This Dereck Lively Development Could Be GREAT NEWS For The Mavericks

This Dereck Lively Development Could Be GREAT NEWS For The Mavericks

On today’s show, we are reacting to ESPN’s power rankings and where they have the Mavericks and where the Mavericks rank in the Western Conference as well. That and more coming up here on today’s show. But if you are excited for Mavericks basketball, go ahead and hit that thumbs up icon for me. It’s a free and easy way to help out the channel. And I know the off season is long. It can get boring at times, but we are so close to the start of real basketball being played. So like the video and let’s hop into today’s show. Happy Wednesday everybody. Welcome into Mavericks today by chat sports. Jeffrey Cooperstein here with you guys. And I saw this article from ESPN that ranked or they did a power rankings of all 30 NBA teams after free agency after every team made all of their moves and where they had the Mavericks I thought was pretty interesting. So, we’re just going to take a look at the Western Conference, and they had the Mavericks ranked as the eighth best Western Conference team. They had OKC, Houston, and Denver. Those were their top three overall teams, followed by Minnesota, Los Angeles, Golden State, the Lakers, and then the Mavericks at number eight. So, look, we all know that the West is an extremely daunting task for any of these teams this year. And the Mavericks certainly have an uphill an uphill battle uh to climb here in the West. And they are ranked 13th overall in the NBA. There were a couple of Eastern Conference teams sprinkled in in that top tier as well. And while I think this is a little bit underrating the Mavericks, I think that they’re going to be a little better than the 13th best team in the NBA. When you look at the West, it’s hard to argue that they’re going to be much higher than eighth. We’ll get to my rankings and where I have the Mavericks ranked in the Western Conference here in just a moment. But first, let’s see what ESPN had to say about the Mavericks. Here’s what Michael Cightight of ESPN said. The lack of proven ball handlers with Kyrie Irving expected to miss significant time raises red flags. But if Dallas successfully navigates that situation, the roster features enough talent and veteran leadership to develop enough chemistry over the first few months of the season to become contenders in the West. Dallas’s front court is deep and skilled with the physicality of Derek Lively and Anthony Davis. Number one pick Cooper Flag has showed he is the real deal during the summer league. His playmaking could be the glue that holds the Mavericks together early before Irving returns. And this is basically what I’m say what I’ve been saying all off seasonason is the ball handling might be an issue especially if D’Angelo Russell doesn’t you know kind of revert back to what he was a couple of years ago when he was a super efficient player and I think the injury problems are going to be a big issue as well. We know that the Mavericks are very deep in the front court with Anthony Davis, Derrick Lively and Daniel Gaffford. maybe the deepest front court in the league when you look at it from that aspect, but again, you have to factor in the injuries because all of those guys have injury issues. This team missed a lot of games last year. 44 total missed games by the Mavs last season, including 31 from Anthony Davis, 46 from Derek Lively, 25 from Daniel Gaffford and PJ Washington, and of course, Kyrie missed the final 32 games of the season after he tore his ACL. Dante Axim was limited to just 20 games last season, missing 62. So, this team certainly has an injury problem. And at the end of the day, I think that’s how far they go. The injuries and the health of this team will that’s how far they’re going they’re going to go in this season. That’s what the determining factor is going to be. If they can get the majority of games played by those guys, if they can get Derrick Lively to play 70 games, if they can get PJ Washington to play 75 games, if they can get Derrick Lively to stay healthy for more than half the season, this team could be pretty good. But if they don’t, they could end up being in the playin once again. And that’s kind of where I see this team. They’ll only go as far as its overall health allows them to. That’s pretty much the bottom line in my opinion. I think this team could go as far as the Western Conference Finals and maybe even the finals if they end up being fully healthy and Kyrie comes back better than ever and than what he once was. And you know, Kyrie will be on a minute restriction when he first returns. But that team is a very formidable squad if they are healthy. I hope they can stay healthy. Man, I really just want to see this team and really see it to its full potential because I do think they have the propensity to go pretty far in next year’s playoffs. You tell me though for today’s poll question, where would you rank the Mavericks in the West right now? Would you have them number one? Would you have them in the basement around number 15 or do you have them right in the middle of the pack? Let me know where you would rank the Mavericks in the Western Conference. Here are my West power rankings. So, I took ESPN’s and I tweaked them a little bit here. I tweaked the top three. I just switched Denver and Houston. So, I’m going to go with Denver at two with Houston at three. And then I moved the Lakers up to four. I really like what the Lakers did this off seasonason and I think they’re going to be a really good squad this year. Luca being comfortable down in LA. I think they’re going to have a really good season. I like the Los Angeles Clippers as well and I have them above the Minnesota Timberwolves. And I know the Timberwolves have made back-to-back conference finals. I just really don’t believe that that team can get over the hump and beat any of those top tier teams in the West. And I know they beat Los Angeles last year in the first round of the playoffs, but I think going into this season, LA has a better chance than Minnesota does. And then I have the Mavericks at seven above the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are in absolute shambles right now. By the way, they don’t know what’s going on with Jonathan Kaminga. Steph Curry is having some injury problems and you know, he’s getting older. Draymond Green getting older. that team still has uh some free agency business to do as they still have a couple of roster moves to make and Joe Leub and Mike Dunlevy have work to do with Golden State. So I have the Mavericks ahead of Golden State right now as the seventh best team in the Western Conference. But at the end of the day, I think you have your top three, you have the rest, and then you have the teams that are absolutely in the doldrums. Like these are your playoff locks right here. These will be your top three seeds in the Western Conference in OKC, Denver, and Houston. Whether it’s in that order or not, I don’t know, but these I feel very confident will be your top three seeds in the West. And then you have this next group of teams, which is features Minnesota, Golden State, Los Angeles, both of Los Angeles teams, the Grizzlies, the Mavs, and the Spurs. I think there’s an argument that the Spurs could end up being in that top eight before it’s all said and done. I think Memphis, if Jaw can stay healthy and Jiren Jackson can stay healthy, could be up there as well. So, you’ll you’ll have these seven teams that’ll be fighting for the top six spots and then the f the rest of them will end up in the NBA playin. And then I think you’re looking at Sacramento, Phoenix, and New Orleans as the teams that I don’t really think have any chance to make the playoffs this season. Again, none of those were in order. This is just how I tier the Western Conference right now. So, at the end of the day, I think the Mavericks could finish anywhere between four and get the homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs or as low as 10 in the NBA playin. I really don’t see a scenario where the Mavs are outside of the playoffs this year. Now, again, injuries could happen and it could be another disastrous season from that standpoint. And then maybe they are fighting in the NBA playin, but I do think this Mavs team is going to surprise some people this year. Hopefully, Cooper Flag can take them to the next level. And we’re gonna talk about Cooper Flag and Derek Lively here in just a moment. But before we do that, we have this dope Mavericks hat on sale for you guys right here at this link, chatsports.com/mavsale. We have it 25% off right now at chatsports.com/mavsale. That link, of course, is in the comments and description of today’s show. And when you use that link, Fanatics will send us a part of the proceeds as well. So, you’re supporting the channel while getting yourself a Mavericks hat and getting geared up for the 2526 NBA season. One more time, it’s chatsports.com/mavs sale. That link will be in the comments and description of today’s show. So, Derek Lively talked about the other day while he was at a Mavs hoop camp that he’s kind of being a mentor to Cooper Flag. So, Lively heading into his third year in the NBA is already kind of assuming the role of a veteran. And Live Lively is just 21 22 years old at this point. But the Duke Brotherhood runs strong and Lively looks like he’s taking Cooper Flag under his wing. And here is what he had to say on Mr. Flag. He said, “I’m making sure that he’s feeling as comfortable as possible, giving him any little detail or any little thing to give him because whenever I was in this position, I remember how frightened I was and I was only 19. He is 18. Flag doesn’t turn 19 until December, by the way. I probably known him for a couple of years now. at least two or three years and it’s just been the same. Just smiling cracking uh a smiling cracking joke kid I’ve always known. I’m glad that he’s been able to still be a person not having too much in the spotlight just rain on him. No matter if he’s in the gym, no matter if he’s come by the house, he’s always just had a smile on his face and he’s always just being Coupe. And that’s a really good thing to hear that the spotlight really isn’t getting to Cooper Flag. He’s been able to kind of compartmentalize everything and he’s been able to take it in stride uh including the NBA summer league where he had a really bad first game which Flag uh described as one of the worst games of his life and then he bounced back in the second game with the 31point performance and showed exactly why he was the contestant’s number one overall pick and I’m glad Lively is taking him under his wing. This Duke Brotherhood is really strong. the Duke brotherhood. You know, now the Mavericks have at least three players in Kyrie Irving, Lively, excuse me, and Cooper Flag there who all went to Duke. And it spreads throughout the NBA as well. So, I think that certainly helped that Cooper Flag went to Duke and Lively wants to take care of his fellow Duke Blue Devil brethren, but also I think Lively stepping into a leadership role with the Mavericks is absolutely massive. We already know that Kyrie Irving is a leader on this squad. We know that PJ Washington is the leader on this squad. You can’t have enough leaders in your locker room. So, if Dive is stepping into that role in year three, I think that is absolutely fantastic. Again, now he just has to stay healthy and try to play in 65 70 games and really contribute on the floor to this team as well as off the floor. So, I think this is a great development for Derek Lively and the Dallas Mavericks, and hopefully that can continue to positive results here in the 2526 NBA season. That will do it for today’s show, guys. But if you are excited for Mavs basketball once again, hit that thumbs up icon. Our goal for today’s show is to get to 300 likes. And if you’re still watching, chances are that means you like the content we do here at Mavericks Today. So, hit that thumbs up icon. And of course, if you haven’t already, subscribe to the channel at youtube.com/mavstv. We have you covered with all of the latest Mavericks news and rumors leading up to the season which is just about two months away. I can’t wait to see this team at the American Airlines Center and hopefully we’ll return to the postseason. So, appreciate everybody watching here on today’s show and we’ll see you soon with another video.

Dereck Lively’s development is key for the Mavericks heading into the 2025-26 NBA Season, and after suffering multiple injuries he is healthy and ready to go. Lively has stepped into a leadership role mentoring Cooper Flagg, who the Mavericks selected No.1 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. With Mavs training camp beginning next month in Vancouver, Lively expects to feature heavily in Mavs head coach Jason Kidd’s rotation this season when healthy. Also on today’s show, we react to the ESPN NBA power rankings and see where NBA Insiders like Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps have the Mavs ranked.

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Dereck Lively on mentoring Cooper Flagg:
“I’m making sure that he’s feeling as comfortable as possible, giving him any little detail or any little thing to give him. Because whenever I was in his position, I remember how frightened I was, and I was only 19, and he’s 18. I’ve probably known him for a couple of years now, at least two or three years, and he’s just been the same, just smiling, cracking joke kid as I’ve always known. I’m glad that he’s been able to still be a person and not having too much of the spotlight just rain on him. No matter if he’s in the gym, no matter if he’s come by the house, he’s always just had a smile on his face, and he’s always just being Coop.”

We’ve got more Dallas Mavericks content over on our YouTube channel:
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– Dallas Mavericks BLOCKBUSTER TRADE For Giannis Antetokounmpo After MAJOR NBA Insider Report? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aeL_KirbcI
– Mavericks Trade Candidates Before 2025-26 NBA Season Ft. PJ Washington, Max Christie & Caleb Martin – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH-Xrq0Dgmk

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– Where would you rank the Mavs in the West right now?

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ESPN NBA Insiders rank the Mavs as the 8th best team in the Western Conference:
1. OKC Thunder
2. Houston Rockets
3. Denver Nuggets
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
5. Los Angeles Clippers
6. Golden State Warriors
7. Los Angeles Lakers
8. Dallas Mavericks

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Mavericks coaching staff:
Head coach: Jason Kidd
Lead assistant: Frank Vogel
Assistant: Josh Broghamer
Assistant: Jay Triano

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