The Mavericks had the PERFECT Offseason…

The Mavericks had the PERFECT Offseason…

The Dallas Mavericks might be the most underrated team in the NBA right now. Like, this team is really good. You add Cooper Flag to a core of Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Anthony Davis with role players like PJ Washington. They bring in D’Angelo Russell. Absolutely love that signing. I don’t know how you couldn’t love that signing. And then other guys like Derek Lively, Daniel Gaffford, and the rest of the role guys they have here in Dallas. And this team is looking like a top five team in the West without a doubt. And Cooper Flag is not the ordinary rookie. I know we’ve talked about him before, but I watched a ton of this dude this year at Duke because I thought Duke was the best team in the country last year. He’s 6’9 with a 7 foot wingspan and can literally do everything. He led what I thought was the best team in the country in every statistical category they had. Averaged 19.2 points a game, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 4 blocks on 48% shooting from the field and 39% from three on four attempts per game, including a game versus Notre Dame where he went absolutely ballistic for 42 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and a block in just 36 minutes. Yeah, you read that stat line, right? He had everything working. The three ball was going down. Move, catching off the move and knocking it down. Then catching stationary and knocking it down as well off of a nice feed from Tyrese Proctor here in the corner and the jumper. It looks a little bit weird, but the mechanics have come a long way in just one single season at Duke. And hey, if he shoots 39% from three on four attempts, including off the bounce, there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken. Now, his mid-range is absolute dynamite. This is so tough right here. A little Paulo Bankro double jab step, get to his spot, and knock down the easy mid-range. Barely even touches the net. Then getting inside and getting to his right hand, using his body to shield the defender off. It is a work of art watching him drive downhill and get to spots even though it’s a little bit unorthodox when he gets inside. He still gets to spots and hits tough floaters, tough mid-ranges. That floater is a part of his mid-range and it goes in a lot. Little bank shot there from the block with the and one. Yeah, Flag is the real deal. He’s got every single aspect of the offensive game, including the passing that you need. He’s a good cutter as well, cutting from the top of the key right here. Nobody wants to get in front of that and get put on ESPN’s top 10. Yeah, it’s it’s going to be fun watching this Maverick’s team with Flag. And then his defense, we know Nico Harrison likes defense. That was his entire reasoning for trading maybe a top five player in NBA history on the offensive side of the ball was that he likes defense. And so bringing in Cooper Flag, an absolute eraser around the rim, but extremely versatile. Watch as he gets beat back door right here and he’s able to make up the ground and pin this on the other side of the backboard. Maybe looked like a goalend but he got away with it. And then right here in helpside coming across the play and affecting that shot. Doesn’t get the block but he affects it. And then right here matching up with a guard on the perimeter and staying step for step. And then once again right here I also had to guard this guy. That was back in high school though. And needless to say I didn’t quite uh guard him to the extent that Cooper Flag did. And then right here, since he’s on the strong side, he is the tag guy for this pick and roll. And he plays that perfectly. He’s able to come all the way across the play and get not one but two hands on it. It’s the same hand, but he gets it on the ball twice, getting a deflection and a block on the same play. And then right here, staying step forep with the guard and getting the block despite the fact that he is going to double the post. Recovers, stays down, and then stays stride for stride with him as he gets all the way to the rim and glasses it. That’s special right there. And he is going to fit right into a lineup with Kyrie, Clay, AD, and Derek Lively at the three. And this is a jumbo lineup that is elite defensively. And now, unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you would know that Kyrie Irving has been out for quite some time with that ACL injury. And he’s probably going to be out until at least January of this season, maybe February before he comes back. But sometime after Christmas, they’re expecting his return to the lineup. And of course, that’ll be huge. a guy that averaged almost 25 points a game, close to five boards, four and a half assists, 1.3 steals, and 36 minutes. And he shot 47% from the field and 40% from three on 7.2 attempts. And I know he’s going to be 33 years old, but he is still at the back end of his prime. He is still an elite player. Last year without Luca, he averaged 26 and a half points a game, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists with 1.6 steals. Got a lot more shot attempts, but his efficiency went down to only 45% from the field and 36% from three. He was the lone creator for that stretch, however, really before the Quinn Grimes and the Max Christie breakouts happened. So, what do they do? That Kyrie Irving is out. They bring in D’Angelo Russell. And I think this is maybe the perfect move for the Mavericks on a 2-year, $13 million deal for 6.5 million annually. Absolutely perfect. This was fantastic. When it was first reported, I was like, “Yeah, this might be one of the moves of the offseason. 12.6 points a game, 5.1 assists, 2.8 eight rebounds and a steal last year on 39% shooting from the field, 31% from three. And you might not think that’s very good, but that’s the year, you know, he’s he was getting traded. Everything was going on. He’s still just 29, so right in the middle of his prime. And taking it back to 2023, 2024, he averaged 18 points, 6.3 assist, and three rebounds to go with a steal per game while shooting 46% from the field and 42% from three on six and a half attempts. And the whole reason that Lakers fans and just LeBron fans in general didn’t like him was because he was supposed to be the third option and he was making $18 million. Actually, the third option behind Anthony Davis. Now, in this role with the Mavs, he’s going to be the starting point guard for a little bit, but then once Kyrie comes back, he’s going to be coming off the bench, maybe the sixth, seventh, eighth man. And yes, he’s going to have to be the creator for the bench unit, but the expectations are gone. and he’s only making $6 million a year as the backup point. This is the perfect situation for DLO. And then they also resigned Daniel Gaffford. That was one of their other bigger moves. 3 years, $54 million. Maybe a little bit of an overpay, but overall pretty solid for a center of Gaffford’s caliber. Yes, he doesn’t stretch the floor at all, but he’s a vertical stretch, whereas he can go up and catch lobs. 12.3 points a game, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, shot 70% from the field, and 69% from the free throw line. Um, like I said, a vertical stretcher. He can catch lobs. He can protect the rim. He was really brought in to be a center around Luca, but now that Luca’s gone, he can still fit into this lineup as the backup big or maybe even the starter ahead of Lively. Per 36. You see the numbers. Very nice. Right. He only played 21 and a half minutes a game and was still very productive. And whichever one of these guys starts, the other one will come off the bench. So, pretty much split minutes and it’ll be a really solid center rotation for this Mavs team. But I think people are really underrating and forgetting how good Anthony Davis is because yes, he is capable of leading a team deep into the playoffs. He was arguably the best player on the Lakers last year. He only got nine games played in Dallas before getting injured. And that’s really going to be the thing for this Mavs team. Can they stay healthy? Because Anthony Davis is a 7 foot post with a 76 wingspan, but has he he plays like a guard on offense and he does that as well, but he averaged 26 points a game, 12 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.3 blocks as a Laker last year. Like I said, only nine games played in Dallas. So, not enough of a sample size to create a, you know, good enough stat line to measure what he was able to do in Dallas. remember his first game where he played three quarters and absolutely dominated in his Mavs debut. They can even throw him a point guard bringing the ball down the court and finding PJ Washington in the corner here knocking down the three ball. That’s such a unique ability for a big and he can also knock down the mid-range jumper or the three ball. You know, he did only shoot 28% from three last year, but he has shown in the past his ability to knock it down. And when he’s playing the four, which is the position he likes to play, he’s dangerous. This Mavs lineup is dangerous. They got two superstars with AD and Kyrie, the rookie of the year, and an instant impact player with Cooper Flag, a sniper with Klay Thompson, and then a rim protecting rim running stretch five. Well, vertical stretch five, not perimeter stretch five. And then a solid bench unit with guys like DLO, PJ, Daniel Gaffford, and Naji Marshall that all could be fighting for starting spots and maybe even Max Christie coming along. With that being said, that’s going to be it for today’s video. The Mavs are dangerous. Thank you so much for watching. Make sure to the like button, leave me a comment down below, and hit that subscribe button if you did enjoy any point. And with that being said, thanks so much for watching today’s video.

This video looks at the Dallas mavericks and how they had the perfect offseason by adding Cooper Flagg and D’Angelo Russell to their core of Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving
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