MAVS NEWS:

[Smitty]

Someone on Discord asked who the Mavs top 5 players were. Not who the starters should be, but best 5 players right now in '26-'27.

To me it's: Flagg, Kyrie, Lively, PJW, Naji

The next 5, to make up some sort of 'top 10': Gafford, Max, Aldama, Morez, Risacher

Then the 'deep bench' guys: Sasser, Sergio, Cisse, Tarik, Martin

I'm assuming Klay is not here.


If I were to come up with some kind of total minutes played this season, it'd look something like this:

Kyrie 1920 (60 x 32)
Max 1800 (75 x 24)
Flagg 2520 (70 x 36)
PJW 1560 (65 x 24)
Lively 900 (50 x 18)

Naji 1800 (75 x 24)
Risacher 1800 (75 x 24)
Aldama 1300 (65 x 20)
Morez 1680 (70 x 24)
Gafford 1300 (65 x 20)

Sasser 750 (50 x 15)
Sergio 750 (50 x 15)
Cisse 750 (50 x 15)
Tarik 600 (40 x 15)
Martin 450 (30 x 15)


It's not exact of course. Just a WAG on how it could play out...

[mvossman]

Someone on Discord asked who the Mavs top 5 players were. Not who the starters should be, but best 5 players right now in '26-'27.

To me it's: Flagg, Kyrie, Lively, PJW, Naji

The next 5, to make up some sort of 'top 10': Gafford, Max, Aldama, Morez, Risacher

Then the 'deep bench' guys: Sasser, Sergio, Cisse, Tarik, Martin

I'm assuming Klay is not here.


If I were to come up with some kind of total minutes played this season, it'd look something like this:

Kyrie 1920 (60 x 32)
Max 1800 (75 x 24)
Flagg 2520 (70 x 36)
PJW 1560 (65 x 24)
Lively 900 (50 x 18)

Naji 1800 (75 x 24)
Risacher 1800 (75 x 24)
Aldama 1300 (65 x 20)
Morez 1680 (70 x 24)
Gafford 1300 (65 x 20)

Sasser 750 (50 x 15)
Sergio 750 (50 x 15)
Cisse 750 (50 x 15)
Tarik 600 (40 x 15)
Martin 450 (30 x 15)


It's not exact of course. Just a WAG on how it could play out...

That looks like reasonable ballpark.  Does those add up correctly?

[michaeltex]

I'm not sure they have fully moved away from two bigs.  Lively, Gafford, Morez, and Aldama should all get significant minutes when healthy.  

Their top 4 minutes getters and 5 out of 7 will be getting heavy minutes again as it currently stands.  Hard to argue that's a completely different team.  I'm not sure how they are going to find minutes for Morez, Aldama, Risacher, Larry and Sasser, especially if Lively is actually healthy.

FWIW, there is Cisse, if he makes the final roster, as yet another big.

And, if reports of growth are true, at 6'11" Flagg could be considered a "big" as well. He sure looks taller than Risacher in a recent video. 

So DAL might be playing "two bigs" by default rather than as a specific game plan.

[Smitty]

That looks like reasonable ballpark.  Does those add up correctly?

Yes. They add up to a full 82 game season for just 15 players. I’m sure there will be more than 15 guys that get minutes for this team next year though. The Two-Ways and likely TDL traded guys… Still, this is just a general idea of Total Minutes played. At least how I see it as it stands today.

[Mavs2021]

I have heard so many times that Aldama is a good shooter and I can´t work out where this myth comes from?

He is a career 46/35/69 shooter. PJ Washington is at 45/35/70. If you go behind the decimal, Washington is almost 1% better 3pt shooter for his career.

Everybody says Flagg can´t play with Washington, but Aldama can? And don´t you dare come with crap like Aladama is defended like Dirk, while PJ is defended like Rondo.

[Smitty]

I have heard so many times that Aldama is a good shooter and I can´t work out where this myth comes from?

He is a career 46/35/69 shooter. PJ Washington is at 45/35/70. If you go behind the decimal, Washington is almost 1% better 3pt shooter for his career.

Everybody says Flagg can´t play with Washington, but Aldama can? And don´t you dare come with crap like Aladama is defended like Dirk, while PJ is defended like Rondo.

I think a lot of it comes from recency bias. Some of it is 'grass is greener'. Then there's a legitimate reason in that their shot profiles are just different. The percentages are similar, but the way they get there are actually different. I actually think it's a good thing to have both.

[michaeltex]

I have heard so many times that Aldama is a good shooter and I can´t work out where this myth comes from?

He is a career 46/35/69 shooter. PJ Washington is at 45/35/70. If you go behind the decimal, Washington is almost 1% better 3pt shooter for his career.

Everybody says Flagg can´t play with Washington, but Aldama can? And don´t you dare come with crap like Aladama is defended like Dirk, while PJ is defended like Rondo.

To me, the biggest difference, apart from height, is that PJW is a Nico acquisition and Aldama is a UM acquisition.

[Mavs2021]

I think a lot of it comes from recency bias. Some of it is 'grass is greener'. Then there's a legitimate reason in that their shot profiles are just different. The percentages are similar, but the way they get there are actually different. I actually think it's a good thing to have both.

Yeah maybe, but people go way overboard. I also heard claims that Risacher and De Larrea are good shooters. There is ONE player the Mavs acquired that has proven to be an above average shooter and that is Biberovic, who is a 1 for 1 replacement for Klay.

[Scott41theMavs]

Yeah maybe, but people go way overboard. I also heard claims that Risacher and De Larrea are good shooters. There is ONE player the Mavs acquired that has proven to be an above average shooter and that is Biberovic, who is a 1 for 1 replacement for Klay.

Sasser.

[Scott41theMavs]

The reports and messages coming from Seva’s agent are making me step back from the edge a bit. While I still believe that he would have developed best here, and could have actually helped the team win a game or two with what he actually brings already, it sounds as though Masai has a good rapport with the Russian club and that they’re on the same page with regard to what he needs to develop. I’m hoping that what we see from him in the Russian season is way beyond the “JAG” criticism someone made earlier. As someone on the Discord said, perhaps he’s our lottery pick next year.

What I think the Mavs are going to miss the most is his BBIQ and connective passing. The kid would have fit very well already into what 3M seem to intend to do with the team this year, and I believe they would have been better off leaning into it more with Seva than sticking with some player or another from last year who won’t provide as much of those things.

[mvossman]

Yes. They add up to a full 82 game season for just 15 players. I’m sure there will be more than 15 guys that get minutes for this team next year though. The Two-Ways and likely TDL traded guys… Still, this is just a general idea of Total Minutes played. At least how I see it as it stands today.

Ok.  It looks like Aldama, PJ, Naji and Max all take a pretty good haircut (5-8 minutes per game).  I'm still struggling a little with the Aldama acquisition.

[mvossman]

The reports and messages coming from Seva’s agent are making me step back from the edge a bit. While I still believe that he would have developed best here, and could have actually helped the team win a game or two with what he actually brings already, it sounds as though Masai has a good rapport with the Russian club and that they’re on the same page with regard to what he needs to develop. I’m hoping that what we see from him in the Russian season is way beyond the “JAG” criticism someone made earlier. As someone on the Discord said, perhaps he’s our lottery pick next year.

What I think the Mavs are going to miss the most is his BBIQ and connective passing. The kid would have fit very well already into what 3M seem to intend to do with the team this year, and I believe they would have been better off leaning into it more with Seva than sticking with some player or another from last year who won’t provide as much of those things.

Hopefully his Russian club is on board with him being more aggressive offensively.

[Scott41theMavs]

Someone on Discord asked who the Mavs top 5 players were. Not who the starters should be, but best 5 players right now in '26-'27.

To me it's: Flagg, Kyrie, Lively, PJW, Naji

The next 5, to make up some sort of 'top 10': Gafford, Max, Aldama, Morez, Risacher

Then the 'deep bench' guys: Sasser, Sergio, Cisse, Tarik, Martin

I'm assuming Klay is not here.


If I were to come up with some kind of total minutes played this season, it'd look something like this:

Kyrie 1920 (60 x 32)
Max 1800 (75 x 24)
Flagg 2520 (70 x 36)
PJW 1560 (65 x 24)
Lively 900 (50 x 18)

Naji 1800 (75 x 24)
Risacher 1800 (75 x 24)
Aldama 1300 (65 x 20)
Morez 1680 (70 x 24)
Gafford 1300 (65 x 20)

Sasser 750 (50 x 15)
Sergio 750 (50 x 15)
Cisse 750 (50 x 15)
Tarik 600 (40 x 15)
Martin 450 (30 x 15)


It's not exact of course. Just a WAG on how it could play out...

My biggest disagreements would be 1) that’s a lot of minutes for Max and Risacher compared to others. I think Mavs fans would be over the moon if they did play that much and it actually helped the Mavs win. It would bode quite well for the team’s future and the development work they did with those two.
2) To me, if Morez only played that much, it would be a slightly disappointing year from him, especially in continuing to play for and be developed by his coach from last year. The two things that make me nervous that you might be right are a) growing pains in foul reduction, and b) readiness to take big center minutes. Adjacently, I do hope they move Gaff at the trade deadline if Morez shows any center readiness whatsoever.
3) If Sergio’s minutes end up being that low, iit will say very disappointing things about his readiness and production, and may have a lot to do with handling and shooting woes. I think he’s a huge part of what they want to do and accomplish moving forward.
4) I would also be scratching my head a bit if Sasser got that low of minutes given that he probably enters the gym as the Mavs’ best POA defender.
5) Tarik getting that low of minutes would probably indicate defensive uselessness, and I hope that’s not the case.

[Smitty]

My biggest disagreements would be 1) that’s a lot of minutes for Max and Risacher compared to others. I think Mavs fans would be over the moon if they did play that much and it actually helped the Mavs win. It would bode quite well for the team’s future and the development work they did with those two.
2) To me, if Morez only played that much, it would be a slightly disappointing year from him, especially in continuing to play for and be developed by his coach from last year. The two things that make me nervous that you might be right are a) growing pains in foul reduction, and b) readiness to take big center minutes. Adjacently, I do hope they move Gaff at the trade deadline if Morez shows any center readiness whatsoever.
3) If Sergio’s minutes end up being that low, iit will say very disappointing things about his readiness and production, and may have a lot to do with handling and shooting woes. I think he’s a huge part of what they want to do and accomplish moving forward.
4) I would also be scratching my head a bit if Sasser got that low of minutes given that he probably enters the gym as the Mavs’ best POA defender.
5) Tarik getting that low of minutes would probably indicate defensive uselessness, and I hope that’s not the case.

Don't hold me to those numbers... That was more of a "pecking order" exercise. I did try to be realistic with (Total Minutes) played for each guy. Based on historical data for each, and then some guestimate for the rookies. (Morez, Sergio, Tarik). All of those numbers are subject to change for any number of reasons. Heck, I'm cutting out Klay in that breakdown, who could very easily still be on the team -- and will cut into a few of those guys playing time.

[david75090]

Judging from Summer League, I think the Mavs will try to play faster, scramble on defense and try and ugly up the game. Bench players will get more minutes than we're expecting. They'll try and use their length to play the passing lanes. Defense first, lots of passing and 3 pointers.

[Mavs2021]

Judging from Summer League, I think the Mavs will try to play faster, scramble on defense and try and ugly up the game. Bench players will get more minutes than we're expecting. They'll try and use their length to play the passing lanes. Defense first, lots of passing and 3 pointers.

It certainly looks like the plan is too outwork everybody. This team as currently constructed is build to win by depth and effort, while developing the younger players skills along the way. 

Though I think there is still a high probability a bigger trade will be coming down the lane. I´m not nearly as negative as many here on the trade value of Gafford/Washington/Marshall. I´m sure there are plenty of deals to be done. MM just don´t feel the need to be rushed into a poor deal. 

If you want to be attractive to some major FAs next summer, you still need a good roster. Something Cuban never understood.

By the time of the TDL, the teams will know who is available. Through back channels they´ll also know whether that player will consider them. If nobody is available or interested you can still trade Gafford/Washington/Marshall off to a contender and go full rebuild.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I hate to say this

Don't

One of the things I like about Mavs fans is we can have positive and negative opinions on differing topics.

I hate groupthink

I've said several times I'm not impressed with the progress that's been made with this roster. Any GM we hired would have had 2 first rd picks and we would have two young players to be excited about. But it's completely TBD if these guys made the right moves:

1. Drafting Morez over Burries.
2. The Aldama trade.
3. The lack of playmaking guards.
4. All the veterans still stuck on the roster and now a Naji extension.
5. They wanted Jon Scheyer from Duke as coach and settled for May.

[F Gump]

 I’m hoping that what we see from him in the Russian season is way beyond the “JAG” criticism someone made earlier. As someone on the Discord said, perhaps he’s our lottery pick next year.

I hope so too. 

My note that Ishy so far has been JAG in his play in Russia (as inferior a league as that is) was not a comment or diss about his potential, but rather about where he is in his development. He has not been a star there in the past (per game 8p 4r 2a in 24 minutes), despite being in a league whose level of play you see as incredibly inferior. He decided to put his name in the draft, making selecting him became a "now or never" proposition, whether he had mastered that lower level and was NBA-ready or not. 

Now he needs to (and has the opportunity to) go back and master that lower level, show he can play at an NBA-ready level, against the inferior opposition, in which case if he does that he will be dominant and the Mavs will be EAGER to bring him over next season. 

If he's who we hope he is, it should be no prob and he will jump several levels this year in his impact and shine brightly. Let's hope he does.

[Scott41theMavs]

Don't

One of the things I like about Mavs fans is we can have positive and negative opinions on differing topics.

I hate groupthink

I've said several times I'm not impressed with the progress that's been made with this roster.  Any GM we hired would have had 2 first rd picks and we would have two young players to be excited about.  But it's completely TBD if these guys made the right moves:

1. Drafting Morez over Burries. 
2. The Aldama trade. 
3. The lack of playmaking guards. 
4.  All the veterans still stuck on the roster and now a Naji extension.
5.  They wanted Jon Scheyer from Duke as coach and settled for May.

I hear you on 3 and 4. I hear you, but slightly disagree on 1, hear you but am not concerned at all about 5, and just think you’re out to lunch and not seeing the big picture on 2.