In past years, this question was a bit different: who is the second-best Maverick? Luka Doncic existed, so it was pretty obvious. Now, it’s harder to ask who the best Maverick is and who is the second-best Maverick as well?
The staff answered and even though I suggested we leave Kyrie out of this, no listens.
David: The best Maverick is Kyrie Irving. Unfortunately, he is hurt. Among the active guys, I think Anthony Davis is objectively the best player Dallas has. Whether he has the largest impact is another discussion, but he probably is the best player on the team right now. He’ll average the most points (I hope) and have good counting stats to back this up. As for the second best, right now I am going with P.J. Washington. Dereck Lively is right there, but Washington provides a certain versatility that Lively does not yet. My hope is that by that end of the year both of these answers are stupid, and the clear-cut one-two punch is Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving.
Bryan: Anthony Davis is the best Maverick. Bloated, slow and severely out of his depth in space against modern big forward athletes, AD is still an overwhelming talent on both ends that more often than not makes putting up with the frustrations his positional identity crisis brings worth it. On a less cynical note, Cooper Flagg appears to be every bit the second-best player on the Mavericks (non-Kyrie division) that we hoped. Has been every bit the off-ball playmaker we hoped on both offense and defense on top of being much further ahead as an on-ball offensive creator than most expected. He appears poised to take even another leap from the on-ball boom he experienced at Duke and everyone stands to benefit from that
Chris: The best Maverick (even with Kyrie) is Anthony Davis. We haven’t seen a true Anthony Davis yet because he’s been injured and the fit is still awkward. Maybe said better, Anthony Davis is the best Maverick when he’s playing the 5. But since he doesn’t want that, the jury is still out on if the Mavs can make this work. But he’s a top-10 talent in the league and can still be in the top 10-15 player discussion if he and the Mavs can figure out his fit in this ridiculously big lineup.
The second best Maverick (not including Kyrie) is the 18-year-old. Cooper Flagg will show his youth at times during the season, to be expected. But I think he’s going to be a 20-6-5 guy by the end of the season. PJ is close and we’ve seen signs he’s going to have a leap season, but Cooper Flagg is more versatile offensively than PJ, and can create his own shot. Flagg has no ceiling.
I thought about this earlier today too. In this first half of the season, no kyrie, who is taking the last shot with the game on the line????
Tyler: Cooper Flagg is the best Maverick and I am not even saying that to be different. With Anthony Davis playing the four, forcing yet another big onto the floor at the five, it minimizes Anthony Davis’ impact and doesn’t let his best abilities show. Because of that, Cooper Flagg is already a better player. Flagg is going to be a master connector, and as the year goes he’s going to be more and more comfortable in that role. If the shot is there in any way, Flagg will be immediately special.
The second best player is Davis, but if a 100% Kyrie Irving were on this roster I would place Kyrie ahead of both Davis and Flagg.
Michael: Kyrie Irving is the best player on the Mavericks. He controls the offense, commands doubles, and is most likely to take (and hit – see left-handed hook against Denver) the last shot, or else at least facilitate it. He also has the stats to back it up. Since he will be starting the season injured…
I’ll instead choose Anthony Davis, my sure-fire second best player, as the best player on the team at least until Irving returns to form. Davis arguably has better stats than Irving (granted, vastly different positions) but feels a bit less like the obvious go-to in the most crucial moments. Nonetheless, a great future Hall of Famer and obvious best active player on the team in my opinion.
With Davis moving from second best to best due to Irving’s injury, that opens up a lot of fun picking a new second best. It’s much more difficult when you get past Irving and Davis, but I’ll choose Naji Marshall. I can’t yet go with Cooper Flagg (though I reserve the right to eat my words after a few weeks of play) and feel like I’m slighting P.J. Washington, but Marshall gets my vote in the moment. His ability to create his own shot and ball handle a bit better than Washington is why I picked him as second second-best player for this particular roster. I anticipate that opinion will age poorly with the emergence of Flagg, but right now, I give him my vote as the most versatile and second-best active player on the roster… for now.
Kirk: Anthony Davis is the obvious answer, but I’ll admit to being frustrated with him coming into camp out of shape. I also don’t like how he says he wants to play the power forward spot. He’s a center. But he’s still the player capable of the most with Kyrie out. If we’re including Kyrie then this discussion gets really hard. But for now, it’s AD.
The second best player is PJ Washington. Flagg is going to make a strong case but I need to see it in real games before he takes over.
Matt M.: Cooper Flagg is going to be the best Maverick this season. He lifts all tides with his defense and his offense is coming along nicely this preseason. I think he affects the game in more ways than Anthony Davis does, and he’ll play more games than Kyrie Irving will. His ability to play-make as well as to score it himself sets him apart from everyone else on this roster, and then there’s his tenacious defense, which we’ll all look back on and be forced to call elite after his rookie season.
Anthony Davis will be my choice for the second spot. He still does enough things on the floor to be considered part of the NBA’s upper echelon. He will fill the stat sheet from time to time, but he will also leave us wanting more at times. He’s got something to prove this year and the motivation will be there.
