The Mavs struggled to win games this year, but they also had a lot of things no go their way that impacted that.
We're on the doorstep of the NBA playoffs beginning, but for the second time in the last three years, the Mavs will be on the couch getting an early start to the offseason.
This summer is a pivotal one for the organization as it builds around rookie phenom Cooper Flagg. The front office will be narrowing general manager candidates and finding a successor to Nico Harrison. And in the NBA Draft, Dallas' likely top-10 pick holds extra significance as it is the only first-round pick the Mavs control themselves until 2031.
The Mavericks ultimately turned the keys over to Flagg near the midway point of the year in 2025-26 when Harrison was fired and Anthony Davis was traded. One constant factor that didn't help the Mavs' cause throughout the year, however, was injuries.
That isn't weighing too heavily on the minds of the Mavs players and coaches as they transition into the offseason break.
"The kind of stretches where we showed just what type of team we were through the lapses we had, whether it was a close game or games we won, we kind of told on ourselves in certain situations," center Daniel Gafford scouted. "Once we come back full force with everybody, I feel like it’s going to be a good year for us next year."
The largest differentiators in the health department are the returns of Kyrie Irving (ACL recovery) and Dereck Lively II (foot surgery). Irving missed the entire season while Lively appeared in just seven games at the beginning of the schedule.
They are both expected to be ready for training camp, though an even more important point in this area is Dallas' next hire as the director of player health after Johann Bilsborough was fired earlier this week.
Still, the Mavs are confident the pieces coming back will provide enough to return to contention in the Western Conference.
"Very high," guard Max Christie told Mavs.com about his confidence that this season was an outlier. "We got a great future. There’s no denying that. It starts with Cooper obviously, what he brought to the team this year, what he brought to Dallas, to our fans. Anytime you got that around, that’s something to be excited about."
While Flagg has mentioned that he wants to win the Rookie of the Year award over former college teammate Kon Knueppel this year, we figure he cares about winning more next season just as much.
"I think we got a great opportunity next year, for sure," Christie added. "We just kind of hit the reset button, continue to move forward, find ways to get better as a team. Everybody’s going to get better individually through the summer so that will only make us better collectively."
"It wasn’t the year we wanted," said head coach Jason Kidd, "but there are a lot of positive things that are happening here. I’m excited about this summer.
"We look forward to doing bigger and better things next season.”
