The BIGGEST PROBLEM With The Dallas Mavericks This Season

The BIGGEST PROBLEM With The Dallas Mavericks This Season

Before we get started with today’s show, I want to hear from you guys down in the comments section. What is your favorite barbecue spot out in DFW? I’ve tried more than a few places around here, as I am from Dallas Fort Worth. But I’m always open to try some new spots. So, let me know down there in the comments what your favorite spot is, and maybe I’ll go try it later on this summer. Welcome into Mavericks Today by Chad Sports. Jeffrey Cooperstein here with you guys. And this was the news that came out yesterday. You would have seen it if you saw the short out on the channel. Derek Lively had surgery to remove bone spurs in his foot. And that limited him to just 36 games last season. And it’s just another injury thing for this Dallas Mavericks team. And we’re going to talk about why I think this is the biggest problem for the Dallas Mavericks here in the 2526 NBA season. But before we get into the rest of the show, help us beat our July like record. Our goal on this show is to get to 300 likes. It’s a free and the easiest way to help out the channel. Hit that thumbs up icon right now. Derek Lively is expected to be ready for training camp after having that surgery on his foot. And the Mavericks were hopeful that Lively was going to avoid offseason surgery, but that ended up not being the case as he did end up having it last week. And apparently he’s already out of the boot. He was put in a boot and now he’s already out of it beginning that rehab process. So, he’s in a good spot at the moment. And this is someone who was a big part of why the Mavericks got to the finals in 2024. But last season had a bit of a sophomore slump. Again, limited to just 36 games. He averaged 8.7 points, 7 and a half rebounds, and a block and a half a night. But, uh, not just Lively, but this team as a whole. Th This is what worries me about them is the injury buck. There’s just a lot of guys who are just frankly injuryprone and Derrick Lively is chief among them. He dealt with injuries in his season at Duke. He dealt with injuries both of the years he’s been with the Dallas Mavericks. And this team is full of guys who are either injuryprone or aging. Just look at the games missed last year from some key players on this Mavericks team. Kyrie missed 32 games and is going to miss another 50 this year. Anthony Davis missed 31 games. Derek Lively 46. BJ Washington and Daniel Gaffford both missed 25 games. D’Angelo Russell missed 24 games. Dante Exom was limited to just 20 games of action last year. And as a team, the Mavericks missed 444 total games last season, which I believe was like top five in the NBA as far as missed games due to injury go. And that is certainly just a red flag. And I will say this as well. I think this Mavericks team has a chance to be pretty good, but it is all predicated on how healthy they’re going to be. Is Anthony Davis gonna play 65 games? Will Derrick Lively play 65 games, which would be a careerhigh for him? Will you get Daniel Gaffford for more than the 57 you got him for last year as well? Same with PJ Washington. Can Dante Exom finally heal from that wrist injury and give you a full season as well? like this Mavericks team. When you look at it on paper, you’re like, “Yeah, this is a really athletic, versatile team that’s going to stifle some people on defense and they should be able to score as well with the likes of D’Angelo Russell.” When Kyrie Irving comes back, you obviously have Anthony Davis and Cooper Flag contributing there as well. I’m just very worried that a couple of injuries could really derail this thing for the Mavs and it could get ugly. What is your concern level over the Mavericks team health? Scale it from 1 to 10 down in the comments. 10, you’re in an absolute panic. One, you’re not panicked one bit. Let me know down there in the comments. And I think that this lively injury is another reason why you can’t trade Daniel Gaffford. Gaffford obviously signed that three-year 54 and change million-doll contract extension with the Dallas Mavericks that did not have a trade restriction, which gave the Mavs full flexibility in order to be able to trade him if they wanted to. But I think the injuries the injury bug with Lively and Gaffford’s not the healthiest guy in the world either, but the Mavericks have built this center rotation where it’s one of the deepest center rotations in the league until somebody gets hurt and you can’t rely on Derrick Lively to stay healthy. I’m not sure if you can rely on Gaffford to play a whole bunch of games either. And look, when these guys played last season, they were both pretty solid. Again, I I think Lively had a bit of a sophomore slump, but Gaffford was fantastic last year. They both started and came off the bench, averaged over 12 points, shot 70% from the field, almost two blocks a night as well. The thing between these two guys is when they played together, they’re an unstoppable force and one of the best center rotations in the league. The problem is they rarely get the chance to play together. When Derek Lively and Daniel Gaffford combined for over 20 points in any given game, the Mavericks record was astronomically better than it was when they were lower than 20 points. So, if those guys are on the court and being productive, this Mavericks team is going to be very good. And when you look at this center depth chart here, I have Lively and Gaffer listed as 1 A and 1B because I think both of them will start any given nights. And then you have Anthony Davis and Dwight Pal. You’re looking at three guys who have dealt with significant injuries over the course of their respective careers. Derek Lively, Gaffford, and we know Anthony Davis has an extensive injury history. And I’ve showed you the missed games list that he’s had over the last five or six seasons. So, you’re really banking on a lot of guys staying healthy who frankly just have not stayed healthy over the course of their careers to date. And yeah, this roster is what Nico Harrison envisioned. And he wants all the athletic, big, versatile defenders who can switch every position and just try to just smother the court with length and athleticism. It all fine and well until someone gets hurt and this team is an injury or two away from crumbling in my opinion. So, I really hope that the new trainer, new head of strength and conditioning that the Mavericks hired from the Chicago Bulls will help reduce some injuries. I really hope these guys can just work themselves back into shape for the start of the season and they’re able to sustain their health for that entire season. I have concerns about it and I’m sure you guys do as well. I really hope that they can come out of this season healthy because the West is going to be just as much if not more of a gauntlet than it was last season. Hit that subscribe button as we are covering the Mavs all off season long. We are just four subs away from 32,500 subs. Free, entertaining, and informative Mavericks coverage where you can find it right here on YouTube. It’s youtube.com/mastv. Go tell your friends about it if you haven’t already. And continuing with the theme of uh the the injury crisis and whatnot. I I think Jason Kidd last year, this is where he didn’t really get enough credit. I think Kidd had a hell of a season coaching this team all through the 444 missed games through uh through injury last season. And when you look at what Kid had to deal with, I mean, he was starting Brandon Williams. He had to start the two-way guys in Kesler Edwards. He had to start all of these guys who frankly just should not have been in this rotation. So, the Mavs were just doing things that they really shouldn’t have had to do is as far as their lineup goes. And yeah, people get on Kid for his lack of, you know, rotational intelligence and whatnot. And he was playing guys that shouldn’t be played here. He was playing guys that shouldn’t be played there. And look, I think at the end of the day, the fact that the Mavericks ended up in the NBA playin was a miracle kind of in itself. I really think Jason Kidd did a hell of a job last year, and it’s why teams like the New York Knicks and other head coach openings were interested in talking with Jason Kidd. So, I think he deserves a ton of credit for what this Mavericks team was able to do last year. And I’m not saying he’s an elite coach in the NBA by any means. I’m not going to put him up there with the Greg Papovices of the world, the uh, you know, Joe Mazoulas of the world, the Eay Udokas of the world. I’m not going to put him up there, but I absolutely will put him in the upper echelon of teams who I think um, who I’ll put him in the upper echelon of coaches who I think deserve absolute respect. All right, let’s move on to LeBron James here. And there’s been some speculation, as we’ve talked about, about LeBron James and the potential that he could be moving teams this off season. I simply just don’t see it happening. And it sounds like The Athletic doesn’t see it happening either. Here’s what Dan Boy of the Athletic had to say where he said, “Scouts and executives around the NBA buzzed with speculation about where else James might play, tossing around trade and buyout scenarios that league and team sources tell the Athletic have never been discussed between James and the Lakers.” Those same sources said the Lakers have received no indication from James or his representatives that he would request a trade or ask to be bought out of the final year of his contract, which will be his eighth season with the Lakers. The longest consecutive stretch spent with one organization in his career as he spent the first seven years of his career with Cleveland and then spent four years later. One team linked to James. The Dallas Mavericks does not have interest in gutting its roster to match James salary in a trade. Team sources told the Athletic. And look, the thing about this is I just don’t want to say I told you so, but I told you so. I told you yesterday and I told you the day before that the Mavericks aren’t going to have interest in LeBron James. The Lakers have no interest in trading LeBron. The Mavericks have no interest in trading for him. So, I think it’s kind of a non-story and the Athletic kind of confirmed that that the Mavs just don’t have interest in it. Look, man, it just didn’t work out. The 52.6 million player option that LeBron opted into ended all possibilities that the Mavericks were going to be able to trade for LeBron. It just didn’t. It’s just not going to happen. The Mavericks aren’t going to gut their roster. They’re not going to trade Daniel Gaffford. They’re not going to trade Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, and other assets that they were going to have to trade in order to go get LeBron. And now that a buyout’s not going to be discussed, the the dream of getting LeBron on this roster is over. I told you it yesterday on Twitter. The Mavericks aren’t trading for LeBron. Write it on the chalkboard. Bart Simpson style. Get it through your head. He’s not going to be a Maverick this year. Next season, we can definitely talk about it, though. And then just to wrap it up, the Mavericks do have their summer league game four here tonight. at the penultimate summer league game for the Mavericks. That is at 700 p.m. Central time. Player to watch for the 76ers. So, I’m going to go with Janai Broom, the second round pick. May not have a great future there in the NBA. And I’ll go with Miles Kelly as well, the two-way player for the Mavericks. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from him this summer league so far. So, those are two guys to keep an eye on. 700 p.m. Central time. And of course, if anything crazy happens, we will keep you up to date with everything around the summer league. Melvin Ajinsa, by the way, the Maverick’s second round pick in 2024, has been dealing with a groin injury. So, he’s missed all three games so far of the summer league. I think he’s going to miss the final two as well. So, kind of a failed summer for Melvin Ajinsza, who tried to was going to try to put on an impressive performance to maybe get himself in that final two-way spot consideration for the Mavericks, but it sounds like he’s going to be heading back to France for yet another season over in Europe. That will do it for today’s show, guys. Appreciate you for tuning in to Mavericks today by Chat Sports. If anything happens, you know where to find us. It’s youtube.com/mavstv.

Mavericks injury news is not good once again as Dereck Lively had surgery on his foot to remove bone spurs. Lively was limited to just 36 games in the 2024-25 NBA Season, but should be ready for this year’s training camp. With Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford also battling injury issues, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd can’t afford to have his centers missing too much time this season. In other Mavericks news, LeBron James rumors have died down as the Los Angeles Lakers have not had any discussions about a LeBron James trade or buyout prior to the 2025-26 NBA season beginning.

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The Athletic’s Dan Woike on the LeBron James saga:
“Scouts and executives around the NBA buzzed with speculation about where else James might play, tossing around trade and buyout scenarios that, league and team sources told The Athletic, have never been discussed between James and the Lakers. Those same sources said the Lakers have received no indication from James or his representatives that he would request a trade or ask to be bought out of the final year of his contract, which will be his eighth season with the Lakers, the longest consecutive stretch spent with one organization in his career. One team linked to James — the Dallas Mavericks — does not have interest in gutting its roster to match James’ salary in a trade, a team source told The Athletic.”

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