The Mavs’ UNEXPECTED Christmas Day Matchup is Smart | Cooper Flagg Brings Relevance to Dallas

The Mavs’ UNEXPECTED Christmas Day Matchup is Smart | Cooper Flagg Brings Relevance to Dallas

On today’s show, the NBA is smart for avoiding the Mavs versus Lakers matchup on opening night and Christmas Day. I’ll tell you why in today’s like a Mavs. Stop it. Stop. The number one pick will go to the Dallas Mavericks. Cooper flag will fly in Dallas. All of you are locked on. Your daily Mavericks podcast. Part of the locked on podcast network. Still can’t leave. Your team every day. I’m going to get a city like back and welcome you to lock on the Dallas Mavericks your team every day. My name is Dick Angstead medium member covering the Mavs for 10 years. Thanks for being every making lock on maps your first listen every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the game map. Create an account. Use that code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Joining me as always, my co-host, media member, cover the map for 10 years right alongside me, the Christmas Day druid, the one we’re thinking. What you got for me, Isaac Harris? I have a really important question to ask you right at the top and I’m going to bet that you don’t know what I’m talking about, but you got to pick a side. Are you team Jeremiah or team Conrad? Is this Love Island? No. No, it’s not. Okay. I don’t know. You said Summer turned pretty. That’s a thing I wouldn’t Is this a Bachelor thing? Stop. What? Which team? Which team are you on? Jeremiah or Conrad? Jeremiah, I don’t know. Oh, dang you. All right, team comrade, let’s go. I don’t know what it is. If y’all know what I’m talking about, leave leave it in the comment below. Like, you know what we’re talking about. This is know what he’s talking about cuz I don’t know. This is the Amazon show, The Summer I Turned Pretty. It’s there’s a big team debate like like pro teams are now asking players you know with their social medias and stuff and it that’s been funny cuz a lot of them are like we don’t know Delta used it on their Instagram today um about yeah both teams. So there you go. I’m team Conrad. You’re team Jeremiah. The summer the Mavs may have turned pretty is this one potentially because the Mavs got a Christmas Day game. They are not on opening night, but they got a pretty marquee matchup for the next night to open up. And so, we’ll talk about that and break down the map schedule. Then, we also want to talk about the map’s rotation. I think Jason Kid only really plays nine guys in a rotation historically, and that leaves one player out. We’ll talk about who gets left out, who stays in, and all that. We’ll get into that today, but let’s start here. The Mavs are getting a Christmas Day game according to Sham Shiran, who reports that the Christmas Day games will be as follows. Cleveland at the Knicks, the only two East teams on Christmas Day. San Antonio Spurs at the Thunder, Rockets at the Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves at the Nuggets, and Dallas Mavericks at the Golden State Warriors. Isaac Harris, will you join me on Christmas Day away from your children in in San Francisco on Christmas Day? Uh, that’s a negative. Sorry. Um, I mean, I I’m the wrong person to ask. I don’t go to the Mavs game whenever it’s on Christmas Day at home either. I just I don’t know with the with the kids and I just can’t. Christmas day is like one of those days like we open gifts. I watch the game. I love all of it. But you guys open gifts on Christmas. Yeah, we’re a Christmas morning fam. You know, that’s a wild that’s a wild take by you to like spend time with your family on Christmas over like a a job like do you celebrate the OG Jesus’s birthday? You know, the OG the OG isn’t the OG God. Well, yeah. Three in one, Nick. Jeremiah, Conrad or Jesus, but the Mavs get a Christmas Day game and a lot and then opening night is going to be Rockets at Thunder, which is hilarious. We talked about that on lockown NBA game night yesterday, but uh KD’s going to have to watch the ring ceremony and the banner raising for the Thunder. Golden State at the Lakers for opening night. So, the Mavericks will not be on opening night. And the Mavericks also notably don’t play the Lakers on Christmas Day or opening night, which a lot of people thought about and and had like penciled in that that was going to happen. And to me, I think that’s smart because those matchups already have the juice. People are going to tune in on those matchups. First of all, it’s Lakers. Second of all, it’s Cooper flag. It’s it’s it’s the Anthony Davis rematch. It’s Luca obviously rematch and all that that those already have juice. You already have built-in hype for those games. Every single time those teams play, people are going to be tune in and people are going to be interested because of all the storylines that have to do with that. Why waste one of those on nights that already have like some built-in hype? Opening night, Mass fans get excited for the beginning of the season. Want to see Cooper Flag and his debut? That’s going to be massive. Christmas Day, people watch it anyway, even though the NFL is trying to infringe on that. But I’m I’m glad that they didn’t do that because I think that now it spreads out some of the hype around a couple of games instead of just going, “All right, let’s go all in on opening night. Let’s go all in on on these Christmas Day games. Yeah, for sure. I mean, well, one, you know, we’ve already gotten it, right? Like, we already got them playing each other uh post trade. Um, so now we haven’t gotten the Mavs Lakers post summer bod Luca. Um, you know, you know what I was thinking too? I was thinking about this the other day for the the like capstone or like the cherry on top for Luca’s like summer transformation. He he should switch to a single digit number. Just go down to seven. Well, I don’t know if seven is retired in Laker land or not, but it it’s just like that would because it feels like like single numbers would like make him look even slimmer and everybody will lose their minds over it. Um, is it retired? No. Eight is obviously seven is open for the Lakers. You’re ready for the retired numbers? He’s gonna No, I don’t want to know anything about the Lakers retired numbers. No. Can I just Can I just read them to you? Oh, god. 21 16 24 8 10 34 31 20 73 like 99 17 44 34 uh 89 19 11 25 32. These are not all retired, but they’re all that have been honored in a in some in some way or shape or form, which is Luca is 100% gonna go to number seven at some point. Um, but no, I mean, LeBron went 23 to six, too. So, he has that to like That’s true. That’s true. Um, I was a little surprised. I mean, I I I’ll say that I I felt like one of those dates was going to happen, whether it was opening day or Christmas. Uh, like if you told me, “Hey, the Mavs are going to play the Warriors or Lakers on Christmas Day,” I would have been like, “Oh, they’re playing the Lakers.” like I I wouldn’t have picked a Warriors over them just because it feels like you know the NBA tries to lean into the the drama stuff. Um, and especially on Christmas Day, too, because to your point, like the NFL came out, NFL’s always always going to do better numbers than them. And if they’re coming after that day again and wanting to wanting to take it from the NBA again, you know, a way for the M or for the NBA to fight back and even though it’s, you know, like a little Yeah. Um, I mean, Cowboys are playing on Christmas Day. Yeah. So, you got Cowboys Commanders at what? Lions, Vikings, Broncos, and then then you have Mavs Warriors that night. So, could, you know, setting up for a could be a really fun day for for Dallas fans or uh kind of tough and you’re just looking at what you got for Christmas. So, uh but no, I’m a little surprised. It’s not the end of the world to your point. whenever they play them. I think the first time they’re set to play is in November, probably in that in that cup game on an ugly court, but it’ll be fun. Maybe they won’t be ugly this year. I hope not. You liked them. I like some of them. Yeah. Solid. I didn’t like I didn’t like the Gray Mavs one that much. All right. No, I love that one. Um here’s a question I had though. When I when I see the schedule stuff, one, I’m kind of like, old man, get off my lawn with schedule stuff. I I don’t like care as much about schedule hot takes. Um, it is my favorite time of the year when you predict wins and losses when the schedule comes out. I love it. Stay tuned to Locked on Maps. We will all 82 games. It is my favorite. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen this week, guys. There’s going to be some content creator. It’s like, you know what? I’m telling you, in March, in March, they’re gonna lose 13 games. And it’s like, what? What are you What are you doing? Like, we can’t. The schedule came out the 17th last year. So, could be this. Okay. Could be the end of this. Could be this week. Uh, but my thing with Christmas Day, I I do care about Christmas Day because I think it tells you how the NBA views other teams and players around the league. Typically on Christmas Day, you get your faces of the league. And I thought it was fascinating that as soon as it was like, hey, Dallas isn’t playing the Lakers because then you still make the point of like, oh, well, Luca is going against his old team and that’s why Dallas is there. But it as soon as they said Dallas is going against Golden State, then I was like, holy crap, the Cooper Flag effect. Like they got this Christmas game because of Cooper Flag. Like Kyrie’s going to be out. So, the fact that they’re still on Christmas Day, cuz you go across and and look at the rest of the people and the Knicks, that’s New York. They’re always going to be a face and Jaylen Brunson, they just had to play for him. Then you get Wimby, you get OKC, who won the title. You have the Rockets with Kevin Durant. You have the Lakers. Yes. You have the Mavericks. You have the Warriors and Steph Curry. You have Jokic. You have Anthony Edwards. The only face that I’m that I’m looking at up there, obviously Tatum’s not playing, is Giannis. And I think if you’re the Bucks, you have a pretty strong case of being like, “So wait, y’all chose Cooper Flag over Giannis.” Like for, you know, to play on Christmas Day. I think the Bucks I would take their supporting I would take the Mav supporting cast over the Bucks like a No, no, I would too, but but I’m just saying like typically on Christmas you get your faces of the league and they it feels like they opted for the Cavs over the Knicks. I mean, the Pacers made the finals and they’re not on it, but they don’t they don’t have Hallebertton and stuff. So, um, yeah, it and it just it did surprise me a little bit that the Mavericks are on Christmas Day still without Luca and Kyrie’s going to be out. And it’s like, I guarantee it’s more because of Cooper Flag than it is Anthony Davis. And I think that’s fascinating. The Mavs got a Christmas Day game on merit than the merit is Cooper Flag that he is. He is interesting. people will want to see him. And does that mean Cooper flag is already one of the faces of the league? I think that NBA is smart to put a Cooper flag on Christmas Day and also a Victor Romanyama on Christmas Day. These are the next stars that are coming up. Anthony Edwards is already kind of in that, but he’s also a next star, too. I mean, he’s what, 24? So, like I I think it’s smart for them for them to do that. They have every single level of star covered on Christmas Day. LeBron, KD, and Steph. Great. Luca, SGA, uh, you know, Don Mitchell, Brunson, maybe Anthony Edwards, and then Cooper Flag and WBY and Dylan Harper as like the next stars. Well, you missed Jokic, but yeah. Oh, Joic. Yeah, obviously he would have been with that Luca the the now stars like the and Boston would have been in there without the Tatum injury, but and that would have made sense, but yeah, I thought I thought it was fascinating. I think it’s really cool. I think it is too. Coming up, let’s talk about the Mavs rotation. I think Jason Kid will only play nine players in the rotation. That leaves somebody out, a couple players out maybe. Only one spot is left. We’ll tell you who gets it coming up. [Music] Today’s episode of Lockown Apps brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code lockdown NBA if you haven’t yet. You’re losing money. $20 off wherever you go. Game time. They have all kinds of different stuff. They have stuff for concerts, too. Um all kinds of things. You got your Give me some of the Jonas Brothers. Oh, you want an SOS? That’s what my wife is wanting right now. It’s the bottom line. It’s true. They gave it all for you. Now their heart is in two and I can’t find the other half. But maybe you can find the other half at the concert on came time. You don’t know. You never looked more confused. You don’t know that song. You just knew that song off the top of your head. What the crap? I have a weird thing with song lyrics. I remember them really, really well. Uh, and at game time, you can maybe go see the go see the Jonas Brothers on there. Oh man, I’m going to get some hate for that. I’ll take a guess. We got to buy concert tickets and show tickets with game time. Download the game time app. Create an account. Use that code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Create an account. Redeem the code lenba for $20 off. Download game time. It It played on Disney Channel all the time when we were growing up. Yeah, that helps your case. Last one tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Shut it down. Let’s go home. [Music] Thanks for hanging out with us on Lockout Maps, being part of the show, part of the raccoon squad, listening every single day. We appreciate each and every one of you for checking out the show and listening. How impressed were you impressed or were you just like scared that I just rattled that off? Uh, I mean, I went from impressed to like, oh, that’s odd. Really fast. But I just didn’t know, you know, Jonas Brothers was in your Spotify rap. It’s uh just running through just running through all the all the time. Those tickets are expensive. So, if anybody has any hookups, let me know. My wife is asking me every week to go to the game app. Create an account. Use the code. And still cost money. Yeah, for sure. Uh, all right. So, I was going through the Mavs rotation the other day and I wanted to find out how many players in a rotation Jason Kidd historically plays because we hear this every year going into this part of the offseason when we’re starting to predict who’s in the rotation, who’s starting, who’s not, who’s the odd man out, all those kind of big questions. And so, I went through I went through Statad. It’s the basketball reference site. And I went through, all right, how many how many players on average did Jason Kid play in a game? play 10 minutes or more. I think that’s a rotation player about 10. You know, play 10 or more minutes, right? You’re playing eight, nine, like I don’t think you’re necessarily a rotation player and five 43. Like, I just don’t think that you’re uh really in it consistently. Yeah. Sorry, Hardy. So, here’s the numbers from 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025. 8.9 players, 8.7 players, 8.9 players, and 9.0 players. Legitimately Jason Kidd plays nine rotation players and that’s with seasons with injuries. Think about 2023 where Brunson had left and then they bring in Kyrie and all that. Think about 2025 last year obviously with all the crazy injuries. It was still it still ended up being in the aggregate nine players on average and they did have a couple couple games where they only had seven players. So maybe maybe that helped bring helped bring that down that number down but that was still that was the highest one and it was just 9.0. So, to me, I look at that and say, “All right, if he’s going to play nine players, these are the guys that he’s going to play.” And, uh, tell me if you think any of these are wrong. Anthony Davis, that’s probably right. Cooper flag, Klay Thompson, D’Angelo Russell, Derek Lively, PJ Washington, Daniel Gaffford, Naji Marshall. You thought about Naji Marshall for a second. I mean, I just paused just a little bit. He’s definitely going to play to me. I think he’s in that eight rotate. That’s eight players right there. If he’s playing nine, and this is obviously assuming health, except for Kyrie, this doesn’t even include Kyrie yet. Yeah, if he plays nine players, that leaves one of Caleb Martin, Max Christie, Dante XM, Brandon Williams is going to get that spot. What about the other three players? Jaden Hardy, Omax Prosper, Dwight Pal. One of those players is probably going to be gone by by the time maybe. And it could be Brandon Williams because he’s not guaranteed, but one of those So between those seven players, one of them is going to be gone. One of them is a rotation player. The other ones are just kind of sitting around waiting for an injury. What does this lineup need? If you had to pick, what does it what does it need out of the Caleb Martin, Max Christie, Dante X, and Brandon Williams bunch? What does this nineman rotation need? I mean, it should be Brandon Williams. Um, and for really, yeah, it should be uh because I mean, one of my biggest worries about this whole team is their is their creation and who’s going to run some offense. Uh because outside of DLO, like you’re not trying to create and get into the paint with Clay. Like you’re not doing that with like PJ and Gaffford, like these are guys that are not like creators, playmakers that’s going to break somebody down off the dribble and hey, touch the paint and you know, get the ball out of there. So, and I get it. Hey, Cooper flag, they’re going to give the ball to him and everything. I think it’s it’s a tall ask to say, “Hey, it’s just DLO and Cooper to do this thing because yeah, and I mean Naji, I get it. I get the he played, you know, backup point and stuff last year, but Brandon Williams in a weird way kind of has something that none of the other guys ahead of him have either, like as far as he’s the quickest with the ball in his hands and he’s he’s a guy that can like break him and and I’m not like saying that Brandon Williams is some long-term starting piece or anything. I like him a lot, but it’s more of I don’t think anybody else like that’s not really DLO’s game right now as far as like hey just iso it out and just it’s that fast pace get into the paint kick out and all this stuff keep the ball going. Um that’s why I say it should be it should be Brandon Williams but my guess would be Max Christie. Max Christie would be my guess too. I’m just don’t I I’m not I’m not 100% sold on Brandon Williams yet. We saw him play. It’s more No, no, no. It’s more of who else who else can break down a defense and like make a play happen. It’s not about being like I just don’t Who else do you think it is? Hardy. I think that the Mavs offense will be different than what we’ve seen in in the past. I don’t think that they will be as reliant on the one single player breaking down a defense type. No, but even if you want to keep the ball moving, somebody’s got to like create a mismatch. Somebody’s got to get into the paint. Somebody’s got to like getting it like attacking and getting into the paint is definitely a thing that I think they struggle with. And I think you’re right that Brandon Williams is the one out of those that could do something. Max Christie showed a little bit of that last year and I’m I’m curious to see where he takes that this year because they they may ask him to do that more. But yeah, if it’s just Cooper Flag and Daniel Russell that are attacking off the dribble and creating that that kind of mismatch, then you’re strugg you’re struggling on on offense. like you’re struggling to create. You can create mismatches all over the place on other on other parts of the floor, right? Like size-wise, they’re going to create all kinds of mismatches, but who’s going to throw those entry passes, too? Is it we just asking all those guys to do that? Yeah. I I’m because I can mark it down right now. What is this? August 10th. Um later on at night, 9:48 p.m. Central time. I guarantee you we’re going to reach some spots at the beginning of the season to where the offense is stagnant and everybody’s like they’re struggling to like create separation to break somebody down off the dribble and it’s kind of like hey they’re forcing entry passes. It’s kind of like slow. It’s kind of choppy. It’s a little bit like Orlando at times. And then all of a sudden there’s the kind of like the old JJ Berea thing back in the day. Break glass in case of emergency. All of a sudden, they put Brandon Williams in and he’s going to look like an Energizer Bunny and he’s just going to be running everywhere with the ball super fast, breaking down, keeping the ball going and all this stuff and it’s going to feel a lot different. Just mark my words right now. I guarantee something like that’s going to happen if he’s on the roster. Well, they did that last year and that happened where he they broke in case of emergency and he came out. We were like, “Oh, he’s got some he’s got some stuff there.” Like he showed he definitely showed some things last year. He played what, like 18, 20 games in the rotation, which is one of the reasons why I’m not like 100% sold that he should be getting a rotation spot from the beginning. But yeah, no, I’m with you that they need that that that’s definitely what this lineup needs. But who is going to actually get the spot? Let’s talk about that and I’ll tell you who I think my answer is coming up. [Music] All right, Isaac, we’re talking about the Mavs rotation. Jason Kidd historically like on average has only played nine players in the rotation. And yes, I I understand that injuries will happen. I’m already accounting for one with Kyrie Irving, right? I’m already accounting for one of those. But if he plays nine players, then it’s AD Flag, Clay, DLO, Derek Lively, PJ Washington, Gaffford, Naji Marshall, and you get one more player after after that. You think it should be Brandon Williams? I think it I think it should. Then they hope I hope that they that it becomes Max Christie because I think he embodies the best version of both the three and the D that the Mavericks need and and the little bit of creation off off the dribble that they need. And I think between D’Angelo Russell, Cooper Flag, Max Christie, Anthony Davis, and maybe a little Klay Thompson and maybe a little PJ like I think you can create enough offense to make it work because I think the defense will be that good. And I think the defense difference between a Max Christie and a Brandon Williams is also that different to where you don’t need as much offense if your defense is going to be that solid. They did also invest in Caleb Martin though. Like they they went they traded uh you know they traded Quinn Grimes and a pick. They ended up getting one back, but they traded that and brought in Caleb Martin. And I don’t think Nico Harrison’s going to want to like admit defeat on that one so quick. Well, you know, I I mentioned this the other day and it’s like how much how much of the Caleb Martin deal I don’t know. I haven’t asked around enough to know like what’s their opinion on Caleb Martin, but how much of the Caleb Martin deal was more of, hey, we just want to get something for Grimes because we’re not going to pay him and we don’t want to do this dance in the offseason. Yeah. And was it more of, hey, we like Cayla Martin, so we’re like, we’re gonna target Cayla Martin, or was this more of, hey, Philly’s just interested in taking Grimes, and we’ll take Martin back, like we think he’ll fit our system and stuff, cuz that changes for me where he’s at in the rotation. If it’s more of that, they just wanted an asset back from because of like, hey, we’re going to lose grounds anyway, then I I’m not inclined to put Martin in the rotation. if they targeted him and wanted him to come in there, then it’s like, all right, well, who’s gonna get more minutes next year? Max Christie or Caleb Martin? And I don’t know. I I’ve also been clear that I think Caleb Martin is the best perimeter defender, like like point of attack defender on this roster still. And if you if you go through like what they need on offense, they need a lot of things. But on defense, they still do need like that point of attack guy. Because right now, you’re asking Cooper Flag, Klay Thompson, Daniel Russell, and PJ Washington, and maybe Naji Marshall to do that. And I’m not feeling super confident in any in any of those at a really high level, but Caleb Martin, I think, could come in and do that. Now, all of a sudden, your defense can be extremely elite with the five guys they can put on the floor with him there. And so I think that that that’s his chance is if they’re going to go all in on defense and be like, “All right, well, we’re just going to dominate defensively and just get enough offense between AD Flag, DLO creating a little bit, Clay getting some shots and our our mismatches in the post.” Yeah. How the minutes shake out between Clay, Naji, Max Christie, Caleb Martin is something I’m fascinated by because none of those guys you’re asking to play the four for the most part. I mean, Naji, no. Clay did last year a little bit. Yeah, let me take that out for a second. I did too because Naji like I I think Naji I would like him at that like three or four spot. And that’s why I like hesitated just a little bit because if you think Naji’s a four, then it’s like, well, how many players are above him? All right, Cooper, PJ, AD, I mean, there’s three right there that probably naturally play the four. So then it’s like, all right, Naji’s not going to play the four over any of those guys. So he’s probably relegated to a a three spot. Well, then he’s fighting Max Christie and Caleb Martin. Okay. Well, so who’s like can Naji guard opposing point guard? Is he your point of attack guy on defense? And if you think Max Christie is that guy is Max Christie are is it really a conversation of Max Christie versus Naji Marshall of who’s getting the more minutes? I don’t know. I don’t I don’t know. We got to see somebody become like a point of attack defender. And I I think we said that last year too and waited for Naji to emerge as that guy. And I don’t think I don’t think he emerged defensively as as a lead as I thought he would going through this this season. And so I think they’re they’re still going to wait. They have way better candidates this year than they did last year. Yeah. To find somebody to to be that. But man, while you’re talking through this though, your shooting is just struggling. And that’s why I think Max Christie is going to be that guy and will be that guy. That’s I mean, they need when you look at when they when you made the trade, I didn’t do it. It’s when the trade happened. Okay, thank you. Um, it happened to me. I didn’t obviously there’s so many different layers to that trade and Anthony Davis was the big one in return AD Luca and all the stuff. But and as much as you want to believe this, however you want to believe it or not, when you talk to people around the Mavs, then it was like, “Hey, Christie was in this deal, too.” Like, there’s a reason why Max Christie was in this deal. they really liked him and you know there was sh like signs of him being a good young player in LA at times so it was like hey they wanted him in the deal you were going to say so and with the Mavs too he had that great stretch that like 10ame stretch when they first traded for him where we were like oh my gosh what if he takes a leap and all of a sudden he’s like a starter level player and he he was a starter level player for the Lakers too. Yeah. So, I mean, heck, remember the graphic? Him and the SJA one. No, him and him him and Austin Reeves, the new dynamic, the the rising stars. Yeah, the rising star report had this graphic, the the Lakers rising star duo. And it was Austin Reeves and and Max Christie. This is like what, a year and a half ago? Yeah, I made fun of it. And dang, we probably should have we probably should have gotten both of them in that deal. I know. Uh except for Reeves. I we did a story on on game night tonight. Reeves might get 30 million a year his next deal. O get that change cobble pot. So for Max Christie, they like they really need Max Christie to be like this guy. like they really need him to be this three and you guy of guard the opposing point guard, hit, you know, hit a hit the threes and be this guy of like it should be at some point you would want to have the conversation Clay or Max Christie in the starting lineup. Yeah, because Max Christie is like played so well, his defense is so good. He’s he’s knocking down the threes and you’re like, dang, this is going to be a hard decision. this is the Mavs version of the Pods versus Clay in Golden State and you’re like, “All right, it’s enough to bench this, you know, 43% three-point shooter in Clay that’s a legend.” Right now, I’m just that’s just not the spot. Like, he’s just he he didn’t show. He kind of dropped off at the end of last year and then I you know, if I was kind of worried about him, I was like, “Oh, Christie.” Yeah. Like, what what is he like? I don’t I don’t know. I wasn’t encouraged by the end of last year. at the end of last year. I I your his play was not super encouraging, but I kind of gave him a pass because of everything that happened in that. True. Yeah. Think of think about his answer when he got traded. He’s like they talked about this was the biggest trade in sports history and I’m honored to be part of it. And I was like that is eventually going to get to your head where you start thinking about how big this moment is and like what they need from you and the and how crazy it was. AD only played nine games for the Mavs. Like I got to keep reminding I mean I hope people give us a pass for the end of season pods. Our ps were great. Um, what wasn’t there a point in in the off season this summer that he was at like a camp or somebody and a kid asked him, “Hey, what was your favorite moment of your career?” And he said getting traded to the Mavs. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that was a cool moment. Like, good job. That is a cool That is a cool moment. Job, Max. Um, great camp answer. Is all this just moot, though, and is Jason Kid just gonna play Dante Exo? He very well could. Yeah. because you trust him, right? Like if it was Rick Carl, I would said hands down it’s Exom because likes to trust his guys, you know, and but I I love having Exom on the team. So and you know, it’s just somebody somebody asked the other day in our our uh text insider program, you know, Hardy, is it time to give up? Somebody sent me a comment the other day on YouTube of this like firm defender and Jaden Hardy. Um, yeah. I just I don’t know how you could be confident in anything different than in Jaden Hardy right now after the past three seasons. That’s he’s just well and he’s just also now buried behind all the behind all these guys. Like the four guys we’ve mentioned before have have over taken him. Maybe that’s unfair with Brandon Williams because he hasn’t shown as much for for as long, but I think from what we saw at the end of last year that Jason Kidd would put Brandon Williams over Jaden Hardy in a rotation. And that’s that’s the conversation we’re having. Yeah. And I I would bet that um the Mavericks have to have to shed somebody before they can bring in Dons Exom. Like we’ve been, you know, talking about Exom this whole time. It’s not official because they don’t have the roster spot. We’ve been assuming the whole time it’s either Hardy, it’s either Omax or whatever it is. And I would assume Dallas is would their preference would be for someone to take Jaden Hardy who’s under, you know, has a few more years under contract, $6 million a year. OMAX is cheaper, younger, um that wing position, but I I don’t know. And we’ll see. I don’t know when they’re going to make room for Axom. Has to be before media day. So, we’ll see. We’ll see. They still got to do something. So, we’re sitting here waiting and we’ll be here five days a week going through the off season talking about the things that they do until then. So, let us know in the comment section on YouTube or on Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, Lockdown Mabs who you think gets that last rotation spot between Cayla Martin, Max, Christy, Dante Exom, Brandon Williams. Let us know what you guys think. We’ll be back tomorrow answering your questions, guys. Thanks so much for listening to Locked on Mavs. Peace out. Explain yourself. Sorry. Boom. Team Conrad.

The Dallas Mavericks secure a Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors, showcasing the NBA’s faith in Cooper Flagg’s star power. The Mavs’ rotation under Jason Kidd typically features nine players, raising questions about who will make the cut alongside Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving.

Nick Angstadt and Isaac Harris discuss the Mavericks’ Christmas Day matchup, rotation possibilities, and the potential impact of newcomers. They analyze the roles of Klay Thompson, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, and Naji Marshall, while debating the final rotation spot between Max Christie, Dante Exum, and Brandon Williams.

0:00 NBA Avoids Mavs vs Lakers on Opening Night & Christmas?!
8:43 The Cooper Flagg Effect for the Mavs’ Schedule
11:33 Jason Kidd’s 9-Man Rotation
20:15 Who Gets the Final Rotation Spot?

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