Just like that, it is opening day for the 2025-26 NBA Season. Six long months have passed since your Dallas Mavericks last played in a game that had meaning. This is a roster that has both changed a lot
and very little within the last six or so months, which means it’s time to take stock of what we have with a power ranking of each of the 18 members of this team.
Yes, a committee of ball knowers and basketball purists have convened and come up with a proprietary formula to rank your Mavericks. The first ever VIBES rankings are based on anything but just vibes. The formula is as follows, with each of our seven committee members ranking the players in each of the categories from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best:
V – Value on contract
I – IQ (in a basketball sense, of course)
B – Ball handling ability/on ball creation
E – Effort defensively
S – Shot making ability (specifically from three point range)
Now, you might be saying to yourself, “jeez, these rankings make it awfully hard for bigs that can’t shoot and make a ton of money to be ranked very highly!” And you would be correct! I hate to break it to you, but the NBA is a guard driven league, or at least a “skilled” league. You’ve got to be able to operate with a basketball and that is taken into account, properly, into our rankings. Now, with that out of the way, let’s reveal the committee’s rankings.
18. Caleb Martin
VIBES points: 122/350
Martin scored a worst in class average of just 17.4 VIBES points per committee member. In fact, one committee member ranked Caleb Martin as 1/10 in each of our categories!
17. Jaden Hardy
VIBES points: 125/350
The lights of the Hardy party have been dimmed by our committee. Jaden scored mid-tier marks on his three-point ability, but scored a worst in class ranking in the basketball IQ department, including three 1/10 rankings.
16. Dwight Powell
VIBES points: 148/350
The Tim MacMahon of Dallas Mavericks scored about as favorably as Mr. Banned himself amongst Mavs fans.
15. Moussa Cisse
VIBES points: 161/350
The committee congratulates Moussa on earning the final two-way spot with the team and looks forward to watching him develop.
14. Daniel Gafford
VIBES points: 168/350
As noted above, this proprietary formula does punish bigs who can’t shoot. Daniel Gafford fits that bill. Useful, but maybe not as valuable as you think.
13. Miles Kelly
VIBES points: 177/350
The committee gave Miles very average marks in most places, except for his shot making. He was a marksman at Auburn and should continue to be that moving forward.
12. Anthony Davis
VIBES points: 178/350
To the controversial one. Davis graded out poorly in the areas you’d expect, shot making and ball handling/creation. It just isn’t balanced out enough by the defense and hoops IQ, both of which he graded out well. Lastly, the committee was mixed in what he provides for the money he makes, as he received everything from a two to a seven in that category. All in all, this is probably a product of the test we administered. It’ll be interesting to see how he fairs at the midterms.
11. D’Angelo Russell
VIBES points: 199/350
Russell didn’t receive much consensus from the committee, but he is right in a tightly bunched midtier of the roster. D’Angelo graded out best in the ball handling tier, while committee members handed out anywhere between a three and a nine in the value department.
10. Dante Exum
VIBES points: 200/350
The committee docked Exum due to his unfortunate injury situation. Even still, Dante received consistently average marks in all categories, which places him in the midpack.
9. Max Christie
VIBES points: 203/350
Max is the middle man of the Mavs Moneyball power rankings, but this is quite solid for a guy who came here in the circumstances he did. Christie was a polarizing player for the committee, as those who loved him had him in the 40’s in total points. Those who didn’t? High 20’s.
8. Dereck Lively
VIBES points: 209/350
Take those three-pointers, Dereck. Stay healthy, Dereck. Do that, and Dereck will not be eighth at our committee’s midterm exams.
7. Klay Thompson
VIBES points: 223/350
Thompson was dinged by the committee heavily on the defensive end of things, where it clearly just isn’t what it used to be for Klay. However, the committee still values Klay highly, considering the money he makes.
6. Brandon Williams
VIBES points: 225/350
Williams was another polarizing player for the committee, much like Max Christie. For him, however, more committee members respected Williiams’ ability to shoot the ball.
5. PJ Washington
VIBES points: 235/350
The committee has PJ Washington far lower than you would expect. However, one committee member noted that they “can not get the image of PJ Washington dribbling the ball off his foot while trying to drive four defenders in the paint” as part of their reasoning for a low ball handling/creation grade. We hope to see improvements here by midterms!
T-3. Naji Marshall
VIBES points: 237/350
Quickly the fan favorite after spreading some belated Christmas cheer to Jusuf Nurkic in Phoenix, Naji earned near top marks in every category, except that dang three-pointer.
T-3: Ryan Nembhard
VIBES points: 237/350
The committee has its fair share of NBA Draft junkies, who surely made their mark here with Nembhard. Ryan was nearly best in class in both value provided on their salary and basketball IQ. The committee is waiting to see if he can translate his college best assist numbers to the NBA at under six feet tall.
2. Kyrie Irving
VIBES points: 263/350
Irving, if not for the ACL, would’ve finished first in these rankings. Kyrie scored a perfect 70/70 in the ball handling/creation department, the only player to have a perfect score in any one category. The committee wishes him a speedy recovery!
1. Cooper Flagg
VIBES points: 269/350
Well, the committee has spoken. Cooper Flagg is the number one ranked player on the Mavericks roster. Here’s to hoping it stays this way for years to come. Flagg scored highly in virtually every category, as you’d expect. Flagg received 38.4/50 points on average from our committee, which is nearly four points per category better than Caleb Martin. If the shot is there early on, this will not be close at midterms.
