It’s been a long eight months for Dallas Mavericks fans.

The front office traded away one of the top players in the league, proceeded to fall out of playoff contention, lost in blowout fashion in the play-in game, and watched the team Dallas sent home in the 2024 playoffs win an NBA championship just a year later.

It’s hard to feel optimism after a stretch like that, but just when all hope seemed lost, out came this phenom from Duke University. Cooper Flagg attended the team’s Media Day on Monday and said he’s looking forward to the journey. He said he’d like to be Rookie of the Year, but also said the main goal is winning games and focusing on winning a championship.

It won’t be the same team that took the court last year and there’s no doubt the team faces longer odds to win a title than it did when it entered the 2024-2025, but call me crazy: I’m excited to see what this team can do together on the court.

Dereck Lively II — who apparently grew two inches in the offseason — and Anthony Davis will join Flagg in the starting lineup to present opposing teams with one of the league’s most talented front courts both offensively and defensively.

Daniel Gafford will start in games where injuries permit and bring depth to the team’s big-man identity, while PJ Washington comes back for his second full season in Dallas looking to add a dynamic wing to the equation. Gafford and Washington both signed extensions with the team last summer, potentially locking them in long term with Dallas.

This is the core. All five guys listed above are under contract with the Mavericks until at least the end of the 2027-2028 season. Add in Kyrie Irving, who fans hope will be back towards the end of this season, and Dallas has a core that can cause headaches for any team in the league.

The Mavericks are by no means favorites to come out of the West — and I’m not arguing they should be — but a starting five of Flagg, Klay Thomspon, Washington, Davis, and Lively II is a fun group that will cause matchup nightmares for teams across the league.

Obviously, the elephant in the room is health. Dallas is already down its starting point guard, Davis has had his share of injuries over the years and Thompson has suffered major injuries in both legs, but I don’t believe this team’s history with injuries should dampen fan’s excitement for the upcoming season.

Flagg showed flashes of brilliance in his two Summer League games and Davis looked like his old self at times during his time with Dallas last season, including a 23-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist, 7-block all-around performance against the Toronto Raptors.

Add in Naji Marshall and D’Angelo Russell and this team can attack you in a lot of different ways. Caleb Martin struggled in his time with Dallas last year, but could be a spark for Dallas like he was for Miami two seasons ago.

This team is hungry, and they’re ready to put the trade behind them. It may sound crazy right now, but I believe Dallas has a chance to be a top-6 team in the Western Conference and if they can find their groove before Kyrie comes back, this is not a team Western Conference teams will want to face in April or May.

The last era didn’t end like fans wanted it to, but the new era is now beginning and — to paraphrase longtime Maverick radio guy Chuck Cooperstein — the Mavericks are ready to plant their Flagg atop the NBA mountain once again.