Dudley is in the number three chair here, like if Denver hasn’t has a great chance of of getting him. I mean it if you’re Jared Dudley to me it’s kind of hard to say no to that opportunity.
Is an offer incoming soon for him?
I would say yes. I would say the working this is probably the best way I can I can say it. The the the working understanding in NBA coaching circles is the number one assistant spot is Jared Dudley’s if he wants it in Denver. And so if that is the case, I think he has to take it. like it’s it’s too good of an opportunity. He’s talked to Memphis. He’s talked to Cleveland. Those teams like him as well, but like you know, number one in Denver to be beside David Adelman and, you know, be the number one assistant that you the team that has Nicola Joic and just I mean, just had a great slew of moves. It’s a tremendous opportunity for Jerry.
You think JJ will do as a coach? I think he’s going to be good. Yeah,
I think he’s going to be good. And I know and totally get this. I mean JJ Berea is a beloved Mavs figure right now for me alltime.
I’m sure I’m sure anyone in this chat would be wishing that he would be an assistant coach here and maybe he will be someday.
He is the coolest person in the world. I think
he will be very good. I think he’s already been a head coach twice in his native Puerto Rico. So he’s been working towards becoming you know he’s been last two three years he’s been focused on coaching and you know I when his f his name first came up I I didn’t even immediately connect that like oh yeah he played in Minnesota for Rick Adelman he played David Adelman was on that staff like that it it like I
that didn’t immediately pop into my head when when I first heard it. So, I mean, that’s going to be a, you know, the likely scenario is that Dudley and Berea are on that coaching staff together, which obviously I think Mavs fans will be paying attention to that. But that was my long-winded way of saying there’s the Mavs have a lot of work to do and Jason Kidd has been in the middle of all of it, putting his new staff together and, you know, being the spokesman for all things flag since they won the lottery. And look, Cooper is now here. Summer league practices start next week. A week from tomorrow, we’re actually going to see Cooper flag in a Mavs summer league uniform playing in a game. Oh, they are starting tomorrow. No, practice is next week, but a week from tomorrow,
A week from week from tomorrow is the is July 10th, right?
I thought you were talking about their camp like Yeah. No. So, okay.
Summer league practices do not start until next week. So basically basically Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday they practice. Wednesday they fly to Vegas. Cooper will play Thursday and Saturday. Thursday night against the Lakers and Bronny James. Saturday against the Spurs and Dylan Harper. Lot going on. Lot going on in Maslam. Real quick before we go to break, God Sham gone as well. Uh quick any update on that front or is that pretty much still the same status qu?
No, I mean again the working expectation is that he is going to go to Orlando. The Magic have made him a strong offer. His contract technically ended Monday. I’ve tried to press to get what is the ultimate resolution here. Everyone I’m talking to is stopping short of saying it’s done, but the expectation is that that Sham will be moving and that I mean he’s been here for a long time.
Long time.
I mean all of us who get to games early, he’s one of the first guys out on the court. I mean, you know, talking to him is part of my pregame routine. I mean, I see I mean, you know, every single home game and look, that that’s meaningless. That that’s me. I mean, he’s very close to Kyrie Irving. It’s going to be it’s going to be fascinating to hear if this if not if there is no snag, if nothing changes. Like, I’m sure Kyrie Irving is going to have a lot of profuse praise for
for God Shamgod and talk about how much
he’s going to miss him. Um, but yeah, there’s there’s a lot, you know, it there’s a lot of staff stuff happening. It’s
of course I mean Sham guy will be reunited with uh Jamal Mos of course was a former assistant here in Dallas and currently the head coach uh or the Orlando Magic. So uh good stuff there from our guy Mark Stein. We’ll get into more on the other side of the break as we take our final one here on the DLS Mavs podcast as we take a look around the association and try to figure out what the hell some of these teams are doing and what could be next for the Mavericks as far as this offseason and free agency is concerned. All that more coming up next here on the DLS Mavs podcast. But I want you to be become part of our DLLS sports family and I want you to make your move right now. 36 bucks our intro offer right now to become a Diehard member here at DLLS Sports. Go to alldls.com, click the die hard button, become a diehard member for 36 bucks a year right now with our make your move offer to become part of the DLL sports family. The easiest way you could do that, of course, is to subscribe to DLLS Sports here on YouTube and like the videos and make sure you support the Cowboys Stars, Rangers, and of course, Mavericks and everything we’ve got going on here and our DLSS wing show as well that we’ve got coming to you every single week with tomorrow. That’s right, tomorrow ahead of the uh the Wings taking on the Phoenix Mercury and Satu Sabi’s return to Dallas. Um, but make sure that you go to all dls.com, become part of our dieards here and you can get access to our member only discord. Premium content from my guy Tim Ko covering the Dallas Mavericks of course. Clarence Hill Jr. covering the Dallas Cowboys. Sean Shapiro and Sam Nestler covering your Dallas Stars and their newest coaching hire as far as Glen Gutz is concerned being the new Dallas Stars head coach. And also Jeff Wilson when it comes to those Texas Rangers if they could stop losing extra inning games that would be awesome. uh if the Rangers could stop doing that. Uh so go to all dls.com and also don’t forget on numberif November 15th through the 18th uh you can hang out with our DLLS Cowboys crew in Las Vegas for our DLLS road trip. That’s right where you can go to Las Vegas November 15th through the 18th capped off by the Dallas Cowboys visiting the Las Vegas Raiders in Sin City. So make sure that if you want to be a part of that you go to alldl.com get your physical diehard card. You can show that off as well. golf. You’re the coolest kid in the classroom or on this show or wherever. Just get it. Hang out with us here. Become part of the DLS sports family. Let’s finish up here on the DLS mass podcast today. I appreciate all of you hanging out with us here on our show. We’ve also got our newest Flag Capture t-shirt as well. Go to shop.allcityetwork.com, search flag captured and get this cool flag captured t-shirt. our newest release when it comes to the DLS Mavs uh t-shirt collection uh if you will celebrating the Dallas Mavericks drafting Cooper Flag, the number one overall pick. And he’s already hanging out uh with some kids yesterday as Tim Ko was out there uh in Fort Worth watching Cooper Flag swat away shots of, you know, tiny kids.
Oh, he got scored on a few times.
Oh, really?
Well, he uh he did score on some child defenders for sure.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay. I’m trying to remember if he got scored on. I’m not sure. I saw that.
So, I’d be a little concerned. I was want to talk LeBron. Let’s talk a little bit of uh LeBron.
I got to tweet something real quick. Just you guys. You can.
Oh, wow. There was a little urgency in that.
Yeah, there was some urgency. And it’s not it’s not I mean, everything is urgent because that’s just the way it is, but it’s not nothing that’s going to get you guys are going to care about.
Let’s go around the association. I value all of your tweets, Mark.
That’s right.
That’s not true. You even said to the world, man, I did say sometimes you really irk me, but the one time you didn’t want to hear from Stein. Yeah.
And guess what? It came to fruition and he’s here. Shout out to D’Angelo Russell. Um, but let’s go around the association real quick because we’ve seen a lot, and I mean a lot over the last couple of days take place. Uh, we discussed a little bit yesterday in terms of what the Bucks are doing or not doing. Who knows? Who cares at this point? Um, but at the same time, there are still moves to be made. DeAndre Aton, could he find himself circling the block and potentially going to the Indiana Pacers or the Los Angeles Lakers who still don’t have a center? Uh, could LeBron eventually
Actually, I’ll deal with it later. I’m I’ll let’s just let’s just focus on the show.
Oh, that’s sweet of you, Mark. He said I’m going to put the phone the phones down. I didn’t say I was putting the phones down. I’m sorry. I mean, I’m gonna do that tweet later. Okay. Okay. I can’t think and talk and look at the screen and do everything. So, let’s let’s talk NBA. What do you guys want to know? Will LeBron James become a Dallas Maverick Markstein via trade? I would say no chance and anyone trading for him, it’s so difficult cuz he’s at that number 53 million. Like, how could the Mavs do it without giving contracts? We just saw the Lakers let Dorian Finny Smith go. The Lakers only offered Dorian Finny Smith a two-year deal. The Lakers don’t want anything more than two-year deals because they’re trying to maintain maximum flexibility to stay nimble in case who knows comes on the market to pair with Luca Donuch. That’s the approach the Lakers have taken. Is there a trade the Mavericks could make that to get to 50 something million that could that would not include long-term money?
Uh there is a trade they could make that would include one contract that would go past 2027. And I think even one contract makes it untenable. I I don’t I just don’t see a way that the Mavs could assemble a trade to get him. Now there also that that trade would be PJ Gaffford Clay and probably Caleb Martin,
Max or Caleb or any of them. Yeah, they
I think the Lakers would laugh for the second time and say absolutely. You want to this guy who’s about to retire, you want us to give you want to give us four
all of those guys. They’re all valuable. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. for forgetting. Yeah. Forget I’m putting aside the ill-advised nature of gutting your team for a 41y old during his 2013.
I legitimately think the Lakers would have a harder time saying we’ll do a straight swap for Carl Anthony Towns and now Carl Anthony Towns is our second best player and we have to pay him all this money. He’s making like 60 million pretty soon. I think they would have a harder time doing that than the idea that Dallas would send them four perfectly good usable players. Not just good usable players, rotation players, some of them starters, but ones who have played with Luca before and succeeded like like it’s it’s a it’s a hor
Dallas won’t and shouldn’t do that trade.
You would basically be handing Luca the Mavericks all over again.
Why does Jane Q want to ban you from doing Reeds? You’re like the Reeds Allstar.
Was it Was it the Mando one?
Well, probably I mean
it literally says butt crack in the I have to read it.
Like it’s encouraged for him.
It’s a talking point. Um, if I’m the Knicks, let’s just go real wild ass real quick. If I’m the Knicks, I trade for LeBron today. Um, in the Eastern Conference right now, no Indiana to necessarily worry about, no Boston to necessarily worry about. Milwaukee is weird because they decided to stretch and wave Damen Lillard and they brought in Miles Turner. So, I don’t know exactly what the plan is uh and what it looks like for Milwaukee. But, if I’m New York, if I’m the Lakers, let me be back. If I’m the Lakers, um, Muel Bridges, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, find another one. You could throw it in there. Um, and then if you’re the Knicks, you ride for a year with LeBron, Jaylen Brunson, uh, Carl Anthony Towns, and OG Anobi as your foundation to start off with for a year and go make a run at in the East. And oh, by the way, the Knicks just hired Mike Brown, who used to coach LeBron James and help him get to an NBA Finals back in 2007. So, there are some connections with the head coach and potentially LeBron James there as well that you could maybe make some sense of it. But LeBron’s an expiring contract, $53 million. If you’re the Lakers, why would you let him walk for free and not get anything back?
Not free for you.
No, I’m saying the point being like it’s an expiring deal. Find a way to turn LeBron into something that could help Luca Donuch if you’re
He has a no trade clause. Also, let’s not forget. I I think he might waver it for New York. Personally,
let’s say he he’s going to if he wants if he really wants to leave. And first of all, I don’t know that LeBron is there yet. I think a lot of people are taking leaps. Only No, JM Ben, we’re not letting you interject. Um only only he knows what he really wants and I still think it’s a little bit early in the game to get a great read on what LeBron wants. I mean, there will always be a thought that he would have some level of interest in New York because he’s always spoken so highly of the Garden and and maybe going there. But again, any team you want to name, a trade is so complicated if the Lakers are really in this mode of not like you, how are you going to get to 52.6 million without taking some long-term money back? It’s just really hard. I mean, really hard to see how that happens. Um, you know,
what if what if he gets a buyout, though?
Okay, so that’s the thing. There is this conversation. Would he get a buyout? And just to me, again, too early in the game to definitively say yes or no, but just my read from where I sit, how can the Lakers give him a buyout and then he can just walk anywhere he wants to go for a minimum at that point? Yes. then the Dallas Mavericks would become a viable option for LeBron. Do the Lakers really want to see LeBron just come here for the minimum
without getting anything at all back?
And that’s the thing, you you hang on to him and New York maybe LeBron’s not sure he wants to go. Maybe New York’s not sure that they would actually trade for him.
He’s under contract. New York has a new coach. They had some locker room tension as reported last season. uh not not big capital T tension, but they had a little bit of tension. If that team continues not quite working out and they decide, you know, maybe New York is the team being like, we’ll trade Carl Anthony Towns or Muel Bridges in a package for LeBron James. If you’re the Lakers, buying him out means that you get nothing back. Uh keeping him under contract for one more year and he may retire after this year, uh means a year from now you get nothing from him. there is a possibility, but like he’s still in the team next year. He’s still under contract. He’s still providing value to your team and there is still a possibility if if multiple or you know if two different orgs just like you know if if the Warriors go into next season and things aren’t going well and maybe they’re not down right now this second but they’re like you know f it at that point you know like let’s do Steph and you know Stephen and Braun you know for the final three months of the regular season. There is a chance that if a trade is not does not materialize now does not fully mean that there’s not a chance of it happening later which is why the Lakers have no incentive to buy him out. Yeah. Now the question will be because I would if if it gets to the first of all it would have to get to the point that LeBron clearly states to the Lakers I would like to go somewhere else and I don’t know that it has reached that point yet. But let’s for the for the sake of argument, let’s pretend that that happens and then no trade can materialize. Does LeBron at that point go to the Lakers and say, “I helped you guys win a championship. It’s been a great seven seasons. As a parting gift, I would really like you guys to buy me out.” Do the Lakers say, “You know what? He did help us. He he helped us end a long championship drought. He helped us win a championship after the worst six, sevenyear period in franchise history. The Lakers are known for taking care of their stars. Like we, you know, remember the two-year contract they gave to Kobe Bryant late in his career. Would the Lakers say, you know what, LeBron did so much, we owe it to him to buy him out?
But that’s what the money’s for.
That’s what the money’s for. They did take care of him. He’s making $53 million 40. And the whole reason that he might want to leave is the idea that they’re not prioritizing him in his final maybe now final final year,
which they shouldn’t. They should, but buying him out. Yes. Yes. I I’m not ruling it out. And the Lakers like it’s not like absurd within the
I’m not ruling it out because this league is a circus. But if they’re prior to winning the future,
when anybody woke up yesterday, did we think that the Bucks would wave and stretch Damen Lillard to sign Miles Turner? So that’s why I’m not I am not going to I agree with everything you just said.
You make total sense. And I
if there’s any chance you could trade him even later into the season, that is that is prioritizing the future. That is all of a sudden a player who’s about to retire brings something back. So, if they’re priorities in the future, which is why this whole thing is happening,
there’s why you trade them today.
Also, figure it out and trade them today.
Quick little secret, the Lakers are,
in my opinion, they do not have a top six roster right now.
Yeah, they don’t. They’re not winning a title with or without LeBron this year. Not in the not even they’re not very good. If your future is prioritizing that 77 dude, you would do everything in your power to move the dude that’s 40ome years old making $53 million as an albatross of a contract around your team’s neck. You would move that and figure out a way to start building for now in the future. That’s for Rob Pelinka and his mid ass to figure out. Um, we’re done here on the DLS Mavs podcast today. Sincerely appreciate got Tanner making us look good and sound good as always. That is our national NBA insider Mark Stein. That is our Mavericks analyst Bobby Crow and our Mavericks beat right Tim Ko. I’m your host Kevin Gray. We are DLLS Mavs. We’ll talk to you tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. right here on DLS Sports. Y’all be good. We’ll talk to you later. Peace.

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The Dallas Mavericks have probably the best interior defense in the NBA. How good can the team be on that end of the floor in 2025-26? The DLLS Mavs crew explores that question by evaluating the current roster’s strengths and weaknesses, and then comparing them to the top-5 defenses in the NBA in 2024-25. Does Dallas have what it takes to crack the top-5 next season? Also, they shout out the teams who have had the top offseasons so far.

#dangelorussell #dallasmavs #nba #cooperflagg #anthonydavis #kyrieirving #derecklively #pjwashington #danielgafford #klaythompson #najimarshall #jasonkidd

00:00 Intro
03:16 Who has had the best offseason so far?
18:38 The Mavericks’ defensive outlook for the upcoming season
35:27 Is Jason Kidd about to get a contract extension?
40:25 Mavs coaching staff updates
50:45 Thoughts on the LeBron rumors

An ALLCITY Network Production

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