The BEST-CASE Scenario For D’Angelo Russell And The Mavericks | DLLS Mavs Podcast

The BEST-CASE Scenario For D’Angelo Russell And The Mavericks | DLLS Mavs Podcast

What is the best case scenario for the newest Maverick, D’Angelo Russell? We’ll discuss that. Plus, Mark Stein joins us at 12:30 today on the DLLS Mavs podcast. Here we go. [Music] [Music] [Music] Hey, what’s up DLSS Mavs Nation? It’s your man Kevin Gray alongside Mavericks analyst Bobby Krell. We of course are DLLS Mavs, your favorite guys cover your favorite team every single day. Appreciate you joining us here on DLLS Sports. What is the best case scenario for D’Angelo Russell, the newest Dallas Maverick? Plus, the West is getting a whole lot bigger and transactions galore. across the association. Our guy Mark Stein will be joining us at 12:30 here on the DLLS Maz podcast on this terrific Tuesday afternoon. Bobby Carella, what’s going on? Not much, KG. Uh news broke last night right after our free agency frenzy pod. We were able to hammer out an emergency one. Uh you were gone for that. Good to have you back. Of course, Tim Ko is not here. He’s out in four. Well, never mind. Sorry, I can’t dox it. He’s out somewhere. Um, there is a a Mavs rookie that is doing a public appearance and Tim is going to be covering that. Uh, Mark Stein will join us, but it’s just going to be me and KG in the studio today, of course, with Tanner. And we’re going to have some fun today. We got a lot to get to on today’s episode because the NBA free agency period is booming. We’ve seen a lot of deals take place, not just yesterday, but continuing through today with some implications for your Dallas Mavericks. But we start, Bobby, of course, with the Dallas Mavericks signing D’Angelo Russell yesterday. two years, a little nearly $12 million for him. He’s got a player option in that second year, and he is the newest starting point guard for the Dallas Mavericks. What is the best case scenario for DLO now that he’s reunited with Anthony Davis, among others, with this Dallas Mavericks team? Uh, let us know in the chat how are you feeling about D’Angelo Russell and what the best case scenario for him is, not only this year, but for his future as a Dallas Maverick. And we’ll start there because a lot of Mavericks fans excited about D’Angelo Russell getting on board with the idea that he is the kind of point guard given the team situation that can help them right now until Kyrie Irving comes back.
Yeah. I mean, I think the the best case for DLO individually reportedly he is getting a two-year contract, but the second year is a player option. And so, honestly, the best case scenario for him is that he plays so well that he’s able to opt out and make more money next summer, whether that’s from the Mavs or from another team. Um, I think the the way that he is able to do that is by individually being very efficient, but there’s this weird like disconnect. And I’m I’m curious, you know, if you were really locked into the Lakers in 23 and 24, you know, those two seasons were the the most efficient of his career. Uh, he was 40% from three both years. Uh, very effective from the free throw line, 82% from the free throw line. Uh, 3 to1 assist to turnover ratio, really high effective field goal percentage and all that stuff. But it just felt like there was this I don’t know there was like something missing or something. Obviously the the first year AD and LeBron both traded missing a ton of games and so the Lakers weren’t very Actually that was the year they went to the conference finals. The year after they missed a bunch of games and they weren’t very good. But uh I just I I I don’t really know. I don’t really know that answer. I need to dive into that. But you know for those being his two most efficient seasons of his career and yet Lakers fans really wanted him out of there. I just I don’t really know the source of that. But individually, uh, if he can have that level of efficiency, uh, while running the team, setting guys up, taking care of the ball, then that works well for him and for the team. And I want to talk about the team, too. But I want to hear your thoughts on that as well.
You know, and I’ve said this with the caveat when it comes to D’Angelo Russell. When he is locked in as a player, he can score, he can facilitate. There are things from an offensive standpoint that gives you a lot of confidence that creatively he can be able to get to a spot and be able to make things happen for himself uh and from his teammates when he’s at his best. I think when we lament D’Angelo Russell is the times when he goes full space cadet and gets lost on especially on the defensive end uh and can find himself playing out in space and not necessarily knowing where he needs to be. But I think one of the things that excites me about D’Angelo Russell is that as you mentioned he’s got a player option for next year. He’s essentially on a contract year. While yes, he has the one-year fully guaranteed year this year, he’s essentially on a contract year because if he does play well, he could find himself going somewhere else uh and getting some money. So, I expect a fully locked in D’Angelo Russell. I think for him at 29 years old, this for him is one of the last opportunities to show the rest of the NBA that he’s still a competent player in this league that can help a team that’s in a situation right now that feels like it needs to win and win as quickly as it can. And if D’Angelo Russell can be a part of helping that, then he’s going to find himself getting a nice little bag uh going into into next summer. And and I want to ask you this because when you look at D’Angelo Russell and his size, obviously there may be some questions defensively, but he gives them kind of a taller, longer point guard that if he does find himself playing up to his capabilities, can find himself being able to be somewhat effective on the defensive end because of the length that he has at the size of the point guard position that he is. I’m not necessarily saying that’s going to be on a consistent basis, but I think there are some elements there I think the Mavericks like uh from his size and positional um you know versatility in terms of him being the point guard there that could help them on that end of the four a little bit.
There could be I mean this is the best case scenario so I won’t I won’t
that’s what I was saying like this is best case for him.
Yeah. I mean based on his career he has never had a positive defensive season. Um, but there’s a difference. You know, earlier in his career, he’s playing for either really bad teams, you know, right out of right out of uh college or he’s playing on teams like the Lakers that had AD behind him sometimes. Sometimes AD was out or whatever. But otherwise, those Lakers teams, even the one that went to the conference finals in 23, like it’s not like they were just swimming, they were drowning in defenders, right? You know, on this team, and we talk about this all the time, whenever you have really good shot blockers behind you, you can be a little more aggressive. you can take some more risks, you can get up in guys space more because if you get beat, you have someone behind you. So maybe within the system, he’ll be able to, you know, at least be serviceable. They certainly need someone that can do that. Yeah.
Um we’ll see if it can be him, but um
you know, I I think another big question mark with him throughout his career is in the playoffs, he’s been to the playoffs four different times. He’s shot above 40% uh during a playoff run just one of those four times. He’s never shot he he’s shot better than 33% from three in the playoffs one time. Um but on all of those teams he’s playing 30 plus minutes. If this Mavs team does make the playoffs, he will be the backup in the playoffs. Kyrie will be the starter, you know, and so he wouldn’t have to play 30 minutes, he could play 15, 20 minutes where you’re going up against the other team’s backup. And if you’re hot, you stay in. And if you’re not, no big deal. We’ll we can we can go back to Kyrie or go to Brandon Williams or whatever. And so there’s just less pressure on him to be that performer. And I think Oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Oh, yeah. But that was that’s I was just going to say and that’s about it.
Yeah. I mean, and look, this is a true stop gap signing for the Mavericks when it comes to D’Angelo Russell. They believe that he could come in, fulfill a specific type of role that they need and the familiarity. We mentioned with Anthony Davis, obviously Klay Thompson, he’s been a teammate of his, Jason Kidd. There’s a lot there that D’Angelo Russell can come in and feel comfortable with right away and as Bobby mentioned, not have the pressure on him to be the player that has to do everything for this team from an offensive standpoint, especially uh from a facilitation and scoring standpoint. He’s going to have Anthony Davis. He’s going to have Hello Cooper flag. He’s going to have a lot to be able to work with. I am curious when you start looking at potential starting lineups for this team. Obviously, we’ve talked about the play making and ball handling responsibilities for a Brandon Williams, for a Cooper flag, four others. D’Angelo Russell slides in, is able to help you from a point guard position. What would be your ideal starting lineup that you would have for the Mavericks with D’Angelo Russell now in the fold that at least you could feel like could maximize what this team wants to be both offensively and especially defensively? Honestly, that’s tough because I I think I think Brandon Williams is better at breaking guys down and getting into the lane and maybe doing some stuff. Uh whether that’s finding guys to kick out or scoring himself. He’s pretty good around the rim. Even even despite his size and so I would be tempted still to ride with Brandon Williams as the starter, but I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. Um unless Brandon Williams plays great or DLO struggles or whatever. So I would I would expect it be DLO starting to start the year. um looking like Clay’s going to come off the bench, which is I think the right thing to do at this stage of his career. Um and that does give you, you know, if your second unit is is Brandon Williams and Clay, that’s some firepower off the bench and some some shooting, especially
with Naji out there to maybe help run point or whatever. So, your starting lineup, I mean, JK has said it himself. They want Flag to play the two.
They want him to play the DLO, Flag with PJ, AD, and Lively probably or maybe Gaffford, I don’t know. Um, I I would personally hope for Lively, but uh I’m not the coach. But here’s the here’s why it needs to work. You know, here here’s why this best case scenario is not a best case scenario. It’s got to happen. So, going back to last season, um when whenever 80 was on the floor without Kyrie,
the Mavs had a minus uh 0.9 rating. Okay, so they were they were one point per 100 possessions worse than their opponent, which okay, you might think, that’s not very bad. Like that’s almost neutral. Uh that would have ranked 18th in the league last year, which would have gotten outside of the playoffs. And whenever AD was out of the game without Kyrie as well, so neither AD nor Kyrie is in the game. The Mavs were minus 7 per 100 possessions, which would have ranked 25th in the league. And so, you know, they need a guard to replicate some of the stuff Kyrie is able to do. They need that offensive punch. You know, and their offensive rating with 80 on without Kyrie was only 111.9, which is kind of just fine. I mean, it’s fine. Uh 111.9 would have ranked very poorly. Granted, it’s PBP stats, so it’s a little different, but that would have ranked 22nd in the league last year. Um there were some other situ injuries and things like that. But they need DLO to bring some of that offense to bring some of that playmaking. Obviously Cooper’s going to add some of that as well, but you know the reason that’s so important is because Kyrie, this is the optimistic approach, but Kyrie’s going to miss half the season next year optimistically. He can come back and maybe give you 35 or 40 games, you know, including backto-backs and stuff that he could miss. So you’re going to need at least 40 to 45 games of playing better than below average basketball. Sure. So, you need Cooper to give you a couple. You need DLO to give you a couple. Bring that net rating up in the positive and win those minutes and especially win the minutes or at least tie the minutes without AD. You can’t be hemorrhaging points whenever AD’s on the bench. We used to say that all the time about Luca and Kyrie, too, which is what made them so good is that you’re always going to have one of them on the floor. The Mavs right now, unless Cooper is way better than we think he is, the Mavs are going to have one star on this team to start the year, one guy that can just attract all that attention and impact on defense as well. And so whether it’s DLO or Brandon Williams off the bench, one of those guys going to need to really be able to carry the load. Klay can help. Naji can help there as well. Uh because they need to turn that negative one and negative7 into like plus two and minus three. You know, if they really want to hold down the fort until Kyrie comes back.
Yeah. At minimum, you got to be neutral with your minutes. Uh
you got to win the minutes with AD.
Yeah, you got to win the minutes with AD for sure.
You have to.
Um but we’re talking about the bench unit there. I’ve always felt like with your bench units, you’ve got to at least be a neutral. You cannot be a negative. If you’re a plus, that’s even better. But at minimum, if you’ve got a 10-point lead, you can’t have your starters coming back in and then you’re down by 11.
And look, for all the for all the the and I believe justifiable grief I’ve given the Mavs uh plan, you know, for their for their starting lineup, I do think they have a lot of depth and I think their bench unit could be really good. You know,
it’s a deep team. Yeah, it’s a deep team. you know, they’re they could they could, you know, whenever they’re healthy, they could pretty uh pretty easily go like 12 deep even. Like they only have a couple guys really. I think like Hardy and Omax are the oddman out. Dwight’s probably not going to play, but all their other 12 guys with when Kyrie’s healthy, they can all play. And we’ve talked about how the minutes distribution is going to potentially look for this team because of the amount of players that they have that you could credibly say you can go 9 10 11 12 deep that Jason Ken managing all of this is going to be very interesting from a coaching standpoint because there’s a lot of guys that deserve a lot of playing time and he’s going to have to figure out now. I mean it’s a good problem to have. Like I would much rather be in a problem where you’ve got to find minutes for guys than try to try to get guys that you need to get minutes for. Um
maybe again this is the optimistic approach but I mean we know the we and I don’t think it’s a bit I think I think it’s actually the right thing to do but JK always tinkers with rotations early in the year and whenever you have so many options that means there’s going to be a lot of tinkering and you know we’ve seen in the past experimenting and trying to find the right lineups which in the long run does pay off that leads to losses in the short term and the Mavs do need wins without Kyrie they’re not going to go undefeated once he comes back they could still win 60 to 70% of their games. Whenever AD and Kyrie both play, they’re going to be really good. But they’re going to play half the year without them at least. And so they have to be able to win half of those games.
Yeah. You can’t be smoking games way in the regular season because you’re experimenting. You know, having this many options is a is a blessing, but it could also be a short-term curse unless things fall into place really early on.
Let’s take our first break here on the DLLs podcast. When we come back, the NBA is busy busy with transactions. We’ll talk about some of the biggest ones that are impacting the Western Conference. Plus, a little later on, our own Mark Stein will be joining us here on the DLS Mavs podcast. But first, just like your favorite team needs a home court advantage, your home needs a home floor advantage. You use your floor every single day. Every room in your house has one and you’re stomping your feet on it. You’re spilling drinks on it. your kids are running in the pool and then running in the house and tracking water all over the place and making that thing a mess and you need you just want to tear that stuff up and put some stuff in that’s going to last and that’s going to look good. And our friends at Empire Today can help you do just that. They will bring the showroom to your home and show you exactly what that new flooring will look like in your home with your decor, with your lighting. You don’t got to put on your Sunday best and head out to the store and hope that some rando you’re talking to is going to rip you off. No. Empire is going to help you get squared away and they can also help schedule an installation as soon as the next day. So, what are you waiting for? Schedule a free inome estimate today because some things are just better at home. DLS listeners can receive a $350 discount. Use promo code DLLS. Restrictions apply. Visit Empire today for full details. Empire Today. Uh, let’s talk about game time. If you love going to basketball games, football games, concerts, sporting events, Game Time is the place to get your tickets. Game time picks filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great so you don’t have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. I use Game Time all the time to go to Wings Games these days. I put in my promo code. I’m able to get the $20 off. My wife and daughter can enjoy Wings Games and the great atmosphere out at Carage Park in Arlington. all in pricing as well, so you know exactly what you’re going to pay before you get to checkout, so you’re not surprised with any hidden fees. They got panoramic seat views as well, so you know exactly where you’re going to sit before you purchase your tickets as well. So, make sure you take the guesswork out of buying your tickets with Game Time Pics. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code DLS for $20 off your first purchase. Remember, terms apply. Create an account and redeem code DLLS for $20 off. Download Game Time today. Bobby, what time is it? It is game time. Game time. Shout out to Joe. Uh let’s take a look at the rest of the NBA’s transactions so far because there have been plenty of transactions that have gone down that are affecting the Western Conference. We’ll start though in the East because all I have to say, boys and girls, is this. What the hell are the Bucks doing in Milwaukee? Because my gosh, what they have done so far just today on Tuesday has the NBA world scratching their heads trying to figure out what the hell is happening with Giannis and the Bucks. Because today, Bobby, we found out that Miles Turner, after a decade with the Indiana Pacers, just helping them get to the NBA finals where they lost to seven games to the Oklahoma City Thunder, he is leaving to sign a 4-year $17 million deal. You say, “Kevin, now how in the world can Milwaukee afford to do any of this?” Oh, that’s right. They’ve decided to stretch and wave Damen Lillard, and he is now an unrestricted reagent. Which means, Bobby, the Bucks will be paid Damen Lillard for the next one, two, three, four, five years over $22 million to not play in Milwaukee. What the hell is going on in Milwaukee?
Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it’s we’ve never really seen anything like that before. Um, we we’ve never seen anything like that before. Um, I I think it’s it’s interesting like, okay, Dame tears his Achilles, Tyrese Hallebertton tears his Achilles, and Jason Tatum tears his Achilles.
That’s right.
And we are seeing all of those teams do wild ass things in order to kind of withstand or take a gap year or whatever. Um, Indie just let a dude leave. And who’s their bigs right now? I mean, Jarus Walker, I guess, is not a center. They got Thomas Bryant.
Thomas Bryant.
And are they going to roll with Tony Bradley?
Like, hell, they might struggle to block back on DeAndre Aiden at this point.
Maybe they will. I mean, they they don’t have a lot of money to offer guys, but like, you know, Indie I it’s just it’s really weird, man. Indie without Tyrese and without Miles, that’s your starting one, your starting five. I don’t know if they’re even going to make the playoffs next year, you know? Um, depending on what they are able to do. And TJ McConnell still a free agent. He might not even go back. Like the Pacers might be a lottery team next year. Um good thing the Pelicans traded them their pickback.
Yeah. No, dude. Honestly, incredible.
Shout out to you for helping out work by them. Um now you look at Boston. Uh Boston’s kind of
breaking it down piece by piece, you know. Uh they they lose KP. They trade away Drew Holiday. They’re apparently holding strong and holding firm on on Derrick White and Jaylen Brown, but you know, we’ll see about that. And then Milwaukee, they stretch wave Dame and get Miles Turner, but now they have no guards. Like their starting one. Are they going to really roll with like Kevin Porter Jr. as their one or they going to play Gary Trent nominally at the one and then let Giannis Gary run wild or Yeah, I mean Gary Harris like man I don’t I don’t know. I I don’t know. Um it’s it’s really really bizarre. Um
that was a shocking turn of events though. Shocking turn of events. And obviously, you know, Dame, he might sign immediately or he might take a year off and enter free agency next year. I don’t know, people are already linking him to Miami. Um, so we’ll see. But yeah, it is just it’s it is really really really wild that basically as soon as teams can find an excuse to save some money, um, they’re going to because for for Boston, I get it. They were in the second apron. They needed to get out of that cuz they’re they’re doomed. You’re doomed. Um, Milwaukee, not the case. Milwaukee was barely even over the cap. Mhm.
Um and for Andy, they’re doing it literally to avoid the luxury tax, which I think that is
they were willing to go into the luxury tax to keep Miles Turner reported.
I know, but then Tyrese gets hurt. They’re like, “Yeah, we just don’t want to do it.” Like, it is strictly a business decision, which is for Indie. That’s just a big FU to their fans, man. Like, I don’t it it kind of sucks, but also it’s really riveting drama. And so, I guess, you know, um I it is what it is, man. I don’t know. I don’t even know how to make sense of it. Other moves in the Western Conference we’ll turn our attention to now because Milwaukee is obviously dominating the headlines when it comes to the Eastern Conference of what they’re doing. Dennis Shruder is going to be headed to the Sacramento Kings. The Sacramento Kings also completed a trade for Jonas Valentunis to go to the Denver Nuggets by the way.
Oh my god. Oo. I Okay, so I was on the way home watching you guys talk about obviously D’Angel Russell being, you know, signed to the Mavericks. And then as I, you know, sitting in traffic, shout out to Dallas, sitting in traffic, uh, I see come across my phone, Cam Johnson gets traded from the Brooklyn Nets for Michael Porter Jr. And I’m thinking, I thought they didn’t have anybody who was competent enough to run things out there in Denver. And they somehow turned Michael Porter Jr. into Cam Johnson, which I thought was a hell of a move uh by Denver yesterday. I thought good, man. Yeah, they are. I mean, Cam Johnson and Bruce Brown, they can defend a little bit. They can both move. You know, Bruce is
he’s a so- so shooter. Cam Johnson obviously really good shooter, movement shooter, uh catch and shoot guy. Bruce Brown can make some plays with the ball. Like the Nuggets got so much better over the last couple days.
Yeah.
Um
Yeah, that’s it’s it’s scary hours out west, man, cuz you got you got the Nuggets, the Rockets, and the Thunder
just in my opinion so far ahead of everybody else.
You got to put their right there, too. Well, kind of. I mean, they lost Nquille and they didn’t replace him. I mean, they’re going to try with youth, but
I mean, dude, it’s it’s the West is looking scary.
It is. And by the way, we’re talking about
the Lakers not doing anything. By the way, I Let’s
We’re going to spend 5 seconds on the Lakers cuz Rob Pelinka,
here’s my buddy. I don’t know what you got going on in your life right now because my gosh, you let Dorian Finny Smith walk out the door for nothing and then you was like, you know how I’m going to replace Dorian? That Jake Laravia dude, I like him. I’m gonna get him for two years at 12 million bucks and bring him in here. And I’m sure Luka looking around like, “What the hell is going on around?
It’s a great day to be a Lakers hater.”
Oh boy. Yeah. Lakers haters unite.
This is your day. Yesterday and today are your days because the Lakers I saw a report yesterday. Uh apparently your boy Rob Pink is trying to do the whole keep the powder dry thing.
Oh yeah.
For for 2027.
It’s very far away. I haven’t looked at the free agents. I’m sure there’s probably a ton of good free agents that year, but like
20 like everyone everyone just re-ups now. So, I don’t know. I guess you could take guys in signing trades or whatever, but yeah, I I think like
of all the teams that finish ahead of the Mavs, I think the three we talked about, you know, Houston, OKC, Denver are really good. Uh Minnesota is going to stay probably just as good. Yeah.
Um I think uh the Clippers, you know, getting Brooke in there and they didn’t lose anyone.
They didn’t lose anyone. So, you got Sub and Lopez there.
Yeah. I mean, that’s the Clippers are going to be good if they can stay healthy. Like, the West is is a ferocious beast.
If we’re talking about what the hell is happening with Milwaukee, you can use that same logic and you could apply that to the the Pelicans because what the hell are they doing,
dude? Like, I don’t know. So, Kavon, speaking of guys who spent, you know, their entire careers with one team, Kavon Looney, uh goes to the Pelicans and leaves the Golden State Warriors, which means Al Horford uh you might have a chance to go play with Stephen Curry at the end of your uh career, which would be random.
They’re going to play Eves Mei at power forward. Like, what are they? He just had a all rookie boy. Then they go and draft a big. They trade a unprotected.
That’s right. They did. That’s right.
A big and then they they do Dude, can you imagine after trading that
if the Pelicans would have just done everything the same and then they go into this season owning their own pick and the Pacers pick. That’s right.
They would have two of the top 10 picks in next year’s draft, but instead they got Derrick Queen and that’s it.
Uh yeah, cuz they traded an unprotected. They go get their guy on Derrick Queen. So now they have they have a rookie big, a second year big, and then they just go out and sign Kavon Looney. That’s right. And trade for Jordan Pool.
Dude, what are we doing?
I don’t Shout out to you, Joe Mars, because
go make a deal with that team. They’re the mark.
They are the mark. They are the mark right now.
Bring me Trey Murphy. Um, yeah, I don’t know what the Pelicans are doing. Um, I guess they think they might be competitive. They still got Zion. They still got Herb Jones there. They still got Tre Murphy the third there, uh, as well. So they’ve got play they’ve got individual players that you look like, oh yeah, I like a Trey Murphy the third. I like a Herb Jones. Everybody loves Herb Jones, but yeah, I don’t know necessarily what the uh the Pelicans are thinking out there. Let me ask you this because we’ve seen how big the West has gotten over the last, you know, several months here. Obviously, the Mavericks have decided to go uber big. Obviously, there are a lot of teams like Houston, the Oklahoma City Thunder. These teams are getting bigger. Is this a trend that we’re seeing as far as the West is concerned only or is this something that you look around the league said, you know, the league is thinking we’ve got to get size size because
all these guys have already been in the league.
Well, I mean, I’m just saying as teams are loading up, it feels like especially in the Western Conference, teams are especially loading up with the amount of size that they’ve got on their teams now.
I like who?
You got Oklahoma City, you got Dallas, you got Houston.
Okay, so you got bigger. No, I’m saying like they already had Hardenstein and Chad Homegrren. So, you got them already. you now you’ve got Houston with their amount of bigs that they’ve got. Denver obviously added another another big uh
Denver you need a backup like you need centers. I I don’t It just feels like there’s a lot of centers that are coming to the West and there’s teams that are like really really big right now.
I don’t know. I I I don’t really I don’t really see it. I mean like teams have centers. Uh but I I don’t think teams are like the Rockets aren’t playing too bigs. You know, OKC went away from two bigs in the finals, then they kind of came back to it or whatever, but like I I don’t I don’t think that this is like a trend or anything like that. Denver’s been looking for a backup for Jokic for years. Like they they just spend the block every year to get a new guy in. Um and I think they saw, you know, they run out of gas in the not even run out of gas, but like
they did look tired during stretches of last season. And you know, Joic is playing 40 minutes a game and they’re getting drilled in the minutes where he’s not on the floor. And so you need someone to hold it down a little bit.
Um I I don’t really see it as teams getting bigger at all. I just see it as teams just signing centers. It’s a lot of teams in the West that are going to have uh serious size. But I mean, and we’ll do this at some point down the road here as well as we get closer to the end of free agency because obvious mention it, the Western Conference in and of itself is absolutely stacked with the teams that are going to be very good this upcoming year. And you start thinking about the teams that are in front of Dallas and behind Dallas. How much better will the teams like a San Antonio or others potentially get better to try to close the gap between themselves in Dallas versus how much the gap has to be closed from Dallas to the teams that you would look proverbally in the top six because to me if you’re the Mavericks you’re looking at the top six teams in the west that are in front of you right now. Uh you feel I think pretty good about what you have if this is the roster that you have but at the same time these teams are really really good in the West and it’s going to be a dog fight night in and night out.
Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, even if, and this goes for the teams that are unquestionably good, you know, like unquestionably better than the Mavs, um there’s 13 teams in the West, 14 if you consider the Pelicans, which I don’t, but if Zion is healthy,
Joe’s act like he’s on in that mix.
Yes. I mean, there’s either 13 or 14 teams in the West that are honest to god going for it, you know, and and that’s
depending on how many games you play against those guys, that’s like 50 to 60 50 to 55 of your games.
Yeah. you know, we’re going up against those teams. Um,
and I forgot, by the way, that Clint Capella had signed with the Houston Rockets as well, another center that they added.
I mean, it’s just it’s a that’s a lot of games, dude. Like, it’s it’s a lot of games against a lot of really good teams. Utah is the only team that just unquestionably stinks. I don’t think the Pelicans will be very good, but again, if Zion is healthy, that’s a tough out, you know, and it is it is
you can’t take a night off in the West.
Yeah. It’s just such a marathon, man. And that’s why, you know, going back to the last segment, that’s why the Mavs having 12 guys that are good Yeah. matters. I don’t know if the Mavs top five is ideal for a lot of different matchups, but I do know that having 12 guys that can play 25 minutes in NBA game is really good. Yeah. You know, because guys are going to get hurt, guys are going to miss time, and you know, some of these teams, um, like I I don’t think Golden State’s very deep. I don’t think Minnesota is necessarily super deep. Um, Memphis always finds guys, but I’m not sure if they’re deep. The Kings definitely aren’t deep. these teams that finish directly ahead of the Mavs in the standings when they inevitably encounter their own injury issues, their seasons could just be done for, you know, whereas the Mavs have enough to at least credibly believe that they can stay afloat without Kyrie as long as AD isn’t out, too. And that matters a lot.
Yeah, that’s the the caveat there is Anthony Davis’s health. We talked about how much Kyrie Irving’s health impacts his team. Anthony Davis’s health impacts this team drastically because of what he is supposed to be for this team uh on both ends of the floor. Uh but the Western Conference is a busy and getting better. Uh and the entire NBA is just looking around and Milwaukee and others like man what is going on? Because it has been a day and a half already. Everyone in the West is trying to win and every every team in the East is trying to save money. Like this is so lame. It’s 2003 all over again dude. Come on. I mean, can someone in the East try and win? Like Orlando, hell yeah, dude.
Yeah, they went for it. They got Desen Bane. They’re trying. Three of the best teams in the East are done and and everyone else is like
I mean, honestly, if you’re New York, if you’re Orlando, and you’ve watched what’s happened to Milwaukee, you’ve watched what’s happened to Indiana, and you’ve seen what’s happened with Boston, you are licking your chops at the Eastern Conference. Like, this the East is for the taking. Cleveland right and a half win ever you know like Atlanta trying to go for it like there’s some teams that are trying to go for it but dude like
sees the uh should be too is that the thing sees the day
sees the day
par that’s right that’s right
and sale
all of them I’m looking at you Cleveland New York and Orlando I’m looking at you in the Eastern Conference uh let’s take our next break here on the DLS mass podcast when we come back we welcome in our national NBA insider Mark Stein with the latest on happenings in the NBA the Maverick signal Russell are agreeing to a deal with him. And also, what’s the latest on the Mavericks coaching situation where the Nuggets are hotly pursuing this Maverick’s assistant? All that more coming up next year on DLS Mavs podcast. You want to know what the Eastern Conference has in common with your butt crack in your bundle? It stinks. Unlike the East though, you have the power to make that thing smell good. With our friends at Mando, it’s not just your pits that get sweaty and smelly in the summer. And it is suffocatingly hot outside, it’s your entire body. Mando is going to not only make you smell good in the moment, but this stuff is going to last for hours and hours and hours afterward. And so you can always go to work, hang out with your friends, go on a date and do it with confidence because you know that you’re going to be smelling fresh. Mando starter pack is perfect for new customers. Comes with a solid stick deodorant, cream tube deodorant, and two free products of your choice like either mini body wash or deodorant wipes or much more. and comes with free shipping, too. So, no excuses, fellas. As a special offer for listeners, new customers can get $5 off a starter pack with our exclusive code, which is more than 40% off your starter pack, and then from there, you can choose which one you like the best. Use code DLS at shopmando.com. Support our show and tell them we sent you. Let me put some money in your pocket when it comes to Cash App. Cash App is a safe, easy, and fast way to send, receive money, and transfer to family and friends. It’s easy to get started with Insta Setup. You just need your phone number and your email. No bank account is needed. My little brother sent my daughter some money for her birthday. He was able to send it to me safely and securely. If you find yourself about to send your money to a scam, Cash App will give you an alert to let you know, hey, you don’t want to send your money there. And they will protect you every step of the way. There’s no waiting either. You should, it’s your money. You should get it exactly when you’re ready to get it. For a limited time only, new Cash App users can use our exclusive code to earn some additional cash. And there’s no catch. Check this out. Just download Cash App and sign up. Use our exclusive referral code DLLS Mavs in your profile. Send $5 to a friend and within 14 days you’ll get $10 dropped right into your account. It’s free money. It’s literally free money. Uh so make sure that you remember the terms apply. That’s money and of course that’s Cash App.
Let’s welcome in our National NBA insider. You can always dial up the Stein Line as we are right now at the Stein Line. He of course is the busiest man at this time of the year. He is Mark Stein. Mark, what’s going on? Hi guys. How are you
doing? Well, how are you? How are you feeling? You getting enough to eat? You getting enough water? You You good? How are you feeling, guys? I’m fine. Don’t Don’t make this out to be like it’s some travail or I mean, this is what everybody loves. Everybody loves free agent frenzy. So, please do not do not cry or play any violins for me. We just we just want to make sure that your well-being is good because your well-being is important to us, Mark. So, we we’re glad to know that you’re doing uh that you’re doing all right. Uh Mavericks fans are doing okay because they see that D’Angelo Russell has agreed to a deal uh two years and nearly $12 million as you reported yesterday. How did this come together? What are the Mavs looking for from D’Angelo Russell? Uh and what should we expect from him given what the Mavericks have done with this signing here? Yeah, this is the one I think we’ve been talking about for almost a week. This is the one that was anticipated throughout the league really. And you know there is I think the connection here we know D’Angelo Russell has played alongside Anthony Davis in LA. They need a lead guard who can start the season and get them through the first few months of the season. And instead of worrying about me and my well-being, how is Bobby Carella? How is the Carlla straighter? Because I think when I first tweeted about this possibility, I think it was the morning of the draft. Quickly into my feed, I saw the tweet where Bobby Carella said that I just broke his heart. Yeah, Mark, I’m a little spooked. I uh I mean like I like I said last night, you know, we’re we’re trying to be the optimistic show today, but I I place a really high premium value on playmaking and it it feels like, you know, especially if the reporting is true that that DLO has a player option for the second year, that the Mavs really do just view this as a stop gap situation. And I I think that playmaking from every position is way too important to just even consider using the word stop gap to describe your your strategy. And so I’m a little I’m a little spooked. Uh but I do think that DLO at that price is a a very good deal. Yeah. Look, I think we and hey, we we share the same view. Right. I mean, you guys know that I when when Minnesota was eliminated in the conference finals and Chris Finch, a coach that I’ve known for a long long time and respect greatly and when he basically said, you know, this league is about playmaking and getting as many playmakers on the floor as possible and that that’s what opens up your shot opportunities and that’s what really opens up your offense. That quote really got my attention and yeah, I mean right now it, you know, the Mavs, the way they’ve constructed their roster, you know, there are there are elements of the roster where they look exceptionally strong. Obviously, they have two centers who are well regarded throughout the league be before we even get to Anthony Davis and we all know the excitement about Cooper Flag. But outright playmaking, this team is very short in that area at this point. Now, I think Jason Kidd has already made it clear that he’s going to try to put Cooper Flag in playmaking positions. What he’ll be able to do in year one in the NBA, that remains to be seen. How effective he’s going to be in terms of being a playmaker for this team. And I know the Mavs are really optimistic about what he’s going to be able to give them. But I would also echo what you said looking at the options for that price and I’m just going to ask you Bobby like and Kevin too just what do is there has something else happened out there that you would have preferred for the 5.7 million taxpayer midlevel? Is there a is there a path that based on what we’ve seen for the first 18 hours of free agency? Is there something else the Mavs could have done?
No, not not for that. Not for that in my opinion.
I mean, if you could have convinced Chris Paul to come for $5.7 million, uh that would have been the idea based off of your situation with the Mavericks have. Um that would have been
But he’s just not going to do that.
But he’s not agree. Yeah, he’s not going to do that. Super Kev.
Super Kev, I totally agree. And look, the Mavs did explore that. And the reality is, and they were not the only team that explored it. I’m told that Charlotte, of course, Chris Paul grew up in North Carolina, the Hornets were also interested in Chris Paul. And after a great season in San Antonio, where Chris Paul didn’t just play 82 games at age 39, he started 82 games at age 39. But by all accounts, he did not want to come to Dallas for a year. He did not want to go back to his home state Hornets for a year. Chris Paul is trying to land a deal closer to home. Can he fashion a reunion with either the Suns or the Clippers? That remains to be seen, but that appears to be what he’s focusing on because yes, the Mavs would have been very very interested in Chris Paul. I don’t think there is any question. But the reality is that that option wasn’t there for them and D’Angelo Russell was deemed to be the best option at this price point. And like Bobby, I do feel like they got that right. Um, Mark, before uh before we get to the coaches, there’s a couple people in chat, and I want to ask that question myself as well. Um, yep.
It’s kind of a two-parter. One, do you believe the Mavs are done? Um, and two, are there I guess this is sort of asking the same question twice, but you know, you’ve mentioned they might try and offload a contract to bring back Dante Exom, but there’s also now I mean with with Indie just letting Miles Turner walk. I wonder if the Pacers might make deals with either, you know, they got Nimh hard, TJ McConnell is still out there or other teams that are kind of like repositioning, reshuffling the deck a little bit. Are there other trade opportunities that you could see in play or opening up at some point that the Mavs could get in on? Well, two great questions. Let’s I mean the first one is obviously yes. They are still going to try to is there anything out there to move off a contract, create a roster spot, and bring XM back? That’s the easier short-term aim. I know everyone wants Nebard. I know that’s the dream. Indiana is going to make it difficult in the absolute extreme for anyone to trade for him, especially because the contract that they signed Nebard to in Indiana, that was a factor here.
That Did you guys lose me or am I still going?
No, no, I just said it’s a bargain. Yeah, sorry. Sorry. um they it was a factor in their tax situation that is somewhat led to the departure of Miles Turner. Now obviously Tyrese Hallebertton’s Achilles injury is another major factor here but basically the Pacers haven’t gone into the tax for two decades. Had Tyrese Hallebertton been healthy the feeling was they were going to go into the tax to resign Miles Turner. They’ve gone way conservative now because they know the likelihood is that they’re not going to have Hallebertton this season and that has now cost them Miles Turner. But Nebart is such a huge part of that team and the Pacers really do view him as the ideal compliment to Hallebertton. So, even if next season is a lost season, I just don’t see any way the Pacers would consider trading him. Yes, they need a center. And I know people would say, “Oh, well, the math is such a beautiful match, you know, just Neb hard for Gaffford and what like that’s trade machine talk that I don’t I don’t think that’s I don’t think that’s realistic.” If you can let them know that I also believe that Nimhard is a ideal fit for Kyrie, I would appreciate that. Just send spread the word.
Look, at 18 mil, he’s an ideal fit for a zillion teams. And obviously, his brother is going to be here now on a two-way. I’m I’m not I’m not trying to douse anyone’s dreams. I’m just being realistic here. Like, the Pacers are not just going to pick up the phone tomorrow and say, “Yes, we’ll send you Nebard for for one of your centers.” Like, could it someday happen? I’m not I’m not going to sit here and say it could never happen for all of time, but like the Pacers have just showed us that, you know, by all accounts they were only willing to go into like 3 years 60 millionish to keep Turner. That to me doesn’t suggest that they’re going to now turn around and make a super aggressive trade for a center. I mean, by letting Turner go, they’re kind of telling us that they know next season they can’t really do much without Hallebertton. And so that kind of aggressive move, I think, would really be surprising. Does it get talked about at some point? Like I said, I’m not going to sit here and act like I can predict the future, but I’m just I’m just trying to bring a dose of realism to the discussion. Mark, before we let you go here, what’s the latest on the coaching situation when it comes to the Dallas Mavericks and their assistant coaches? You’re reporting that the Denver Nuggets are hotly pursuing Jared Dudley to be a part of their bench with David Adam taking over there. Uh what’s the latest on the Mavericks coaching assistant situation? Yeah, look, I think the Nuggets opportunity, you know, we’ve seen Cleveland and we well, first we saw Memphis, then Cleveland as teams interested in Jared Dudley. To me, the Denver pursuit is the most serious approach that there has been yet for Jared Dudley. They are a legitimate serious threat to hire him away. And because the the the working belief would be that if Jared Dudley goes to Denver that he would be in the number one chair next to David Adam. JJ Berea, beloved Mavs legend, has already committed to joining the Nuggets coaching staff. He’ll also be front of bench in Denver. So Berea is a for sure. And we know the Maverick’s initial response to losing Shawn Sweeney to San Antonio. Jason Kidd is going to try to convince Frank Vogle, who worked last season as a consultant to the team to take Sweeny’s spot in the number one chair. So, the Mavs have already hired Jay Triano. If Jason Kidd can succeed in bringing in Vogle as well, I mean, to me, it would be very hard. I think Jared Dudley wants to stay, but I don’t see how he could pass up the opportunity to go be the number one assistant in Denver. That just like that wouldn’t to me kind of has to take it. So, I think it will depend to a great degree on can the Mavericks successfully convince Frank Vogle to replace Shawn Sweeney. If that happens, then that would significantly increase the likelihood that Jared Dudley winds up in Denver. And quickly before we let you go, any update when it comes to God Shamgod and the Orlando Magic’s pursuit of him? Magic still want him very badly. I think the working expectation is that the Magic will ultimately succeed in that pursuit. Yesterday was officially the last day of God Shamgod’s current contract in Dallas. So I think we’ll get a resolution there soon, but um yeah, I mean the Magic are a very serious threat to to to pull that off as well. Mark, as always, we sincerely appreciate your time. We know you’ve got a busy day ahead of you with the NBA free agency in full swing and we look forward to your coverage and we’ll look to talk to you tomorrow.
All right guys, be good. Talk soon.
Bye Mark. That’s our national insider Mark sign. You can always dial up the Stein line at the Stein Line when it comes to the latest on your Mavericks and everything around the association. Let’s finish up here on the DLS Mavs podcast and take our last break. When we come back here, if the Mavericks are finished this off season with the moves, are you happy with what the team has done? We’ll get your reaction to that and more coming up next here on the DLS Mavs podcast. First, the Mavs made a move last night. The Stars made a move earlier today. They officially announced head coach Glenn Gulletson. They’re bringing in Neil Graham as an assistant, and they resigned Colin Blackwell, who I just really enjoy watch playing hockey
for sure. I like guys with motor like that. So, we got teams making moves. The Rangers, they’ve lost a couple heartbreakers in a row, man. It’s been tough sledding for them over there. Shout out to Adoleis. He tied the game in the 10th and then they lose 10 to six to lose the game. Like, golly, man. Come on, Rangers.
And we got the trade deadline coming up there. They might have to make a move. Hopefully, it’s a good one. The Wings made a move yesterday.
They did. I don’t know how they
Melissa Smith getting a first round pick. All Aaliyah Edwards is available. I’m not saying. I’m just saying. I’m just saying the Cowboys uh Netflix is making a documentary. I don’t know. So, that’s that’s the move that Jerry wants them to make.
I’m so excited for that. We got all the teams in DFW making moves. It’s time for you to make your move as well. Let’s celebrate kicking off the offseason with the make your move die hard intro offer. Just $36 for a year if you want to support what we’re doing here at DLS Sports. That’s just $3 a month to get the best dang written content in the world. It’s not just that that you get though. So, you get a free shirt when you sign up, which at this rate pays for almost the entire cost of the membership. We got more than 40 to choose from, including that one. That’s right. Including this one. Tanner is also wearing Kevin Gay’s shirt right now. Uh, but we I promise we have 40, even though we all wear the same freaking shirts every day, like that flag capture shirt. If you’re in on Cooper Flag and want some of that, uh, if you like if you get one, but you like 20 of them, well, you get a 20% discount on everything else on that website. You also get to join the DLS Die Hard Discord lounge. A great place to hang out. out. We got more than 1,500 dieards. It is always lit in the chat. You also get your physical die hard card and like I said, you get to read all the written coverage on all dls.com. Just a few of many reasons you should become a diehard. So, thank you to each and every one of you for sub for your support, Kevin. That’s right. Uh you’re right, Mr. Crazy. Four straight extra inning games, the last two in horrific losses for the Rangers. Come on, Texas. Uh, shout out to everyone who’s watching, and I mean everyone who is watching the DLSS Mavs podcast this afternoon as we finish up here on our show today. If the Mavericks don’t make any more moves this off season, are you satisfied with the team that is currently constructed? Did you know real quick, I’m sorry, I just saw this tweet. Yeah. You know, AD is tied for the fifth largest average annual value on a contract in MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL history. Did you know that? What with the current one?
Yeah. So Shay just signed a $71 million annual
value extension. Then Show Otani number two, Jason Tatum number three, Dak number four, and then 80 and Giannis tied at number five.
One one thing we’re not showing on here in Dallas. Cash.
Yep. Uh straight cash, homie.
For big time,
no state tax. Giannis, if you’re listening. Uh, by the way, let’s have a moment of silence for Pat Coneton who was traded to the Charlotte Hornets uh earlier today because he got sent to the Shadow Realm uh in Charlotte along with uh Josh Green and others who were already there. So,
tough situation.
Tough situation for Pat Continent. But yeah, AD’s got the three-year $175 million contract extension kicking in this year.
Also, did you know that Andrew Nimhard is below 10 points per game for his career? Last year, he averaged 10 points a game. Didn’t feel like it. I know. It It felt like he averaged like 20. Of course, in the playoffs he does.
He goes nuclear in the playoffs.
Uh he Do you know he only averaged 12 and a half in the playoffs this year?
It felt like 20 every night.
And he was he was 14.9 the year before.
Are we Look, I’m doing some subtra. Are we overrating Andrew Nimhard? Is he
Should the Pacers get off of him?
Are you What are you trying to do?
I think the Pacers should get off Andrew Nimhard. He’s a regular season underperformer and he’s overrated in the playoffs. I think they should get off him. They should punish him, send him to Dallas.
He’s actually pretty damn good in the playoffs. Uh but Bobby did mention it. Uh Shay Gildis Alexander. Four years, $285 million super max contract extension with the Thunder that’ll take him through the 203031 season. The richest annual salary for a player in NBA history. uh just capping off
deserves every penny, man.
I got to say it caps off what was a literal banner year uh for SGA, winning the scoring title, Western Conference Finals MVP, the NBA Finals MVP, and of course uh his first NBA championship. Uh you won’t find too many seasons when the season that uh SGA had uh this year. So, I guess congratulations to SGA uh in the season that he had. Um, but if the Mavericks don’t make any more moves this offseason, are you good with what this team has right now? Could the Mavericks potentially make a move to get a roster spot open to bring back Dante XM? That’s something that we’ll be continue to watching as the rest of the free agency uh in the summer goes on. But Bobby, if the Mavericks are done and this is the roster right now, Omax and Jaden Hardy, are you good with this roster going into this upcoming season?
Um, what do you mean? If this is the roster that
me personally.
Yes. If this is the roster that the Mavericks have, they don’t make another move for the rest of this off season and this is the team that they have with the 15 guys that they got and hey, this is what we’re rolling with night.
No, I’m I’m not good. No, I’m not good with that.
Okay. Um I think that when healthy, this roster is good enough to compete for a top six spot. Um but I don’t want to settle for being good enough to compete for a top six spot when healthy. I want to keep adding players. Um, and also too, I mean, they’re whatever it is, like two million shy of the second apron or maybe three million shy of the second apron or something. Um, and you know, um, every dollar counts as we saw last year. And right now, you know, assuming assuming they have a full healthy 15-man roster, I would say right now they’re bottom five guys. Um, Omax, Dwight, Hardy, Christy, and Caleb Martin probably, right? Or maybe Brandon Williams in there instead of Caleb Martin or whatever. But if it’s Caleb Martin in there, they’re spending $30 million a year, almost $31 million on their bottom five. So, I saw someone say it in the chat earlier, they are ripe for a consolidation trade. I absolutely agree. There are players that are available. There are teams that are looking to get off money or teams that are looking to break up big salaries into smaller chunks that the Mavs can absolutely go attack and acquire players. Now, you’re not going to be able to trade your bottom five for a star. You might have to give up one of your good players. But if you can give up one of your good players and like two players that aren’t going to get any minutes that are eating up money in your cap, making it harder to go sign guys, then go do it. Go I I would say I’m I’m not I’m not satisfied with this and I hope that they continue exploring ways to to add talent and get better because to spend 30 million on guys that when the team is healthy are going to combine for like maybe 15 20 minutes a game unless it’s a blowout, like that’s just not that’s not good for me. And I I would I I want to spend money more responsibly than that. And also, I think that the Mavs can still get better. For sure.
I would agree. I think the Mavericks would be able to be benefiting from another move if they made one. I mean, I understand that they’re folks who do not want to move on from Daniel Gaffford, do not want to move on from PJ Washington, and for good reason. These are two very good players that have helped this team have success since coming to Dallas and obviously helping this team reach an NBA finals. PJ Washington’s become a folk hero here. Daniel Gaffer has turned himself into a very good starting center in this league and has the opportunity to continue to contribute here um for years to come. But at the same time, we talk about all the time, you got to give something give up something good to get something good. And you do have right now and people will say, Kevin, what about the injury concerns with Lively with AD? You got to be those are real. Those are and those are valid concerns. Those are valid. Yeah. when it comes to both of those players um and what that looks like for projecting at the long-term future, not just the short-term, but the long-term future over the next three years and what this looks like. But at the same time, man, you had a chance to potentially use some of the surplus that you had in the front court, especially with the addition now of Cooper Flag coming to your team to improve yourself and not just have a stop gap point guard and D’Angelo Russell. But they’re happy with what they got in DLO and feel like he’s the guy that
they can still make a move
and they could still make a move for sure. Um, but at the same time, if this is what they have, I’m very confident in saying the Mavericks believe they are good with what they’ve got now, that they can be able to be in a position by the time that Kyrie Irving comes back that they can make the kind of run even with him coming back from that injury that would allow them to compete uh into the postseason. So, Fred asks, “What spot would you want to upgrade? The only weakness is guard play.” I agree that is and that to me is a a considerable weakness that I would definitely want to upgrade. Um, but also I I think just the way that their the way that their minute allocation is looking, unless they’re going to start Clay, it’s looking like Clay’s not going to play super ton of minutes. Um, it’s either going to be basically if if Cooper Flag is really your starting two, which I’ll believe that when I see it. But if if he is, then Klay’s giving you 15 20 minutes off the bench and Max Christie isn’t even playing. You know, Christiey’s going to make about 8 million this year. Clay’s going to make like what? Um, look, let me give you the exact number.6.6 million. So, you’re going to be paying those guys 25 million combined to not play. Trade one of those guys for a a guard they can handle. You know, trade one of those guys for an upgrade. Um, go that way. You know, tack on Max Christy or Jaden Hardy to make the money work and go go do something, you know, that’s that’s what I would do. U, but I also think you can you can upgrade everywhere. I mean, I think Lively and Gaffa are really good. I don’t think you need to invest in upgrading over them. AD obviously really good. You’re not going to upgrade over a guy like that. Like there’s aren’t many players that are better than him. Um but every other spot on the roster I would consider to be not a weakness, but certainly an area you could upgrade. Um backup guard, guard depth, playmaking depth, wing depth, shooting, perimeter defense, point of attack defense. They can get better at all those things. Um and I would I would definitely look. Now it takes two to tango. The Mavs might be trying like hell to make a trade right now and not, you know, fail and and not be able to work out a deal that works to make them better and will just say, “Oh, they should have done something.” Yeah. Without knowing. But
based on what Stein is saying, I mean, like he said, “Sure, they’re going to try, but like it didn’t sound it didn’t sound like they’re going to try and I think they’re going to succeed.” Like this might be their team. And that’s why I pose the question. If this is it, how do you feel about that? because if they don’t make a move to be able to, let’s say, move off of an Omax or a Jaden Hardy to be able to create a roster spot to bring back Dante Exom, uh, this is the squad that you have for the time being as we go into the summer and potentially into, you know, training camp into the preseason. So, get comfortable with this team if that’s what it’s going to be. Um, because this is a group that’s going to be very big. They’re going to be terrific defensively. And
are they? I think they’ve got a chance to be really good defensively. I mean, if we Okay, if Cooper Flag is going to be the kind of player that we think he’s going to be and one of the things that we’ve
they’re going to be really good around the rim. Exactly. Which but there’s you got to defend
you have the point of attack is a little bit of concern.
47 this way and 50 this way or whatever. That’s a lot of square footage to cover.
They’re really good. The best in the league easily around the rim.
I mean, if you want to get real wild ass, put Cooper Flag as your point of attack defender and let him go at it.
I don’t I don’t think that’s where he fits. I
I don’t think so either. I think he’s much better as a weak side defender right now helping and be able to come off weak side and you know block shots and deter that kind of thing. But hell, if we’re going to put Cooper flag at the two, put him at the point of attack and go let him play defense.
So this this thing I’m going to try and do this quick cuz I know we got to get out of here. But um back in the 23-24 season, right at the very end of the year, the Mavs played the Warriors and I believe Luca and maybe even Kyrie both missed that game. I I can’t remember. It was certainly without at least one of them, if not both. The Mavs won that game not because they kicked the Warriors ass at the rim. It’s because Derrick Jones Jr. made Steph Curry’s life hell. He was fighting through screens all night long. Uh he fought through a screen and blocked a Steph three. That never ever ever happens.
He was doing the same Clippers in the postseason, too.
Who are the Mavs putting on Steph right now? Go get him, Cooper.
And that that is you need you need someone that can do that. They don’t have that kind of ace level player. And and Steph wasn’t the only guy that Jones ate up that season. So you need who’s guarding Shay right now? Like these are guys are going to have to play two or three times a week. So the quest never ends. Who can do that? Andrew Nimhard. He wants to reunite the Nimhard brothers so badly or unite the Nimar brothers very badly. Uh here in Dallas. Uh we appreciate all of you for hanging out with us here on the DLS Mavs podcast. We will
I’m not low on the defense. I just I’m low on the perimeter defense. Interior defense best in the league. But you got to defend out there too. He’ll explain more about that tomorrow here on the DLS Mavs podcast. We’ll be back at noon. Appreciate our guy Tanner making us look good and sound good as always. Appreciate our guy Mark Stein for hopping on with us as well. Make sure you download and subscribe to our podcast wherever you get your podcast for free. For Tim Ko, Bobby Kella, I’m Kevin Gray. We are DLS. We’ll talk to you tomorrow at 12 p.m. right here on DLS Sports. Y’all be good. We’ll talk to you later. Peace. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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Former All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell agreed to a two-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs believe D-Lo can hold things down until Kyrie Irving returns from his torn ACL injury. On today’s show the DLLS Mavs crew take an optimistic approach and consider what the best-case scenario for D-Lo’s Dallas run would look like, and how that could impact the team’s performance in the standings. They also react to other signings from around the league, especially by teams in the Western Conference, and Marc Stein joins to provide further insight and reporting.

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

00:00 Intro
02:08 What’s the best-case scenario for D-Lo and the Mavs?
16:36 The NBA offseason is already WILD
32:35 Marc Stein joins the show
33:43 Stein reports on the D’Angelo Russell signing
38:43 Marc’s thoughts on what else is to come
42:53 Stein’s update on the Mavs coaching situation
48:50 SGA & miscellaneous player contract talk
51:18 If the Mavs don’t make any more moves…are you happy with this roster?

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