The Dallas Mavericks hold the No. 9 overall pick in the NBA Draft this year, but they need more than another flashy rookie to get their team back on track.
Something the Mavs didn’t have much of during the 2025-26 season was good health. Those fortunes will need to reverse themselves in order for Dallas to attempt to get back into contention in the Western Conference.
Rolando Blackman, the Mavericks’ representative at the NBA Draft Lottery, spoke about the team’s need to stay healthy.
“The first thing
they need,” Blackman said via team reporter Dwain Price, “is to be able to have the luck of staying healthy.”
According to Spotrac, the Mavericks had 18 players miss a game on the injury report at some point during the season. Over the course of the season, that adds up to over $72.6 million, which is ranked second in the league behind the Indiana Pacers, who did not have All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton for the entire season due to injury.
Kyrie Irving’s absence makes up for a good chunk of that, but if the Mavericks hadn’t traded Anthony Davis in February to the Washington Wizards, it’s possible that the Mavs could have leapfrogged the Pacers on this list.
Another top-10 pick, a full offseason for Cooper Flagg and a healthy Irving should help make the Mavs more competitive in the 2026-27 season, but they will need their whole roster to be healthy in order to make it work.
Mavs Moneyball community, what do you make of Blackman’s comments? Chime off in the comments section below.
