The Dallas Mavericks went from NBA Finals participants to a sub-.500 team due largely to the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey predicted a slight improvement for the 2011-12 NBA champions from 39-43 to 42-40.
“With Kyrie Irving out for at least the first few months of the campaign, though, offense could be awfully difficult to come by. D’Angelo Russell will help. And Flagg was a better playmaker at summer league than many expected. But the Mavs no longer have the kind of offensive engine that’s almost become a prerequisite for title contention,” he wrote.
However, top overall pick Cooper Flagg’s performance could improve the Mavericks’ performance on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Bailey wrote, “If Flagg takes to the NBA as quickly as he did high-level high school basketball and the ACC, Dallas could clear that over-under by even more than this prediction.”
On defense, Bailey pointed out, “Pretty much any combination of Flagg, Anthony Davis, P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford at spots 3 through 5 should give the Mavs an almost nightmarish defense.”
Irving’s absence could also gravely affect the Mavericks’ winning chances. However, they have other scoring options like Davis, Washington, Gafford, Klay Thompson, and Naji Marshall.
Meanwhile, FanDuel Sportsbook has the Mavericks’ over/under at 40.5 wins. Dallas will open the season on October 22 against the San Antonio Spurs and will have 12 instances of back-to-back games. Bookies.com’s Bill Speros also wrote that Dallas will be the second most-traveled team this season, covering 50,059 miles across 40 time zones and 18 road trips.
