Assessing the early performances from Morez Johnson Jr., Sergio De Larrea, and others in the Dallas Mavericks' 2026 NBA Summer League debut.
The Dallas Mavericks' first of at least four NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas ended in a 101-90 defeat to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
Dallas' starting lineup of Ryan Nembhard, Sergio De Larrea, John Poulakidas, Tobi Lawal and Morez Johnson Jr. featured a pair of former two-way players with NBA experience from a year ago, and the first three Mavs draftees from last month's NBA Draft.
Johnson's run-out slam extended a 10-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter, which brought the Mavs to within five after trailing at one point by as many as 24.
But LJ Cryer added to his excellent scoring night to keep the Warriors ahead late. The Houston product led the way for Golden State with 25 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Mavs' No. 9 overall pick Johnson led all scorers with an efficient 27 points in 32 minutes of action.
We take overall Summer League results - especially the first game - with a grain of salt, knowing that, statistically, less than half of these players will play for the Mavs this season.
However, with a new era of Dallas basketball emerging, we note some of the key takeaways from our first glimpse of the youth that could have bright futures next to Mavs star Cooper Flagg (who was in attendance with teammates Max Christie, Moussa Cisse, and Caleb Martin).
Johnson was active immediately, a great sign of more to come
Johnson led the team in scoring with 27 points, along with eight rebounds and three steals. Johnson shot an efficient 12-for-17 from the field. He had 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go with six rebounds in the first half as the starting center.
He was always in the right spot offensively, showed glimpses of his high motor on defense, and simply knew how and when to make an impact on both ends.
That will be key on a Mavs team that will feature Irving and Flagg most prominently on offense. Morez will have time to develop his jumper and beef up against NBA physicality, but his early display of rim-rolling and relentless rebounding is exciting to see for him as a plug-in piece.
It was a nice back-and-forth between Johnson and Yaxel Lendeborg, his former teammate from last year's Michigan Wolverines national championship team, which was led by new Mavs coach Dusty May.
Lendeborg added 21 points, including a flurry of late-game dunks, and 10 rebounds.
Johnson's frontcourt mate Lawal also flashed his elite athleticism with a put-back slam in the third quarter. I'm intrigued to see how they play together moving forward in Vegas. Both of them took multiple perimeter shots, which suggests that the Mavs coaches are giving them a green light to test out their entire repertoires.
Nembard and De Larrea look comfortable operating the offense
The Mavs' starting backcourt offered several positives when it comes to their chances of contributing behind Kyrie Irving this season.
Dallas also adds former Pistons point guard Marcus Sasser to bench production, but Nembhard especially looked poised and under control in this year's Summer League opener. It wouldn't surprise me if he gets shot down before the end of the Mavs' schedule this week.
The former undrafted guard out of Gonzaga scored 11 points and dished four assists at half, but Dallas trailed by 20 at 59-39.
Nembhard had 15 points and a game-high 11 assists.
De Larrea also looked like a natural with the ball in his hands.
The young Spaniard, who just led his Valencia squad to a championship in Europe, was a little shaky with his handle out of the gates, but it was clear that he's most effective in the pick-and-roll game.
De Larrea's tall frame for a lead guard allows him to survey the defense, and his patience and basketball IQ were on display with on-target passes throughout the game.
The rookie shot just 3-for-14 overall and 1-9 from 3-point range(there was a lid on the basket for other Mavs players, as well) for nine points. He also chipped in six rebounds and five assists
Poulakidas & Co.'s slow start from deep
The lefty from Yale is still finding his legs a bit this summer.
Poulakidas started 0-5 from 3-point land, and overall, Dallas shot just 2-17 from behind the arc to start the game. As a result, the Warriors were able to go on several scoring runs to build that big lead.
The Mavs finished the game shooting 9 of 38 (23.7 percent) from the perimeter and 34 of 79 overall (43 percent).
Last season with the Mavericks, Poulakidas came out of the G League and averaged 8.8 points in 13 games. He shot over 40 percent from distance on nearly six attempts a game, so there remains confidence that he'll find the stroke as the season progresses.
The 6-6 wing began to shoot himself out of that mini slump by ending up with 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting on threes.
