They say it is always darkest before the dawn, but no one tells you how dark it can get. Or how long the dark will last. Fitting that the darkness for the Dallas Mavericks hits as we entered daylight savings
time, turned our clocks back, and settle into the darker days.
If you’ve been watching the guys, even with one eye open, you’ll know that this week’s Power Rankings Watch will not provide you many things to cling to. The Dallas Mavericks are bad. And the dissonance you likely feel for this team is because there is hope and patience in watching rookie Cooper Flagg face the growing pains most young rookie stars encounter, while also watching a group of veterans try to prove they can still be competitive. The vision as the season continues to develop is that we get to cling to the hope in Flagg rather than the reality of what this group is presenting.
ESPN
Rank: 22
Last week: 21
Top newcomer: Cooper Flagg
The Mavs figured that Flagg would endure plenty of growing pains as a rookie, no matter how much hype surrounded him following his phenomenal one-and-done stint at Duke. Every 18-year-old who has played in the NBA has struggled, and Flagg has the additional challenge of playing point guard for the first time in his life while usually drawing the opponent’s best defender. His numbers (13.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists with a 44.6 effective field goal percentage) aren’t pretty, but there’s no panic in Dallas. The Mavs firmly believe that Flagg has the blend of mental toughness, maturity, confidence and competitiveness to benefit from his struggles. — MacMahon
NBA
Rank: 22
Last week: 19
OffRtg: 104.2 (30) DefRtg: 112.0 (8) NetRtg: -7.8 (26) Pace: 103.9 (5)
Daniel Gafford made his season debut on Saturday, but not before Dereck Lively II and Anthony Davis were lost to injuries. The Mavs’ big lineups haven’t been so big, and their only wins have come against Toronto and Indiana.
Three takeaways
- With the other centers out, Dwight Powell was called upon against the Pacers on Wednesday and his 29 minutes were the most he’s played in a game since the start of last season. He came through, totaling 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks, and the Pacers shot just 11-for-36 (31%) in the paint with Powell on the floor. The Mavs have outscored their opponents by 19 points (allowing 102.8 per 100) in 126 total minutes with one of their three true centers (Gafford, Lively or Powell) on the floor, but have been outscored by 69 points (allowing 119.9 per 100) in 162 minutes otherwise.
- The team that was supposed to dominate inside has ranked last in offensive rebounding percentage and been outscored by 12.3 points per game (the league’s biggest discrepancy) in the restricted area. The two biggest restricted-area differentials in any game this season are Spurs-Mavs (50-12) in Week 1 and Pistons-Mavs (52-14) on Saturday.
- The injuries to the bigs have allowed the Mavs to add some shooting to their starting lineup. Max Christie has started the last three games and is now 16-for-32 (50%) from beyond the arc, ranking second with 11 corner 3-pointers. The Mavs have scored 22.4 more points per 100 possessions with Christie on the floor (111.1) than they have with him on the bench (88.7).
Coming up: The Mavs will be without Davis for at least one more game, and the next one (their first true road game of the season) is against the big Rockets on Monday. They got absolutely clobbered on the glass (without Davis, Gafford or Lively) in the final meeting (a 37-point loss) last season.
Bleacher Report
Rank: 25
Last week: 21
Net Rating: -6.9
There probably won’t be a point when we can call the Dallas Mavericks a full-fledged disaster. Being blessed with the No. 1 overall pick, despite entering the lottery with a 1.8 percent chance to get it, keeps that off the table.
However, every fear that just about every reasonable NBA fan or analyst had in the immediate aftermath of the Luka Dončić trade is proving justified.
Anthony Davis is hurt (as he often was with the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers). Dallas’ bigs aren’t as productive without one of the greatest playmakers in NBA history to set them up. The Mavericks aren’t getting as many quality looks generated outside, either.
A lot of that has to do with Cooper Flagg starting at the point, despite playing forward throughout high school and college. And while that might help the team and Flagg in the long run, it’s been terrible for the Mavs’ short-term prospects.
The rookie is averaging 14.4 points, 2.8 assists and 2.1 turnovers, while shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 29.0 percent from deep.
The Athletic
Rank: 26 (Tier 5: The Basement Floor)
Last week: 28
The Mavericks continued to be promoted as a good team because they made the 2024 NBA Finals, acquired Davis, drafted Flagg and are waiting on Kyrie Irving to return later in the season. The fact that Dallas was shaky for most of the 2023-24 season and all of the 2024-25 season was mostly glossed over. The start to this season has made the Mavericks’ shakiness a little clearer, with Flagg looking like a rookie (37.3 percent field goals, 3.0 assists per game as starting point guard), Davis and Lively already missing games because of injury and Thompson looking like he needs to be benched more than he already has been.
