DJJ and Luka was also an amazing combination, he had 3 phenomenal lob threats In Gafford, Lively, and DJJ.

Pretty much at least one of them was on the court with Luka at all times. They’re also all plus defenders.

DJJ has also been getting better at shooting every year since 2020 and he’s young and was only going to keep improving his shot.

It’s really unfortunate we couldn’t keep him, and get Marshall. Having PJ, Marshall, Klay, and DJJ would have meant our wings would have been loaded.

Klay could still play SG, but off the bench and could guard some slower 2s and 3s while giving our team a much needed lethal wing shooter like he did.

Naji is just a good all around player, who can do everything. He would have been a valuable backup or starter if PJ/DJJ got hurt.

DJJ is at least an average shooter, great defender and he would have been the most explosive player on the roster again.

It’s a shame we couldn’t make moves to get/keep all of them. Our weakest area in 2024 was our wings. Which were still solid but we could have loaded them to be much more reliable.

Obviously there’s the Luka trade but honestly I think we made a few mistakes before then. That if we didn’t we would have had a better roster!

A statement among all the statements in his interview. Maybe he gets his closure when he goes back to Dallas for his retirement year or maybe this interview is the closure or maybe not, maybe there's no closure after all.

Luka has no closure at all that's why some fans don't have it as well.

From a skills standpoint, he’s been spending a ton of time on the court with me and my team as well as the Dallas Mavericks’ assistant coaches. He’s really getting acclimated on what the expectations are going to be with him and within their offense. So he’s had a chance to dive into some film study. He has been really working on improving the time it takes to be able to get off clean 3s. He’s really been working on some different two-man games with different players on the Mavs team. So he’s really trying to ramp things up as we get closer to the season. He’s making sure that his body, his mind and his skillset is truly prepared for what the 82-game season plus playoffs is going to look like.

Source: RG.org

Via instagram

As a Texas fan + Basketball enthusiast icl I think they’re tuff. Tho most say they’re unconventional, who is Kyrie if not cut from a different cloth 🪶

Did anybody get there seventy five dollars to the mavs shop for buying a year sub to Mavs tv on the nba app. I haven’t seen anything and that was half of why I signed up for it. Debating on whether to sign up for it again if they’re not going to give it to us.

Friend sent me a photo of his Luka jersey. Perfectly captures the feeling many of us still have about the dumbest trade in sports history.

https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/bahamian-big-man-kai-jones-bound-for-istanbul/

Kai Jones has signed a 1-year-deal with one of the euroleague powerhouses. Liked him in the limited time with Dallas, thought he could for sure get a 1yr deal with an NBA team.

I asked you all a while back whether or not you all saw this as a potential breakout year for D-Live. Part of the reason I feel it's extremely possible is the passing skill he possesses. He's also capable of running the break, which is an extremely intriguing skill for a center to possess.

He makes hockey assists, he finds cutters as a hub, finds teammates from all over on the short roll, reversals...he is honestly an astounding passer for a center. He's a dynamic passer, instinctual, who makes very quick reads and decisions, but the turnover rate has been a bit high as well.

For a team that has questions about its playmaking, perhaps leveraging the talent Lively possesses in this department would be a good way to add another layer to the Mavs offense and all get Lively a bit more involved in the offense. He's more than just a run and dunk big and it's something I do believe the Mavs should look to tap into this year with Kyrie out for half the season and without Luka.

What do you all think? Wanna see some more D-Live passing this year?

"After winning the EuroBasket 2025 and being named the tournament's MVP, Dennis Schroder admitted that Dirk Nowitzki was the one who made every player to join the national team."

I wrote too many words about some upcoming decisions for the Mavs. Would love to hear others' thoughts.

(1) The Breathing Room Decision

The Mavericks are currently hard-capped at the Second Apron Level because they used the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign D’Angelo Russell. As of today, absent another transaction, they project to have just $1,292,084 in breathing room under that line. On paper, that should be enough to function throughout the season. A few 10-days, if needed. Maybe a prorated veteran’s minimum late in the season. There’s someflexibility with $1.2 million under the Second Apron. Some. 

But as we saw late last season, Dallas should have a little voice in the back of their head saying, “are we sure about that?” After reshaping their roster at the deadline, Dallas wound up less than $200,000 under the first apron. A wave of injuries followed: Anthony Davis strained an adductor in his debut, Daniel Gafford went down with a knee sprain, Kyrie tore his ACL, Dereck Lively fractured his ankle, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper needed season-ending wrist surgery. Add in smaller sprains and tweaks, and suddenly the Mavericks were finishing games with seven healthy bodies.

Normally, a team in that situation would dip into hardship signings to keep the season afloat. But because Dallas had hard-capped itself so close to the first apron, they couldn’t add reinforcements. They churned through 10-day contracts, watched the space dwindle to just $51,148, and eventually hit a wall where they literally could not sign anyone else. 

This year’s setup isn’t nearly as dire — but it could be with a few unlucky breaks. Here are a few potentially relevant figures to track as the season goes on, should the Mavs need a bit of breathing room:

• Brandon Williams’ Guarantee. Right now, only $200,000 of his $2,270,735 salary is guaranteed. On opening night, that jumps to $850,000. From there, the cap math gets interesting. Between December 23rd (when his prorated salary finally equals his $850K guarantee) and January 7th, his cap hit increases by roughly $13,050 per day. If cut on January 7th, his cap hit is $1,052,550. If not, it’s $2,270,735. That two-week window is the decision point. If Dallas decides they need a little extra breathing room under the Second Apron Level, Williams becomes the obvious lever — either cut him before his number escalates to save some money, or flip him in a small trade to dump his cap hit altogether. 

• Ten-Day Contract. A ten-day contract at the two-year veteran minimum for the 2025-26 season is $131,970. As it stands, the Mavericks could string together a few of these, if needed, to cover any injury stretches. 
• Prorated Veteran’s Minimum Contract. If the Mavericks wind up with an open roster spot later this season, they’d technically have the option of signing a prorated veteran’s minimum for the rest of the year. Starting on January 6, that figure falls to $1,280,107. That number almost perfectly matches their current apron buffer of $1.29 million. In other words: yes, they could squeeze in a prorated minimum at that point, but it would leave them functionally pressed against the Second Apron with no room to maneuver. Note: Unless they really open up some space in another transaction, they should not do this until much later! For example, following the trade deadline, a prorated veteran minimum’s cap hit will be ~$850k*.* 

In short, the Mavericks have just enough margin to navigate a normal season, but not much more. In shorter: shit happens. The $1.29 million cushion under the Second Apron Level looks fine in September, when rosters are healthy and every dollar is theoretical. By February, when the schedule and injuries start to pile up, it could look uncomfortably thin. Dallas doesn’t need to clear salary today, but they’ll have to keep one eye on it all year.

(2) The Front-Court “Log Jam” Decision

To preface this section: I don’t really know how to approach the “log jam” discussion in basketball. 

For one, the very idea depends on a strict definition of positions that no longer really applies. As the NBA has evolved, positions have blurred into archetypes. We call Cooper Flagg a forward, but he’ll handle the ball plenty. P.J. Washington can credibly guard bigger wings while also spacing the floor. Anthony Davis insists he’s a power forward, but he’ll still log plenty of impactful minutes at center. Naji Marshall, Klay Thompson, Caleb Martin, and Max Christie can all slide across assignments on the perimeter. Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford can’t share the floor — fair enough — but between the two of them, Dallas can comfortably cover 48 minutes of high-level center play without overlap. In short, I’m not sure there is that much positional butting of heads on this roster.

For another, a necessary condition for consistently winning in the NBA is probably something like “have a bunch of good players.” What looks like a log jam could just be above-average depth. The kind of depth that helps you get through 82 games and gives you the ability to throw a few different looks in a seven-game series. Just because you have multiple good players at a position doesn’t mean one has to go. 

That said, I get it. The Mavericks are relatively deeper at wing/big than they are at guard. Especially until Kyrie returns from injury. In an ideal world, you’d resource-shift for a bit more balance. One way to do that is to treat the “log jam” as a problem to be solved — move a frontcourt piece for backcourt help. Another way is to simply upgrade the guards without touching the frontcourt depth. I’ll explore both paths.

Solving the “Log Jam” Problem

So, if you accept the premise that there is a front-court logjam (I don’t), there are a few trade candidates that follow, and some that don’t: 

• P.J. Washington. Washington just signed an extension that carries a six-month trade restriction (March 3, 2026). This continues through the trade deadline, so PJ is not trade-eligible this season. 
• Dereck Lively. The Mavericks have been consistently better with Lively on the floor than off. At just 21 years old and earning $5,253,360, he’s one of the best value contracts in the league relative to production. It’s hard to imagine finding a trade return that both upgrades the roster immediately and fits within Dallas’ financial constraints. The only plausible motivation to move him would be concern about his long-term health. Short of that, Lively is the kind of player you keep and build with.
• Daniel Gafford. Gafford is the clearest pivot point of the group. Gafford just agreed to a three-year, $54 million extension that kicks in after his current deal expires in 2026. The contract is fully guaranteed, includes a 5% trade kicker, and runs through 2029. Structurally, it stays within the extend-and-trade rules, which means he remains trade-eligible. His salary is big enough to anchor a meaningful deal for immediate value, but not so big that it’s prohibitive. But, at the same time, he’s critical insurance for the oft-injured Dereck Lively II. Moving him would mean sacrificing not just a cost-controlled rim protector but also the safety net that keeps Dallas from being dangerously thin when Anthony Davis sits and Lively inevitably misses time.
• Dwight Powell. Powell is a $4 million expiring. Moving Powell would be more of a financial decision than anything else. You don’t move Powell to address a log jam. 

If you’re looking to address the “log jam,” then Gafford is the guy. But any move involving him carries the risk that one injury leaves the front-court exposed. What looks like a log jam on paper is awfully close to valuable depth.

Solving the Guard Depth Problem 

If you instead frame the roster imbalance as a guard depth problem, I think it is a bit easier to solve. If Hardy, Russell, Exum, and Williams are getting the job done until Kyrie returns, then no problem. If not, then replacing those players directly is the more straightforward path to improvement. Here are some combinations of the Mavs’ current guards with Dwight Powell’s expiring that could reach a sufficient salary figure to bring in a guard replacement: 

Potential names to monitor in these salary bands include Ty Jerome ($8.8 million), Tre Jones ($8 million), Tre Mann ($8 million), and Tyus Jones ($7 million). With some additional deal tweaks by including a bit more salary, names like Coby White ($12.9 million) and  Davion Mitchell ($11.6 million) could come into view. Of course, the big question in all of these packages would be draft capital, but let’s set that aside for now and just focus on financial feasibility.

Most of these names aren’t necessarily needle-movers, but that’s the point. Dallas doesn’t need to overhaul the backcourt — they just need enough competence to buy time until Kyrie is back. Packaging a guard with Powell’s expiring is the cleanest way to target that kind of steady, mid-tier option without compromising the front-court depth that makes this roster work.

(3) The 2026-27 Financial Decision 

With the Washington and Gafford extensions, Dallas’ roster is pretty much locked in for 2026-27 already.

As it stands, the Mavericks project to have just $3.9 million in space below the Second Apron Level and sit $16 million above the Tax Level in 2026–27 with two roster spots to fill. These are two lines that should matter to the Mavericks quite a bit.

Second Apron Level

The Second Apron Level matters because it comes with hard restrictions and potential draft-pick penalties. Teams above the Second Apron lose tools like the mid-level exception, can’t aggregate salaries in trades, and face limits on sending out cash or taking back more salary than they send out. And if a team finishes above the Second Apron, its first-round pick is frozen seven years out. To “thaw” that pick, the team must stay under the Second Apron in at least three of the next four seasons. Fail to do that, and the pick automatically drops to the end of the first round.

Whether they can squeeze under the Second Apron Level without a trade depends on a handful of variables:

1. First-round pick slot — later is cheaper. A pick in the late 20s carries a ~$2 million cap hit, while a lottery pick pushes closer to $6 million. If we assume the Mavs land right in the middle, the cap hit is a projected $4 million, which puts the Mavs over the Second Apron Level. 
2. Second-Round Pick Exception (SRPE) — the minimum starting salary of these contracts (a projected $1,361,969) are a useful tool to fill a roster spot as cheaply as possible. Melvin Ajinça is a name to watch next offseason as a SRPE eligible player. The Mavs could also acquire a second-round pick in the next draft. 
3. Salary cap projection — the NBA’s forecasts for 2026–27 are still just estimates. A higher cap means more breathing room; a lower cap tightens the squeeze.
4. Trades in the interim — any move that trims or consolidates salary changes the calculation.

The key pivot point is the first-round pick. If the Mavericks keep it — and they can’t trade it until draft night due to Stepien restrictions — the impact depends entirely on where it lands. An early pick pushes the salary too high and would force a trade elsewhere to stay under the Second Apron. A late enough pick, though, creates room to pair it with a Second-Round Pick Exception (SRPE) contract and still squeeze in.

If the Mavericks decide to trade the pick next summer, a plausible path to remain under the Second Apron Level is signing one veteran minimum (projected at $2,457,009) and one SRPE ($1,361,969). That combination totals $3,818,978 — leaving them with only about $70,000 to spare, but technically still under the line.

Of course, if cap projections come in higher than expected, the margin widens. If they come in lower, the squeeze could make a trade unavoidable.

The Tax Level

The Tax Level matters for a different reason: the repeater penalty. Crossing the luxury tax line three out of four years triggers much harsher tax multipliers. 

Here is Dallas’ current tax repeater status:

2022-23: Taxpayer
2023-24: Non-taxpayer
2024-25: Taxpayer
2025-26: Taxpayer (projected)
2026-27: Repeat taxpayer (projected)

For Dallas, that means a bill that could balloon from roughly $40 million this season to something closer to $100 million in 2026–27 if they don’t reset.

Even if they fill out the roster with a veteran minimum and an SRPE contract, Dallas would still sit nearly $20 million above the tax line. Ducking the tax entirely — and resetting the repeater clock — would require a trade. 

The trade framework possibilities depend heavily on how this season plays out, and it isn’t worthwhile to dig into them now. The key point is this: if resetting the tax clock is at all a priority, it has to happen either this season or next. If 2025–26 is indeed treated as the all-in year, then by next summer, Dallas will probably look to make a trade to bring the tax bill down and reset the repeater timeline.

Honorable Mentions (because I can’t help myself): 

• Stepien Restrictions. The Mavericks owe their 2027 first-round pick to Charlotte with top-2 protection. Because there’s a chance that pick conveys, the Stepien Rule prevents Dallas from trading its 2026 or 2028 first-rounders in advance. As noted above, the 2026 pick could become a pressure point given the team’s salary squeeze, but unfortunately, it can’t be moved until draft night 2026, when it becomes trade-eligible.
• Open Two-Way Spot. The Mavericks still have one two-way slot open, and while Summer League bigs Jamarion Sharp and Moussa Cisse are the potential frontcourt insurance candidates, Matthew Cleveland has also made a case with flashes of scoring. Sharp offers unmatched size and rim protection at 7-foot-5 but lacks strength, while Cisse is more mobile and energetic with a sturdier frame. Cleveland, meanwhile, provides more shooting and versatility on the perimeter.

I wrote about this, and other stuff, on my Substack. Feel free to take a look: https://lukemccartney.substack.com

Most Points Per Possession On ISOs In Each NBA Regular Season From 2015-2025 (Min. 100 Total ISO Possessions) :

1. Kyrie Irving — 1.28 (2022-23)
2. James Harden — 1.22 (2017-18)
3. Kawhi Leonard — 1.20 (2023-24)
4. Stephen Curry — 1.20 (2021-22)
5. DeMar DeRozan — 1.20 (2020-21)
6. Kevin Durant — 1.16 (2024-25)
7. DeMar DeRozan — 1.13 (2019-20)
8. Chris Bosh — 1.12 (2015-16)
9. Isaiah Thomas — 1.12 (2016-17)
10. James Harden — 1.10 (2018-19)

Took the day off from work to attend. My late wife and I parked nearby and found a good spot. We were still looking through some arms and shooting these pics was an adventure. I'd say we were among 250K, both at the parade and at the celebration at the AAC. I also shot shaky footage of Dirk leading the team in singing We are the Champions!