The Dallas Mavs Are Great Again

The Dallas Mavs Are Great Again

After a very mediocre start to the season where people were already suggesting for the Mavs to just blow it up and punt on the season, the team is starting to turn it around and should be encouraged moving forward. They’re 4-1 over the last five games with wins over the Denver Nuggets, the Miami Heats, and Houston Rockets in that span. All of which are currently playoff teams firmly in their conference. AD’s been great in his return and has done well filling in at the center position. Ryan Nemhard is blossoming before our very eyes and most importantly Cooper Flag is improving game by game. But before we get to that, be sure to drop a like on the video that greatly supports the channel and boosts this video in the algorithm and sub to the channel for even more content like this. After Cooper Flag made his NBA debut, many people scratched their heads at what was supposed to be the number one overall pick of the 2025 NBA draft and a gamecher for the Dallas Mavericks. He shot just 413 from the field in that game to start the regular season, went for9 against the OKC Thunder, and shot three of 14 against the Detroit Pistons as the Mavs really struggled as a whole. Because of this, people were writing him off as if he wasn’t just an 18-year-old playing his first couple games to start an NBA season at point guard on a team that doesn’t take or make a large volume of threes. He wasn’t perfect in those showings by any means, but he’s really stepped it up over the last 15 games. 19.2 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assist, and 2.2 two stocks on 60.5% shooting on his two-point field goal attempts. One of the biggest strengths for Flag at Duke was his finishing ability. Not only due to his ability to get around defenders and detonate at the rim, but also his ability to finish with his off hand as well. But in the NBA, he struggled in that area to start the season. not converting well on his opportunities within five feet of the basket, was converting on just 60% of his shots in restricted area and 36% of his shots from 5 to 9 ft from the basket. His mid-range percentage in that span was only just 22%. Contrast that to the last 15 games and you have a completely different story. In those 15 games, he’s converting on 72% of his shots in the restricted area, 50% of his mid-range jumpers, and 60.6% within 5 to9 ft from the basket. You can call him run and dunk man all you want, but he’s a very impactful player in transition like he was at Duke. He’s an absolute terror in the open floor who can detonate at the rim. And at this time, he does most of his work inside the ark. He has good size, athleticism, and length. Can operate quickly off the catch, attack the rim, and provide rim pressure for the Dallas Mavericks. He can hit turnaround jumpers out of the post. Is a good decision maker who can make the right reads as a ball handler, who can drive and kick and find mismatches or find the open man out of the perimeter. He’s becoming more confident on the floor. And the defense that made him such a prized prospect out of Duke has transferred over to the NBA. He’s an intelligent and versatile player who has good lateral movement, the ability to be a great help defender, and by virtue of that, a rim protector, and he can cover a ton of ground, allowing him to make nice recoveries on defense. The areas of his game where he still needs improvement though are his outside shooting and his ball handling. Now, he did shoot 38% from three in college. The volume and range didn’t exactly mean that his outside shooting would immediately translate to the NBA, but he did shoot well from the free throw line in college, and the mid-range shooting has been encouraging thus far. Another player who has been encouraging is Ryan Nemhard, a player who went undrafted in the 2025 NBA draft, but has shown his playmaking prowess from Gonzaga to this season with the Dallas Mavericks. over his last eight games and where he’s also had starting opportunities on the floor. He’s averaged 6.6 assists a game to just 1.4 turnovers a game. That includes back-to-back doubledigit assist games against the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat where he had 10 and 13 assists, respectfully. against the Denver Nuggets, a game that was in Denver. He was cashing in on catch and shoot threes, demonstrated his ability as a pick and roll ball handler and change of pace ability and his ability to get to and finish at the rim. He made 12 of 14 field goals for that game for 28 points on the night and had zero turnovers and was a plus nine on the floor. He can playmake in transition. He’s a pretty good ball handler with some shiftiness to him and he has shown competence as a pull-up shooter. He is obviously unders sized and is notably shorter than his brother Andrew Nehard, which raises obvious questions about his defense, but he’s been at least passable on that end and has the benefit of having lengthy defenders surrounding him. The creation ability looks good and again he virtually never turns the ball over for the Dallas Mavericks. Kathy Davis is healthy and motivated and as expected he’s been killing it for the team while filling in at center. Derek Lively is unfortunately done for the season and with Daniel Gaffford missing time AD has even more responsibilities in the front court. He turned it up late against the Brooklyn Nets in a win where he had 24 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks. And now the 80s situation becomes even more interesting for the Dallas Mavs. We obviously know just how impactful he is when he’s on the floor. But with the Mavs actually winning games now, should they wait till Kyrie comes back and try to be more competitive with this whole squad together? Or should they send him to Toronto Raptors or whatever team is interested and potentially get a first round pick among other contributors who might arrive to them in that trade? Let me know in the comments section down below. With AD in that Luca trade was Max Christie and he’s been a revelation from three. In the month of November, he was cashing on 43% of his three-point attempts on six attempts a game. And overall, he’s having his best season as an outside shooter. 46.5% from three on five and a half attempts a game. He’s been a lethal catch and shoot threats on above the break and corner three-point attempts. he can move off the ball and he shows activity on the floor defensively. Whether the Mavs trade for their vets for picks to fully invest in this rebuild is still a point of discussion, but if they hold on to what they have and bring Kyrie Irving back in the fold later this season, this is a team that can be competitive. They’ve had a top 10 defense this season and can improve offensively with Kyrie’s return, but with them having a bottom three offense at this time, there’s only so much his return can actually do on that end. With the Dallas Mavericks turning it around, let me know your thoughts on their season. Where do you rank Cooper Flag among your rookie of the year ladder? I personally have him in the top two with his former Duke teammate Colin Keniple. Also, let me know whether you think they should trade AD, Kyrie Irving, and others to fully commit to this rebuild or whether they should stay the course and try to be competitive team this season. Very briefly, let’s talk about the community tab post when I asked you guys which team you think should trade or will trade for Jonstead Goombo. And as it stands, you guys voted for other among the teams that were listed there. And the Atlanta Hawks, the Detroit Pistons, etc. were mentioned in that comment section. So, I want you guys to let me know how you feel about that as well. Be sure to go to the community tabs and make sure to respond and vote on the things that are listed there. And with that being said, love you guys. Hope to see you all in the next one. And stay tuned.

After a rough start to the season, the Dallas Mavericks have seemed to turn it around. Cooper Flagg is living up to the hype as the #1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Ryan Nembhard looks amazing so far, and Anthony Davis is thriving. With the team winning 4 of the last 5 games, there’s a real shot that they’ll remain competitive this season.