Cooper Flagg hit the ground running in Dallas, bringing hope to all who rep MFFL in their Twitter bios. Despite that, the Mavericks were far from successful. Dallas finished with just 26 victories and 11 games out of a Play-In spot. That led to wholesale changes in the offseason.
The front office was turned over to former Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri. After just two weeks on the job, Ujiri relieved Jason Kidd of his duties as head coach and made a massive splash by hiring Michigan head coach Dusty May for the job. Ujiri made the transition as comfortable as possible for May by selecting Morez Johnson Jr. with the ninth overall pick.
Dallas enters the 2026-27 season with a franchise cornerstone, an executive with a track record of success, and a big name as its head coach. Whether it all comes together remains to be seen, but there is reason for optimism.
BURNING QUESTIONS
How impactful can a healthy Kyrie Irving be?
Dallas desperately needs Irving to return to peak form, and as he enters training camp, he has no physical restrictions from the torn ACL he suffered 19 months ago. That is a blessing for a team that has real questions at guard. Last season, Brandon Williams — now with Golden State — led all Mavericks guards in scoring (13.0 PPG), and Ryan Nembhard — now with Denver — led the team in assists (5.3 APG). As it stands right now, the Mavericks’ backcourt rotation will consist of Irving, Max Christie, Marcus Sasser, and Zaccharie Risacher. That is not a lot of ball-handling and shot creation. Irving is an elite point guard who has ranked in the 85th percentile or higher in Turnover Rate and the 83rd percentile or higher in points per 100 shot attempts in his time with the Mavericks. Still, he will have a massive load on his shoulders, and for a 34-year-old guard coming off a serious knee injury, that is a big ask.
What does Cooper Flagg’s sophomore season bring?
Flagg was tremendous in his rookie season. The forward averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.1 steals and blocks in 70 games. Despite that, his impact was not felt in the advanced metrics. Flagg improved his team’s net rating by just 1.2 points per 100 possessions on the floor. For a 6-foot-9 forward, he was also somewhat muted on the glass. Flagg finished in the 98th percentile in defensive rebounding rate (14.1%), but he averaged just 1.2 offensive rebounds per game and finished in the 79th percentile in offensive rebounding rate (3.5%). Dusty May has told the media he would love to see more second-chance opportunities for Flagg, and perhaps Irving’s return allows him to play more minutes lower on the floor. The second-year phenom will need to improve his shooting as well. In his lone season at Duke, Flagg shot 38.5% on 3.6 attempts per game. Last season, he hit just 29.5% of his 3.5 attempts per game.
How will May do at the professional level?
May is a winner. In his final four seasons in college basketball — two at Florida Atlantic and two at Michigan — May went 124-26, made the Final Four twice, and won a national championship. His Michigan teams were fast-paced, analytically sound, and emphasized ball movement. The Wolverines finished last season 25th in assist rate (61.0%), took 41.4% of their attempts from deep, and their average two-point attempt distance was 4.8 feet. How does all of this translate to the professional level? There is not a rich history of coaches who have made the leap from college to the NBA successfully. May has proven to be a basketball Midas, turning every program he touches into gold. Just three seasons ago, Dallas lost in the NBA Finals, but that was a lifetime ago. A .500 record and a Play-In berth would be considered a massive success, but May will have to figure out how to get the most out of a flawed roster to do so.
WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: Over 33.5
