Witness the first competitive look at Morez Johnson Jr. in Las Vegas as Dallas navigates a pivotal offseason of high-stakes extensions and Klay Thompson trade intrigue.
DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks schedule for the Las Vegas Summer League has been released ... and given the potential participation of some of the roster newcomers, MFFLs are surely intrigued by the who's-who thoughts.
First, to the schedule itself ...
7/9 vs GS (6p CT, ESPN)
7/11 vs LAL (9p CT, ESPN)
7/13 vs MEM (6p CT, ESPN)
7/16 vs OKC (3p CT, Prime)
Tournament game vs TBD (7/17 or 18).
Now, what about the other key points of business and "circle the dates''?
The 2026 NBA Draft has come and gone and the calendar now shifts toward free agency, extensions and the road to training camp. The Mavericks have several important decisions ahead and the league’s offseason calendar gives a clear sense of when each one needs to be made.
The first checkpoint is June 30, the last official day of the 2025-26 league year. Teams can begin negotiating with free agents from other clubs starting at 5 p.m. CT that evening, the unofficial kickoff to the league’s negotiating period. It is also the deadline for any player eligible for an in-season veteran extension to get a deal signed under last season’s rules.
July 1 marks the official start of the 2026-27 league year and the moratorium period that follows. This is the day Dereck Lively II becomes eligible to sign a rookie-scale extension with Dallas, the single most consequential financial decision the front office faces this summer given his talent and injury history.
Teams can also begin signing draft picks to rookie-scale contracts and exercising third- or fourth-year options during this window, though the moratorium means nothing becomes official yet.
The moratorium lifts at 11:01 a.m. CT on July 6, when teams can officially sign free agents, complete trades and finalize extensions. This is also the first day Max Christie, Caleb Martin, Naji Marshall and Klay Thompson become eligible for extensions of their own. With Thompson already reported to be available in trade conversations, his extension window adds real intrigue to how Dallas handles his situation over the following weeks.
As noted above, Summer League begins for the Mavericks on July 9, giving fans the first competitive look at Morez Johnson Jr. and the the rest of the 2026 draft class.
Training camp does not have an officially confirmed date yet, but it opened Sept. 29 last season and is expected to fall in a similar window again. That is when the Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving pairing finally gets tested together for the first time in a real practice setting.
The Mavericks kick off the NBA preseason Oct. 9 and 11, when Dallas plays the Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena in Macao as part of the NBA China Games, the team’s first preseason action of the year.
The draft was just the first domino. Everything that follows over the next four months determines what this roster actually looks like by opening night.
