We are officially one week from the start of the NBA regular season, with the Dallas Mavericks kicking things off at home against the San Antonio Spurs next Wednesday, October 22nd. It’s been an emotional past year as a Mavericks fan, to say the least. There have been some difficult goodbyes, and one very auspicious welcome, alongside an often tumultuous fan relationship with the franchise’s leadership. For many of the old Dirk-heads amongst us, major change wasn’t something of a regular occurrence
within the Dallas locker room, nor within the way it conducted its business. While 2025 showcases a different set of commonalities and virtues than that era did, it can certainly be said that this team – as a whole – showcases a wider range of talent than almost any team since the 2011 championship squad. And while health may play a major factor in where this team ultimately ends up, its ceiling is nonetheless very high, on paper.
Something that doesn’t always appear on that paper, though, is a team’s chemistry and its veteran leadership. And as we prepare to kick off what we anticipate as being a strong 2025 campaign here in Dallas, our initial question is: who better to set our expectations by than the longest-tenured player on the team (with the 5th most regular season games played in franchise history): Dwight Harlan Powell?
Big Question
In my mind, there are two big questions. First (a two-parter, itself), can Dwight be the veteran presence needed in this locker room to help with unlocking Cooper Flagg’s potential, as well as leading this team from an emotional standpoint? Powell has shown a great deal of tenacity during his lengthy career. He’s often asked to be ready to start at a moment’s notice, while other times being depended upon to be a vocal leader from the bench. With Flagg hoping to hit the ground running as a rookie, and with the Mavs being without elite veteran Kyrie Irving to start the season, can Powell provide that steady voice to keep the ship upright during the good and bad times this team will face?
The second, and maybe more important question, is how much will we see Dwight in action this season? What his minute average looks like in a few minutes could be a telling stat for one of two very different reasons. If the team’s starters are kicking ass and taking names early on, leading to big enough leads to warrant sitting the starters during the 4th quarter, Jason Kidd may call on Dwight to spell the more elite players ahead of him in the front court (Anthony Davis, Derrick Lively II, Daniel Gafford). The other scenario that sees Powell with big minutes is the scary one. As talented as the three big men just mentioned are, if more than one of them finds themself on the injury list, Dallas’s defense-first gameplan could face major complications.
Best Case Scenario
The best case scenario would be the one mentioned above where Dwight sees lots of 4th quarter minutes due to excellent game execution by the starters, with Dallas winning a high volume of games by large margins via elite defense and steady offense. With this scenario, the punch king of Dallas basketball can ride out the final season of his current contract like a horse into the sunset. And best, best case scenario, Dwight is able to fill this very important role on a team that wins the championship, something which would absolutely cement Powell’s legacy in Dallas and increase his status as a local fan-favorite.
Worst Case Scenario
As also mentioned above, the worst case scenario for Dwight Powell’s season this year would also be the worst case scenario for the Mavericks team, which would find him starting at the 5 for any reason other than resting starters for the playoffs.
Season Goal
With those things in mind, it seems best to stay on the positive side of thinking and talk realistically about what we hope to see from Dwight. I think it’s more of the first question above. Not only can he be a voice of leadership for this very talented team (alongside veterans Klay Thompson, Davis, and Irving), but can he find a way to help unlock Flagg’s potential by teaching him some of those hard-earned tricks that have made him the resilient player that he is?
