The Dallas Mavericks landed 17th in ESPN's NBA Future Power Rankings, with Cooper Flagg providing optimism but questions remaining around the roster.
DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks landed at No. 17 of 30 in ESPN's annual NBA Future Power Rankings, which came out this week.
Last year's edition had Dallas one spot higher, at 16th.
ESPN's version runs three seasons out, from 2026-27 through 2028-29, and tries to project where each team will be on the court. Four people did the grading: Ben Golliver, Zach Kram, Bobby Marks, and Dean Oliver. Every team got scored in five categories.
Most of the weight sits with the roster, as current players and their future potential make up 60% of the score. Management, draft assets, and money are worth 11.67% apiece. Market covers the last 5%.
The Mavericks' overall score came out to 53. Denver came in right behind them at 18th with the same 53.
Market Score Is Dallas' Best Category
The one category where Dallas cracked the top 10 was market. The Mavericks scored a 70 there, which was seventh in the league.
From there, the Mavericks were no better than 17th anywhere. Their players got a 55, which was 18th in the league. Management and money both came in 17th, at 56 and 48. The draft number was a 41, and that put them 20th.
Kram noted that Dallas lands near the middle of the pack in just about every category.
The biggest plus, in his view, was Cooper Flagg, the 19-year-old who won Rookie of the Year last season.
What gave Kram pause was the timeline. He wrote that it's still unclear when Flagg and company will start pushing for the playoffs.
In 70 games as a rookie, Flagg put up 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists a night. His shooting splits came in at 46.8% from the field, 29.5% from 3, and 82.7% at the line.
When Rookie of the Year was announced April 27, Flagg got 56 of the 100 first-place votes.
Against Orlando late in the year, he scored 51. Nobody had ever hit 50 in an NBA game as a teenager.
It was a 26-56 season for Dallas a year ago, and the Mavericks wound up 12th in the West. Their offense had a 110.3 rating, which ranked 27th in the league.
Kyrie Irving's Future Hangs Over the Roster
Marks zeroed in on Kyrie Irving, who still has two years left on his contract with Dallas.
Irving, a nine-time All-Star, hasn't suited up for an NBA game since his ACL tear in March 2025.
Marks wondered if Irving will still be a Maverick next summer, or if he ends up as a trade candidate in February.
He also noted Irving was on pace for his ninth straight season averaging at least 20 points when he got hurt.
The front office Marks referred to came together this offseason. Masai Ujiri is running basketball operations, Mike Schmitz is the general manager, and Dusty May came over from Michigan to coach.
Irving has already met with all three, Mavs Roundtable reported.
Flagg Didn't Move the Needle Like Past No. 1 Picks
Oliver had an interesting note on Dallas and the top pick.
Usually, a team that lands the No. 1 pick sees its future ranking go up. Dallas went the other way.
The Mavericks lost Luka Dončić and gained Flagg in the same calendar year, and in the 2025 rankings they slid all the way from fifth to 16th.
Oliver compared that to San Antonio. The Spurs were 28th before they drafted Victor Wembanyama in 2023, and they jumped to 18th after.
Dallas had just a 1.8% chance of winning the 2025 lottery.
Dončić came up again in Oliver's write-up on the Los Angeles Lakers. There, he pointed back to former Dallas general manager Nico Harrison, who used "defense wins championships" as his reason for trading Dončić.
Golliver Sees an MVP in Flagg's Future
Golliver went big with his prediction for 2027-29.
He has Flagg becoming the first American-born MVP since James Harden won it in 2018.
Golliver acknowledged it won't be easy, since Wembanyama, Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dončić should be pulling MVP votes for a while. He also brought up LeBron James, who won his first MVP in his age-24 season.
Dallas added pieces around Flagg this summer. Santi Aldama and Marcus Sasser came over in a six-team trade, and so did Zaccharie Risacher, who went first overall in 2024.
With the No. 9 pick, the Mavericks took Morez Johnson Jr., who played for May at Michigan. Dereck Lively II is back too after missing almost all of last season.
DraftKings has Dallas at 34.5 wins. ESPN's summer forecast was a little lower at 32, which would put the Mavericks 12th in the West again.
Dallas plays the Houston Rockets twice in Macao, on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, as part of the NBA Global Games.
The regular season opens Oct. 21 in Houston, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Spurs come to American Airlines Center on Oct. 24.
