Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel Named Rookies Of The Month

December 2nd, 2025 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Duke teammates Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel have been named the NBA’s October/November Rookies of the Month for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

According to the league, it’s the first time since the NBA began handing out Rookie of The Month honors by conference in 2001/02 that the Western and Eastern winners were from the same college program.

The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Flagg got off to a bit of a slow start for the struggling Mavericks, but had a big November that he wrapped up by scoring a career-high 35 points in a win over the Clippers on Saturday.

In total, the 18-year-old forward averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 steals in 34.0 minutes per game across 20 outings in October and November. Flagg made just 25.3% of his three-point tries, but posted solid field goal (46.2%) and free throw (80.3%) percentages.

Flagg beat out Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward and Pelicans teammates Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, who were also nominated in the West, per the NBA (Twitter link).

In the East, Knueppel won the award over fellow nominees VJ Edgecombe of the Sixers and Hornets teammate Ryan Kalkbrenner. The fourth overall pick has immediately emerged as a go-to offensive option in Charlotte after starring alongside Flagg with the Blue Devils in his first and only college season.

In his first 20 games, Knueppel averaged 18.4 points per game on .470/.413/.898 shooting while also contributing 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest.

Flagg is currently the slight betting favorite for this season’s Rookie of the Year award. Both he and Knueppel are considered significant favorites over the rest of the field.

Southwest Notes: Flagg, Washington, Morant, Vassell

November 30th, 2025 at 2:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

Cooper Flagg made history for the Mavericks on back-to-back nights, writes Tim MacMahon for ESPN.

One day after becoming the youngest player to record 10 or more assists in a game, Flagg became the youngest player to score 35 points in a game, sneaking the record in five days earlier than LeBron James accomplished the same feat in 2003. Most importantly, Flagg’s 35 points came in a win, which have been few and far between for a struggling Mavericks team this fall.

“He’s only 18 years old, but he seems like he’s been in this league before,” coach Jason Kidd said. “You can call it point guard or whatever, but he ran the offense for us. He drove the ball. The ball touched the paint. He got to the rim, got to the free throw line, stepped up and made free throws for us late.”

Veteran sharpshooter Klay Thompson, who had one of his best games of the season in the win, spoke highly of Flagg following Saturday’s game.

“Cooper’s upside is limitless,” Thompson said. “He has every tool to be great. Sometimes I can’t believe he should be a freshman in college.”

Thompson also threw out a lofty comparison to his situation in relation to Flagg, according to The Athletic’s Christian Clark, making reference to the Lakers in the first year of Kobe Bryant’s career.

“I feel like [Byron Scott] sometimes,” Thompson said. “The old, wise veteran. The future of the franchise to my side. It’s pretty cool to be a part of it. To be witnesses to what he’s going to do for a long time.”

We have more from around the Southwest Division:

Mavericks forward P.J. Washington was a late scratch on Saturday due to a right ankle sprain suffered when he slipped on a ball during warmups, Mike Curtis writes for the Dallas Morning News. Washington, who was still active for the game, was initially listed as questionable to return, but was ruled out around the end of the first quarter. His status for Dallas’ upcoming three-game road trip is unclear.
Ja Morant will be reevaluated next week once the Grizzlies return to Memphis on Tuesday following their four-game road trip, tweets Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. This update is in line with the timeline announced for Morant when he initially was diagnosed with the calf strain. Wallace notes that the point guard is currently engaged in light on-court warmup work.
Devin Vassell has been on a tear of late, scoring more points in the Spurs‘ past two games than in any other two-game stretch of his career, writes Jeff McDonald for the San Antonio Express-News. That run included a 35-point explosion in a win against the Nuggets on Friday night, in which his teammates were well aware of the zone he was in. “[Keldon Johnson] told me in the last two minutes if the ball comes to me, don’t think,” Vassell said. “Just be aggressive and shoot.” As impressive as Vassell’s scoring was, head coach Mitch Johnson was happy to see the intensity the 25-year-old brought on the defensive end of the court. “He’s becoming a winning player,” Johnson said. “We’ve got our arm around him and our foot up his backside to continue to do it. He’s a difference maker when he does that.”

Mavericks Notes: AD, Luka, Flagg, Nembhard, Cisse

November 29th, 2025 at 4:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Mavericks big man Anthony Davis slightly exceeded the minutes restriction he had Friday in his first game back following a 14-game absence, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. The star forward/center, who was facing the Lakers for the first time since the shocking February trade that sent Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and Davis to Dallas, faced immediate double-teams, ultimately finishing with 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 28 minutes.

“I thought he was good for his first game back,” head coach Jason Kidd said (story via Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal). “We’ll try to get the rhythm and try to get the flow of just being with those guys on the floor. I thought he was good on both ends. As we go forward and continue, as we talked about, to stacking good minutes, he did that.”

The Mavericks wound up losing by 10 points to fall to 5-15, the second-worst record in the Western Conference. Davis is optimistic the team still has time to turn its season around, Afseth adds.

“We’re still playing basketball, we’re trying to compete,” Davis said. “We are competing, we’re playing for each other, and we’re playing together. I remember when Brooklyn started off 5-20 and ended up at the four seed. I’m not saying we’re comparing ourselves to that or that we’re going to start off 5-20, but we just have to keep competing. There were just a couple of plays here and there that hurt us, but we can’t complain, we keep fighting. I feel like we’re right there.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

It’s been almost 10 months since Doncic was traded, but he says matchups against his former team will always be meaningful, Afseth writes in another story for Dallas Hoops Journal. “I would say it’s a little bit easier now,” Doncic said. “But games against Dallas always have some special meaning to me. I still have a lot of friends there. It’s important, it’s fun, and it’s always special. Like I say, it’ll always be special for me.”
After the game, Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News asked Doncic for his thoughts on Cooper Flagg (Twitter video link). “I think he’s a good player,” Doncic said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with (being) the first pick so he has a lot on his shoulders, but I think he will become a great player.” The 18-year-old rookie had 13 points, a career-high 11 assists and seven rebounds in the loss.
Rookie Ryan Nembhard, who is on a two-way contract, received his first career start on Friday, as first reported by Marc Stein (via Twitter). The former Gonzaga point guard had a solid outing, recording 17 points (on 7-of-11 shooting) and four assists in 23 minutes. “They weren’t really guarding me,” Nembhard said, per Afseth. “They was trying to play off me and stand those gaps for AD and double him and make it tough on him. So a lot of open shots presented themselves and I’m just trying to be aggressive, get my teammates involved, and take advantage of the opportunity.”
In a feature story for Ratings, Afseth details how undrafted rookie Moussa Cisse has become a valuable contributor for the Mavs. Like Nembhard, the Guinean center is on a two-way deal with Dallas. “He’s a bit undersized at the five, but he’s explosive and plays extremely hard,” a scout said. “He’s a bit further along than I expected, but there’s still plenty of work there. You can tell he’s still getting used to guarding NBA actions and talent — his angles can use some work. But he’s really dynamic rotating from the weak side and he’s going to crash the boards hard on both ends. I like his potential.”

Mavs Reportedly Not Interested In Trading Kyrie Irving

November 27th, 2025 at 1:12pm CST by Luke Adams

As trade speculation swirls around the struggling Mavericks in the wake of Nico Harrison‘s dismissal from the front office, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said during Wednesday’s episode of the Howdy Partners podcast (YouTube link) that he doesn’t view point guard Kyrie Irving as a serious candidate to be moved during the 2025/26 season.

“What I would tell you about Kyrie is the Mavericks do not want to trade him,” MacMahon said in response to a question from his ESPN colleague Michael C. Wright. “… The only way I think that Kyrie Irving would get traded is if he went to the Mavericks and asked for that to happen. And I don’t have any information that points in that direction.”

As MacMahon explains, while the Mavericks intend to build around No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, that doesn’t mean they want to purge their roster of veteran talent and ask a teenager to become the face and voice of the franchise. Flagg is the NBA’s youngest player and won’t turn 19 for a few more weeks.

Pointing out that Irving has been a respected leader in the Mavericks’ locker room since the team acquired him from Brooklyn in February 2023, MacMahon suggests the point guard still fits into the plans in Dallas going forward and that the Mavs’ preference would be to have Irving “on the floor, in the starting lineup, and as the leader of the team next year.”

What that means for Irving’s playing status this season remains to be seen. During a recent appearance on The Hoop Collective podcast, MacMahon stated that Irving is making good progress from the ACL tear he suffered last March, but speculated that the 33-year-old might not play in 2025/26 “for other reasons.” On Wednesday, he provided more clarity on that remark.

“That was too cryptic. Let me just be clear,” MacMahon said. “The other reason is because this is the one year the Mavericks can benefit from being bad. That’s it. Because they don’t have control of their own (first-round) pick in ’27, ’28, ’29, and ’30. So they’ve got this (2026) pick, and that’s the only pick they control of their own during Cooper Flagg’s rookie deal.”

The Mavericks are off to a 5-14 start this season and have an uphill battle ahead of them to get back into the postseason picture in the Western Conference, especially if they trade some of their other veterans by the February 5 deadline. In other words, the club could be well positioned to snag another lottery pick in 2026 before once again trying to contend for the playoffs in 2026/27.

One reason Dallas has played so poorly this fall is the absence of big man Anthony Davis, who has missed 14 consecutive games due to a calf strain. Davis is expected to make his return on Friday or Saturday, which should make the team more competitive in the short term. However, MacMahon, who previously reported that the Mavs are expected to explore the trade market for Davis this season, stressed on Wednesday that he still very much expects that to happen.

“Trading AD is a real possibility – and I would even say likelihood – this season,” MacMahon told Wright. “Trading Kyrie is not something that’s on the Mavericks’ priority list, or it’s just straight up not something that they are interested in doing right now.”

Irving is in the first season of a three-year, $118.5MM contract that he signed with Dallas over the summer.

Mavs Rumors: Davis, Irving, Gafford, Lively, Front Office

November 21st, 2025 at 12:01am CST by Rory Maher

Despite minority owner Mark Cuban‘s public statements to the contrary, multiple reporters have heard the Mavericks will explore the trade market for star big man Anthony Davis before the deadline in February.

Marc Stein reports at Substack that Dallas plans to take “any” incoming trade calls on Davis in the coming months, though a deal actually materializing will depend on the quality of potential offers. Davis has a lengthy injury history, Stein notes, and is currently sidelined by a calf strain.

Team sources who spoke to Christian Clark of The Athletic say the Mavs plan to be “opportunistic in pursuing any scenario that strengthens the roster” around Cooper Flagg. Those same sources also insisted Dallas is still in “information-gathering mode” as the team weighs its options for the future.

Here are a few more rumors on the Mavericks:

According to Stein’s sources, Dallas isn’t looking to solicit offers for Kyrie Irving and would like to retain the nine-time All-Star, who is out indefinitely with a torn ACL. However, Stein points out that the Mavs lack future first-round picks, and suggests their stance on Irving might change if they receive an offer that’s too good to pass up.
Stein continues to hear center Daniel Gafford would have several suitors if the Mavericks put him on the trade market. The athletic big man has been rounding into form after his season debut was delayed by a right ankle sprain, having averaged 13.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks over his last four games (27.0 minutes per contest).
In his latest Bleacher Report live stream (YouTube link), NBA insider Jake Fischer said he thinks the Mavs aren’t going to just sell off players to the highest bidders if their values are at a relative low point due to injuries. He made the comment in passing, but Fischer doesn’t expect Dereck Lively II to be among the players on the trading block.
Both Stein and Clark report that governor Patrick Dumont doesn’t feel a sense of urgency to begin a formal search for a new head of basketball operations after dismissing Nico Harrison. “The timeline won’t determine the hire. The qualifications will determine the hire,” one source familiar with ownership’s thinking told The Athletic. According to Clark, the Mavs are seeking “calmness and stability” from whomever gets selected to run the front office. Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley are currently serving as co-interim general managers.

Cuban: Mavs Don’t Intend To Trade Anthony Davis

November 19th, 2025 at 3:25pm CST by Luke Adams

3:25 pm: Cuban is contradicting what MacMahon’s sources said about Davis, telling Joe Vardon of The Athletic that the Mavericks won’t try to trade the 10-time All-Star this season.

“We won’t,” Cuban wrote in an email when asked if he and Dumont would look to move Davis. “We want to try to win.”

While Cuban is part of the Mavericks’ brain trust, he’s essentially serving as an advisor and doesn’t have the final say on basketball matters, so he won’t be the one ultimately making the decision on Davis. It’s also possible his position will change prior to February 5 if the 4-11 Mavs don’t begin turning things around in the coming weeks.

7:54 am: The Mavericks will explore the trade market for big man Anthony Davis prior to this season’s deadline, multiple team sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

There has been rampant speculation since the Mavericks parted ways with head of basketball operations Nico Harrison last week that Davis will end up on the trade block. MacMahon’s report is confirmation that the team will at least consider dealing the 32-year-old during the 2025/26 season.

As MacMahon explains, Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont and his new team of decision-makers – including co-interim general managers Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, head coach Jason Kidd, and minority owner Mark Cuban – are “plotting to pivot” to a future built around this year’s No. 1 overall pick, 18-year-old Cooper Flagg. While Flagg represents the franchise’s long-term future, it remains unclear how significant a roster overhaul the club is mulling.

Davis has an impressive NBA résumé that includes 10 All-Star appearances, five All-NBA berths, five All-Defensive nods, a championship, and a spot on the league’s 75th anniversary team.

However, he also has an extensive injury history, which has reared its head in a major way since he was traded from Los Angeles to Dallas as part of last season’s shocking Luka Doncic blockbuster. Davis has appeared in just 14 of 48 possible regular season games for the Mavs since that deal and is currently sidelined due to a left calf strain.

Davis had hoped to return by now, but has been held out of action by the club’s medical staff. Dumont has reportedly been involved in that decision-making process, having pushed for a cautious approach in order to reduce the risk of the star forward/center aggravating the injury or making it worse. The team announced on Sunday that Davis will be reevaluated in seven-to-10 days.

Besides his injury history, Davis also represents a major risk for any team acquiring him due to his age (33 in March) and contract situation. He’s earning $54.1MM this season and $58.5MM in 2026/27, with a $62.8MM player option for ’27/28. He’ll also be extension-eligible next summer.

Although Davis is still expected to generate interest on the trade market, it’s possible the return wouldn’t be what the Mavs are hoping for. The 14th-year veteran could boost his value if he’s able to get back on the court soon and play at an All-NBA level again leading up to the February 5 trade deadline, but if Dallas isn’t satisfied with what an in-season return for Davis looks like, the team could end up waiting until the offseason to more seriously explore a deal.

Mavs Notes: AD, Kyrie, Flagg, Cisse, Williams, Thompson

November 17th, 2025 at 7:09pm CST by Rory Maher

ESPN insiders Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, Zach Kram and Jeremy Woo take a look at some important decisions the Mavericks will face in the coming months, including whether they should trade Anthony Davis — and what they might be able to get for him.

“While you can point to Davis as a top-20 player in Los Angeles, it is a $175 million gamble and perhaps more, if you trade for him,” a Western Conference executive told Marks. “I would want to see a long stretch of games of Davis healthy before there could ever be a discussion.

“The extension and paying a player in their mid-30s an average of $69 million and the last nine months in Dallas is what scares me. In this current CBA, you cannot afford to have a player earning 35% of the salary cap on the sidelines more than on the court.”

As Marks writes, while rival teams would undoubtedly take on risk if they pursued Davis, given his contract situation (he’s in the first season of a three-year, $175MM deal and will be eligible for a massive new extension in the offseason) and lengthy injury history (he’s currently sidelined with a calf strain), the star big man would still receive interest if he’s put on the market.

Here’s more on the Mavs:

Appearing on NBA Today on Monday (Twitter video link), Marc J. Spears of Andscape and ESPN provided an injury update on star guard Kyrie Irving. “Kyrie’s looking good, he’s ahead of schedule. He’s working out with the purpose of playing this season,” Spears said. “… I think, optimistic-wise, probably around late January, All-Star break (for a potential return). Someone close to (Irving) told me if it was the playoffs he could play right now. … But the problem is, who’s running the show? What’s their record going to be? Will Anthony Davis be back? I think by the time he’s able to potentially come back in late January, there’s going to be a collective decision — from him, from the team, from everybody that’s close to him — on whether it’s worth it for (Irving) to come back. But I hear he wants to be back.”
Top pick Cooper Flagg was held to just two points in the first half on Sunday against Portland and was “visibly irritated” by the way the game was going for him, according to Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. The 18-year-old rookie credited Daniel Gafford for changing his mindset — Flagg scored 19 points in the second half and helped lead the Mavs to their fourth victory. “He was frustrated at halftime,” Gafford said. “I told him to slow down — it’ll come to him. The game finds you.”
With six players (Twitter link via Afseth) — including big men Davis, Gafford (right ankle injury management) and Dereck Lively II (right knee injury management) out on Monday for the second game of a back-to-back, center Moussa Cisse received his first career start, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. The 6’10” rookie, who is on a two-way contract, has been a bright spot for Dallas amid a disappointing start to the season, averaging 4.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 10.8 minutes per game through 10 appearances.
In a pair of stories for DallasHoopsJournal.com, Afseth takes a look at how Brandon Williams‘ speed has created advantages for the Mavericks’ offense and how the attention Klay Thompson attracted on Sunday (he tied a season-high with 19 points) led to easy scoring opportunities for teammates. “Brandon Williams has been incredible,” Flagg said. “High energy, so quick, uses his speed to get downhill and find guys. Our chemistry in the two-man game late in games has been really good.”

Southwest Notes: Morant, Edey, Finney-Smith, Davis

November 15th, 2025 at 8:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant left Saturday’s game in Cleveland midway through the first quarter due to soreness in his right calf, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Returning to the court after missing Wednesday’s contest at Boston due to an ankle injury, Morant was only able to play six minutes against the Cavs, finishing with seven points and two assists. Vardon states that he was jogging gingerly on Memphis’ final possession before being removed.

Coach Tuomas Iisalo told reporters after the game that he’s not sure which play caused Morant’s injury, relays Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com (Twitter link). Morant is expected to undergo further testing, and likely an MRI, when the team gets back to Memphis.

Vince Williams Jr., who took over lead guard duties when Morant exited, turned his ankle late in the first half, per Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link), but he was able to return. The Grizzlies are low on point guards with Ty Jerome yet to make his season debut due to a right calf strain and Scotty Pippen Jr. recovering from toe surgery.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Zach Edey played nearly 25 minutes in his first game of the season and finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. The Grizzlies center is happy that the long recovery process following ankle surgery in June is finally over (Twitter video link from Grind City Media). “It felt good. I’ve been waiting all season,” Edey said. “My legs felt better than I expected. My wind, I didn’t really catch it until like the third quarter. I felt good out there.” Iisalo was happy with the performance of his new starting lineup featuring Edey and rookie forward Cedric Coward (Twitter video link). “Overall I like that lineup,” he said. “It gives us a lot of length, a lot of defense, a lot of physicality. Even though we lost today, I thought overall there were a lot of positives.”
The Rockets‘ depth took a hit with Tari Eason sidelined four-to-six weeks with an oblique strain, and it doesn’t appear that Dorian Finney-Smith will be able to help any time soon, writes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. The free agent addition is still recovering from offseason surgery on his left ankle and hasn’t been cleared for contact drills.
The Mavericks are listing Anthony Davis as doubtful for Sunday’s meeting with Portland, tweets Marc Stein of The Stein Line, who points out that Davis has been considered questionable for the past few games. Davis has missed the last eight games with a left calf strain, and Stein notes (via Twitter) that he’s already been surpassed in career minutes as a Maverick by rookie forward Cooper Flagg.

Mavs Notes: Dirk, Harrison, Luka, AD, Turnovers, Flagg

November 15th, 2025 at 2:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, now an analyst for Amazon Prime, recently weighed in on the team’s dismissal of head of basketball operations Nico Harrison (Twitter video link).

“Well, I think there’s just too many distractions, too much going on to keep going this way. This move should have probably happened this summer honestly,” Nowitzki said (hat tip to NBA insider Marc Stein). “I didn’t want this negative energy and this black cloud over the Cooper Flagg era, but here we are now.

“I just knew … I figured this fan base is a passionate and loyal fan base. I was lucky enough to experience it for 21 years. And I knew they weren’t (going to) just get over it, as people say, or forget about it. They’re extremely passionate.

“And this (Luka Doncic) trade just made no sense. It made no sense to (the fans). And, really, there was no explanation for it, either. You go to the (NBA) Finals the year before. You gave up all these assets to build, really, the team around Luka with some 6-9 wings that all can switch and guard. You had two lob threats with (Daniel) Gafford and (Dereck) Lively II and the team was built around him.

“You added Klay (Thompson) (when) the shooting was a little bit of an issue in the Finals against Boston. So you did all this. … Going into (the) Christmas Day game, they were 14-3 out of the last 17 games, so they’re just starting to hit their stride and then Luka gets hurt. And unfortunately that’s the last game he’s ever played in a Mavs uniform.

“It was very sad. It was very sad how that ended and it felt like … the fans feel like they got robbed of actually seeing the end, seeing this through, seeing Luka develop into hopefully a champion one day and it feels like they never got to see the end to this. So this was very heartbreaking.

“But now it’s time to move on. … Focus on this team, on this franchise. (The trade) definitely set the franchise back. But now it’s about building it back up. Obviously this team is struggling a bit, it needs the support all they can get. Hopefully we can have a good year here from now on and cheer the team up.”

Here’s more from Dallas:

After the Lakers lost to the Thunder on Wednesday, Doncic was asked for his reaction to the firing of Harrison, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays. “The city of Dallas, the fans, the players, they’ll always have a special place in my heart,” Doncic said. “I thought I was going to stay there forever, but I didn’t. So that will always be a special place for me. I will always call it home. But right now, I’m focused on the Lakers and trying to move on. But obviously, always there will be a part of me there. But just trying to move on and focus on what I’m doing here.”
Star big man Anthony Davis has been listed as questionable for each of the past four games, but he has yet to make his return from a left calf strain. League sources confirm to Stein that Davis won’t suit up again until the team’s medical staff informs governor Patrick Dumont that the 10-time All-Star has been fully cleared (Twitter link). Davis’ health status was reportedly a point of contention in the days leading up to Harrison’s dismissal.
Although the Mavs were able to claw their way back into Friday’s double-overtime loss to the Clippers, excessive turnovers — they committed 25 in the game — proved too difficult to overcome, particularly in crunch time, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. “It’s something we’ve talked about,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “We have to address it. We have to do better if we want to win — being able to get a shot, and then you want to get a quality shot. The turnovers hurt us. In overtime we had turnovers where we didn’t get a shot.”
After Friday’s game, Flagg admitted he feels more comfortable at his natural position of forward rather than running the point, which the No. 1 overall pick was asked to do to open the season. “Being a point guard comes with a lot of responsibility,” Flagg said, per Afseth. “I don’t know if I was ready for that right away. It doesn’t mean I can’t go back to it or improve… but lately it’s been better having someone else help with pressure.”

Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Davis, Magic, Clippers, LeBron

November 14th, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Arthur Hill

With the Mavericks off to a 3-9 start, there’s a feeling around the league that trading Anthony Davis — and possibly Kyrie Irving as well — might be their best strategy, according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Dallas fired general manager Nico Harrison this week amid continued fan uproar over February’s Luka Doncic trade, and now personnel moves may be necessary to carve out a brighter future.

Trade speculation has already focused on Davis, who is currently sidelined with a left calf strain and has appeared in just five games this season. He’s under contract for $58.5MM in 2026/27 and has a $62.8MM player option for the following season. He’ll become eligible for an extension next summer and could earn up to $218.5MM by picking up the option and extending for three more years.

Considering Davis’ contract situation and his long injury history, Windhorst states that the Mavs may have trouble getting the return they would want in a potential trade.

“I just looked it up so I could say this to my owner if he asks me about it, AD is turning 33 in March and he’s going to be in position next summer where he’ll probably want a contract extension that would cost $70MM per year when he’d be 37,” a rival general manager said. “He’s a great player, full stop. But when you consider a player at his age with his injury history, you’d also be trading for the stress of that extension. That plays into it.”

Executives around the league tell Bontemps that while the Mavericks could still be formidable with a fully healthy roster, moving the two stars and replenishing their draft assets while building around Cooper Flagg is probably their best strategy. After the 2026 draft, Dallas doesn’t control any of its first-round picks for the rest of the decade.

Parting with Davis and Irving would also help the Mavs escape the luxury tax, Bontemps adds. The team is projected to have a tax bill around $32MM this season, and the current roster is about $16MM over the tax threshold.

Bontemps and Windhorst share more inside information from around the NBA:

The Magic have won five of their last seven games, but their offense is still just 18th in the league and the offseason trade for Desmond Bane hasn’t provided the spark that was hoped for. According to Windhorst, head coach Jamahl Mosley has turned over most of the play calling to assistant Joe Prunty, who was hired during the offseason. However, some observers are skeptical that the current roster is capable of producing an efficient offense. “It’s got to get a little better, but the pieces aren’t changing,” a West executive said. “Bane will settle in eventually. But you still have a ball-dominant, iso star in Paolo (Banchero) that doesn’t scream ball movement, player movement and getting open shots. It hasn’t been pretty at all.”
With an old roster and growing injury concerns, the Clippers may be “cooked” after a 3-8 start. Bradley Beal has been lost for the season with a hip fracture, and Kawhi Leonard has been diagnosed with a sprained foot as well as a sprained ankle. It appears the decision to invest heavily in veteran talent is backfiring, as Windhorst notes that Brook Lopez, Nicolas Batum and Bogdan Bogdanovic haven’t been productive early in the season, while Chris Paul is completely out of the rotation. “They move so slowly, they can’t recover when they turn the ball over or give up a quick transition,” one advance scout said.
The Spurs and Lakers are both off to impressive starts, but there are mixed opinions on whether they can finish in the top four in the West. A West scout doesn’t believe Victor Wembanyama can hold up for 82 games, while an East executive isn’t convinced that L.A. will get better when LeBron James returns from his injury. “Don’t ask me about the Lakers until I can see LeBron play and see him move and how he looks,” the executive said. “He isn’t just dealing with the sciatica, he hurt his knee at the end of last season, and it surely affected his training routine. He’s never started a season coming off injuries like this before.”

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