Today’s question was easy: Predict the record of the Dallas Mavericks and their seed in the Western Conference
Bryan: The 2025 Dallas Mavericks are the 8th or 9th seediest, 40-game winningest team I have ever seen in my natural born life. The dearth of pick-and-roll creators (or general playmaking for that matter) on this team overrun with front-court play finishers cannot be solved by turning Anthony Davis into a DHO coat rack in my opinion . However, Jason Kidd and the Mavericks coaching staff are excited to try, and that should be entertaining either way. That step up from the slog that was last year plus some Cooper Flagg pixie dust should keep this season interesting enough to watch , barring another year of horrid injury “luck.”
Kirk: Still buzzing off of throttling a Thunder team featuring no one has me wanting to make a ridiculous prediction. However, I’ll stick with where I’ve been: 42-40. I think the Mavericks have a high ceiling and low floor given their lack of shot-making and play-making. BUT I’ll be bullish for once and say they’re the seventh seed.
Ben Z.: I’m going to be pessimistic and say 35 wins. Too much is depending on the health of a few key players, and they’re either already injured or injury prone. Kyrie Irving will likely return with 20-25 games left in the season, and will need time to get back to his old self, if that’s even possible. Anthony Davis is coming off a surgery in the summer that’s left him in less than ideal shape, and he’ll definitely have some injury issues all year. Cooper Flagg will be enduring a full pro season for the first time in what should be his freshman year of college.
Add in the odd fit of this lineup, and what will certainly be a learning curve with so many new players, it’s hard to see it being a great season. Maybe everything goes the Mavs’ way and they sneak into the play-in tournament at best.
Tyler:The Dallas Mavericks record will not match the amount of talent on this roster. Because of the talent all being forwards and players who are best used as forwards but are forced to play guard, the best players won’t always be on the floor together. Klay Thompson can’t function as the only spacing in their starting group, which will struggle to score. They lack enough creation, especially at guard with Kyrie out for at least a few months. That doesn’t even include other injury prone players on the roster missing time, of which there are plenty.
All told, these Mavericks are lottery bound once again, which is probably the best thing for their development around Cooper Flagg. They will go 36-46 and be the 11 seed in the Western Conference.
Sudarshan: 41-41. Play-In team at best. It might seem like fence-sitting to predict a .500 record, but that’s this team’s ceiling with Kyrie out for most of the season.
Adding DLo as a stopgap might provide a temporary solution against the league’s bottom feeders, but the lack of ball-handling or self-creation from 90% of the roster is a significant obstacle for this team to overcome – No matter how many DHOs this new Jay Triano offense creates. The best thing that the coaching staff can do this season is to put the ball in Cooper Flagg’s hands as much as possible and let him go through the growing pains of becoming an offensive hub that they can & should build around.
That doesn’t even take into account the increasingly injury-prone roster led by the Lord of the Injured Reserve, Anthony Davis. The fact that they haven’t even announced a new Training/Medical staff after firing Nico’s incompetent previous hires means that this team is going to break & often. Sad, but true.
Chris: This is hard. I’ll say 46-36 and the 8th seed. A better predictor of their record will be the number of games Anthony Davis and Kyrie play (especially together). We know it won’t be any time in 2025. Not to mention if the Kyrie we get will be the Kyrie we’re used to, once he comes back.
If Dallas was in the east, there’s a path to 50 wins. But in the BRUTAL west, it’s hard to imagine a team that gets far above .500. Dallas simply doesn’t have enough creation and ball handling to compete with the league’s elite right now. Until that is addressed (likely in the form of Kyrie’s return), Dallas will be middle of the pack.
Cooper Flagg will be great. Dallas will have some good wins and big moments, but until number 11 returns, there’s too many question marks. OKC is tier one. Minnesota, Houston, and Denver are tier two. LA Lakers, LA Clippers, and Golden State are tier three. Dallas and San Antonio probably follow them. There will be more to cheer about this season than last (bar is on the floor), but I don’t expect a 2023-2024 run. The Mavs have good talent, but they have a lot more questions than answers coming into this season.
Michael: I have a clear recollection of answering this question last year. Fresh off the Finals, ready to take the next step… then the season happened. If the delta with which I was incorrect last time is an indication of outcome, I should place the win total low to ensure we win 60. But alas, we know it doesn’t work that way. Instead, I’ll just answer the question with an optimistic 50-32.
I promise I’m not attempting to solicit ire or make you dear readers, protest! Last year’s squad eeked out 39 wins despite arguably the most controversial trade ever, the worst injury run maybe in team history, and no safe haven at home where the fan base was in perpetual protest. I believe they can win 11 more games than they did in the hot mess that was last season.
In the regular season, teams have much less time to prepare for each other, and I think that will work to the Mavs’ benefit despite roster imbalance. I also suspect their defense will terrorize the opposition more times than not, and will offset those nights where the offense struggles. And in my final offense, I think D’Angelo Russell surprises a lot of people. There is my optimistic (irrational?) take. Man, I hope I’m correct. Let the games begin!
Brent: 38-44. In what should and may likely be Nico Harrison’s morsel of time as a front facing sports executive in any franchise, any league, any timeline. The Mavs will scuffle. Cooper Flagg will show promise in his rookie season but also but asked to do too much leading to indirect sabotage of his Rookie of the Year prospects.
I expect less than 60 games out of Davis and a token March return from Irving after all the drama is drained from the season.
Mavs fans have taken point of attack offense advantage creation as given and now the backcourt talent is so thin they will attempt to turn their front court talent into assist hubs. How many contenders try to win this way outside of Denver?
It will be frustrating and the saving grave will be the departure of Harrison and perhaps Kidd as well. If this is anywhere close to 38 wins as I am projecting the chant police in the AAC will be busy this year.
Matt M.: I’ll go 42-40 for the Mavericks’ season record, putting them in the play-in tournament with either the ninth or 10th seed in the West. Cooper Flagg will win the Rookie of the Year Award, but too much time without sound play at the point and a muddled rotation playing a new offensive scheme will leave fans with more questions than answers. There are pieces here that could add up to more than 42 wins — I just don’t trust this thing to get it done in a cohesive way. I find myself thinking “next year could be better for this team” when this year hasn’t even begun. Yikes.
Joe: My prediction is for the Mavericks to finish as the 8th-best team in the West. When you look at the Mavericks as a whole, compared to the rest of the Western Conference, it is hard to justify them being higher than a seven seed. Between the lack of self-creation and play-making on offense, the thought of implementing a new offense for a new roster and a new franchise player, and the injury history of many of the players on this roster, I cannot imagine this team reaching 50 wins. I do believe in the size and defense. Still, after Luka Doncic carried Jason Kidd’s, frankly, bland coaching style into playoff success for seven years, and now we enter a year injury-riddled with D’Angelo Russell as the only real option at the lead guard role, that is discouraging for me. I will go with 40-42 as the 8 seed. Injuries and coaching will be a major factor this season.
Andruw: I’m not sure if it’s optimistic of me but I have the Mavericks going somewhere around 45-37 which could have them between the 7-9 seed. If health and injury luck go the Mavs way then the defensive consistency through the depth chart shouldn’t give up too many games against bad teams and should be able to keep them up with contending teams. Great defense leads to easy offense and I feel like that’s going to be the point of emphasis for this team, get the stop, get the board and GO that leads to more fast breaks for quick buckets to keep their momentum and confidence up even if the half court offense finds itself getting stagnant at times. The offense is going to move around AD and with DLo presumably being the starting point guard their chemistry together should gel nicely and it looks like Davis is already building one with Cooper Flagg, who has so far only shown us that he thrives in the moment, has a natural feel for the game, and the grit and work ethic to improve any part of his, the same could be said for players like PJ Washington, and Naji Marshall who constantly play with a chip on their shoulder. Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford both bring a consistent level of play that should ideally be available at any given moment and you can’t forget about the guys lower on the option list either, Max Christie showed us the potential he can bring and even though he slowed it down quite a bit, he still improves as his role increases season to season, Hardy, Williams, Exum, DSJ, and I’m assuming Ryan Nembhard are always eager to get out on the court anytime they can and won’t shy from the moment. Klay seems to be as ready and as confident as ever, with his leadership and guidance along with Kyries on the sidelines until his return they’ll stay in a championship mentality.
David: 55-27. I have been back and forth about this and I think where I have settled is the Mavericks are just going to be healthy and good the Nico Harrison haters (me). Anthony Davis going to play 70+ games, D’Angelo Russell will be 2019 DLo, Cooper Flagg will contribute where he can, and they will get a much better season from Klay Thompson. They have enough talent to win a lot of games against the many very bad teams that exist currently. Full disclosure, this prediction is just fading my brain. My brain tells me that this team will be bad with bad offense and hurt too much to have consistency. And because that’s what my brain is telling me, I am rolling with my heart of hearts and predicting them to actually dominate the NBA.
Isaac: 53-29, floating between the 2-4 seed. This team just has everything to be successful in the modern NBA. It has the size to compete with teams like Houston and the wings to defend the depth of OKC. Flagg, Davis, and Lively will anchor a defense that makes it hard for any team to score in the paint and PJ, Naji, Flagg, and Klay will wreak havoc defensively on the perimeter, even if Klay has lost a step in his later years.
This team, with or without Kyrie, is a legitimate threat in the West. Add a 75-80% Kyrie in late February and the sky truly is the limit for this team.