How Good Really are the Dallas Mavericks??

How Good Really are the Dallas Mavericks??

The Dallas Mavericks are the most slept on team in the Western Conference this year. Now, I know the West is a bloodbath, but this is a squad I love the D’Angelo Russell signing. They locked out with Cooper Flag, of course, Anthony Davis is still a top 10 player in the league. And then they have maybe the deepest bench in the league with guys like PJ Washington, Daniel Gaffford, maybe even Klay Thompson coming off the bench, eventually DLO once Kyrie comes back. This squad is loaded. First though, I want to talk about AD because I think AD is maybe the most underappreciated player in the association right now. I know he only played nine games last year in a Dallas Mavericks jersey, but he is really, really good at basketball if you did not know. I think he’s still a top 10 player in the league, but 7footers with a 7 foot6 in wingspan that can do everything a guard can do. Don’t grow on trees. And of course that comes from his unique skill set and unique story growing up. But he averaged 25.7 points a game last year, 12 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.3 blocks. And absolutely went off in his debut in Dallas last year, going for like what 35 in like 26 minutes if I remember correctly. Something ridiculous like that. The rim protection that Dallas is going to have as well between Davis, Gaffford, and Lively is going to be stupid. He’s even running some point guard here, finding PJ Washington. And he can run point guard. When they have these jumbo lineups in with like PJ Washington or Cooper Flag at the three, and then Daniel Gaffer Lively at the five, and then AD at the four/1, it’s going to be dangerous. 56% shooting from the field last year, 28% from three on three attempts a game. I think Anthony Davis is going to solidify himself as a top 10 player in the league once more this season because there is now some growing doubt. As for D’Angelo Russell, I love the 2-year $13 million deal that they got him on. I predicted this in the offseason, and I thought this was a phenomenal signing for the Mavericks. He averaged 12.6 points, 5.1 assist, and 2.8 rebounds, and 27 minutes a game last year on 39% shooting from the field, 31% from three on 6.2 attempts. But remember, he got traded mid-season. So, that kind of threw everything off for him. It threw his consistency off from a day-to-day basis. It to it took everything threw it away, right? So now he’s back. Taking a look back to 2023, 2024, he averaged 18 a game with six assists, three rebounds, and a steal on 46% shooting from the field and 42% from three on six and a half attempts. That’s phenomenal. That is extremely good. And the reason the Lakers fans didn’t like him, he was expected to be the third option, making $18 million a year. Now he’s going to be the starter for a little while and then the backup point guard once once Kyrie comes back and he’s only going to be making 6.5 million per year. This is what the bench unit is going to look like. DLO as the primary creator and then Max Christie, PJ Washington, and Naji Marshall playing off him with Gaffford down low. I think that’s going to work out to perfection this season. And then of course the guy that everybody is looking at towards the Dallas Mavericks, Cooper Flag, himself, the 6’9 wing with a 7 ft wingspan who took over college basketball last year, won every single award, was the best player on, in my opinion, the best team. I know they didn’t win it all, but he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks, leading Duke in every single category. shot 48% from the field and 39% from three on four attempts. This is a true threelevel 6-9 score in college that shot 48% from the field and 39% from three. And remember against Notre Dame he dropped 427 and six. A ridiculous night which was obviously his season high, but the three ball was working, the mid-range was working, everything was working. But if he can develop this this catch and shoot three ball, because coming out of high school, he wasn’t the best shooter in the world. But at Duke, he leaned into a catch and shoot ability that he developed over the course of the season. Knocking it down from the corner here and then coming off the screen right here off the dribble, knocking it down as well. And then I think his biggest strength is his mid-range because he’s 6’9 with the ability to elevate over people. Watch this Paulo Benoesque double jab get to his spot. Carmelo Anthonyesque right there in the mid-range, if you will. And then once again, getting to his spot, going up with the right and getting it to fall. And then right here, just self-creation off the isolation, getting to spots. It’s too easy. College basketball is too easy for this man. I mean, 42 in 40 minutes, a ridiculous number. One of the better college basketball performances we’ve seen in quite some time, rising up, getting to his right hand in the mid-range. He’s just too big, too strong, too good for college basketball. He’s also a really smart cutter. His basketball IQ is off the charts. Here he is flying down the lane for his signature dunk of this game. He had multiple s signature dunks. His highlight reel from his freshman year is ridiculous. But he’s also an elite defender. Blocking Van Allen Luben right there and then telling the crowd about it. Now he’s going to get over the seal and get the volleyball spike against Jukaris and then being able to recover and pin this one away. I mean, that’s special right there. gets beat back door, sees the pass, recovers, and erases it at the apex. That is special right there. And then gets the ball and starts going down the other way here against Clemson coming over from the help side to get that block. And then once again Syracuse, his perimeter defense being shown off here. Gets the deflection and eventually the steal. And then Juke tries a spin move and he erases it once again and then stares him down just because, you know, he can because he’s that good on the defensive side of the ball. He can guard one through five essentially. I mean, just watch this. This is special. He’s going to come over from the weak side, get a deflection, and then a block as well. This isn’t even his help. This is Seion’s help, and then Cooper is just supposed to tag it and get back. Instead, he deflects it and gets the block. And then the dig in, the close out, and the rejection. I mean, that is everything all in one play. The dig in right here. Good close out. Doesn’t over close out. gets back off two feet and is able to get the chase down block right here. That That’s ridiculous. I mean, there is maybe one other player and I’d say Rashir Fleming is the other guy in this draft class that can do that. And then Cooper Flag is just ridiculous offensively. That’s what their lineup could look like once Kyrie is back into the picture this year. And I mean, people are also, as much as they underrate AD, I think they’re also underrating Kyrie Irving just because, you know, he’s been out for a while and he’s going to be out until January this year. He’s getting up there in age, but he’s still really good. 25 a game with almost five boards and five assists, 1.3 steals, and 36 minutes a night. Those are really good numbers. 47% shooting from the field, 40% from three on 7.2 attempts. Now, I know, like I said, he’s going to be 33 years old this year. But he is still in the prime of his career. I think this is probably the last year of his prime, something like that. Without Luca, he averaged 26 and a half points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.6 and six steals while shooting 45% from the field and 36% from beyond the ark on seven and a half attempts a game. Elite at driving into the paint, elite at getting to spots with the left right there and then getting down with the right right here. Yeah, he he’s he’s the total package. But we’ve known this we’ve known this for quite some time. And then you got Daniel Gaffford who they just bring back on a three-year $54 million deal between Gaffford and Lively. They’re going to have the paint locked up. That’s the big thing with AD is he wanted a true five to play alongside of him. Now they’ve got that with Daniel Gaffford and with Derrick Lively. 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assist, and 1.8 blocks in 22 minutes a game last year on 70% shooting from the field. Those are elite numbers from Mr. Gaffford in the per 36 numbers look even better. But like I said, there’s going to be a true five on the court at all times around Anthony Davis so he can focus on kind of playing free safety and then also going out and getting some blocks as well. Per 36, he averaged 20 and a half points a game and 11 and a half rebounds as well as being an elite rim protector. On top of that, they also have Derrick Lively, like I just said, who is a younger, maybe a little better version of Daniel Gaffford. So, they’ve they’ve got center covered. That’s a ridiculous finish right there. They’ve got everything covered. I mean, Klay Thompson, we didn’t even get to talk about him at the two guard spot, is going to be spacing the floor for all of these guys. I love their starting five. I love their bench unit, like I said. You know, maybe we see another leap from Max Christie. Maybe we see Naji Marshall once again if he can get back to his three-point shooting. This is going to be a legit 10-man rotation of very, very quality NBA players. With that being said, that’s going to be it for today’s video. Thanks so much for watching. Make sure to hit the like button, leave me a comment down below, and hit that subscribe button if you did enjoy any point. And with all that being said, thanks so much for watching today’s video.

This video looks at the Dallas mavericks and how good they can really be with Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis
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