AROUND the NBA:

[mvossman]

It seems like they're somewhat committed to Kyrie Irving.  I don't really know that for a fact.  I've seen AD rumors, Klay rumors, even PJ possibilities.  Nothing about, if the Mavs rebuild, Kyrie would appreciate being moved to a contender.  It seems like Kyrie is happy here and the Mavs are happy to have his leadership here. 

I'm not really sure how it all shakes out but if Kyrie is on this roster next year, a guy like Garland is not going to fit.

Just too many unknowns with this team.  Seemed like they wanted to move AD.  But then got no decent offers.  Then Lively went out for the year.  Now they're playing pretty well.  What is the current thought process?

Except Kyrie Irving isn't really a PG.  He is more of an undersized shooting guard with elite secondary creation.  He has always been his most comfortable playing next an on ball PG with size (LeBron, Luka).  

But regardless of that, I think it would be really short sighted to let a 34 year old small guard coming off a significant knee injury to impact the long term solution at PG next to Flagg.  Garland is not the ideal age, but he is still 7 years younger than AD.  If there is any way you can turn AD into Garland, you have to do it.

[omahen]

The Doncic injury is interesting.

He was limping at halftime, told Reddick he couldn't go, and left the building without talking to anyone.

Not sure what that says exactly... just sounded kind of pissy or annoyed. Not sure which.

I see you didn't watch the game   Luka was visibly limping through most of his time in the second quarter. Iztok Franko is showing a video where the injury probably occured. Player was injured, couldn't continue, coach didn't have more information - all of this is totally normal for any in-game injury.

[Winter]

I see you didn't watch the game   Luka was visibly limping through most of his time in the second quarter. Iztok Franko is showing a video where the injury probably occured. Player was injured, couldn't continue, coach didn't have more information - all of this is totally normal for any in-game injury.

Did I watch the Clippers and the Lakers? An emphatic no.

I posted this because I just saw Redick's interview and no one had mentioned Doncic's injury on the board yet.

[omahen]

Did I watch the Clippers and the Lakers? An emphatic no.

I posted this because I just saw Redick's interview and no one had mentioned Doncic's injury on the board yet.

Totally understandable, but since your post caused immediate conspiracy theories, I thought it would be wise to "step in"

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Except Kyrie Irving isn't really a PG.  He is more of an undersized shooting guard with elite secondary creation.  He has always been his most comfortable playing next an on ball PG with size (LeBron, Luka).  

Agree there.

But you can't play a small PG next to him in the lineup.  AKA Darius Garland. There were reports the Mavs had no interest in Trae Young because "they are committed to Kyrie Irving at PG."

So it's tough to say what the Mavs are thinking. We can opine on what we want to happen but that's secondary to what the reality is. (which we don't know)

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

It'd be amazing if we got fair trade offers for AD, Kyrie, Klay, Naji and PJ. Then we could turn the page to the next chapter. But if that's not happening (fair trade offers for our veterans), this team is in an uncomfortable spot.

I think we all agree it'd be great to have Darius Garland and Benedict Mathurin out there next to Flagg.

[KillerLeft]

Agree there.

But you can't play a small PG next to him in the lineup.  AKA Darius Garland.  There were reports the Mavs had no interest in Trae Young because "they are committed to Kyrie Irving at PG."

So it's tough to say what the Mavs are thinking.  We can opine on what we want to happen but that's secondary to what the reality is.  (which we don't know)

I agree with all of this, and I've been opining for 48 hours about how I think the best case scenario with a Flagg/AD/Kyrie core might be better than we can imagine. I still believe that. 

But, if an opportunity is good enough, I also wouldn't let "do they fit with Kyrie" influence my thinking, at this point, and that would be my stance moving forward for as long as AD/Kyrie are here, no matter how well the team was playing. In other words, I'd be in no hurry to ruin whatever chance at having a good team exists right now by giving those guys away, but if I had a shot a younger difference maker I could be convinced to move on from either of them pretty easily.

[mvossman]

Agree there.

But you can't play a small PG next to him in the lineup.  AKA Darius Garland.  There were reports the Mavs had no interest in Trae Young because "they are committed to Kyrie Irving at PG."

So it's tough to say what the Mavs are thinking.  We can opine on what we want to happen but that's secondary to what the reality is.  (which we don't know)

Agreed.  Which is why I simply argue for what I hope/want happens because I don't know what their thinking or process is.  I'm hoping that Trae comment is a nice way of saying "we don't think Trae fits on a contending roster" but who knows.

It's not ideal, but I think you can put Kyrie and Garland in a lineup together (Mitchell is not that much bigger than Kyrie).  You stagger them as much as you can and play somebody like Naji at the point of attack when they are on the court together.

[windjc]

If you want fair market value for Kyrie and AD, then let them win a ring with Coop next year and then trade them. That is the sale-high strategy.

[mvossman]

If you want fair market value for Kyrie and AD, then let them win a ring with Coop next year and then trade them. That is the sale-high strategy.

Even the dream team took two years to win a ring and that was with all three guys in their prime.  Given that they will be lucky to play 20 games together with no preseason/camp this season, next season will likely be effectively the first year for AD/Kyrie/Flagg where one will be 19 and the other two probably be past their prime.

[Smitty]

@ShamsCharania
The NBA and its stakeholders have started talks on finding new solutions to prevent tanking -- and the league proposed multiple ideas to the Board of Governors as the sides brainstorm cures.

Sources said multiple ideas were proposed Friday as a brainstorming measure, including:
•Limiting pick protections to either top four or 14 and higher
•No longer allowing a team to draft in the top four two years in a row
•Locking lottery positions after March 1

ESPN story: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4739...ms-tanking

[mvossman]

@ShamsCharania
The NBA and its stakeholders have started talks on finding new solutions to prevent tanking -- and the league proposed multiple ideas to the Board of Governors as the sides brainstorm cures.

Sources said multiple ideas were proposed Friday as a brainstorming measure, including:
•Limiting pick protections to either top four or 14 and higher
•No longer allowing a team to draft in the top four two years in a row
•Locking lottery positions after March 1

ESPN story: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4739...ms-tanking

I think they need to make the entire first round a lottery and spread out the odds as much as possible.

[Mavs2021]

@ShamsCharania
The NBA and its stakeholders have started talks on finding new solutions to prevent tanking -- and the league proposed multiple ideas to the Board of Governors as the sides brainstorm cures.

Sources said multiple ideas were proposed Friday as a brainstorming measure, including:
•Limiting pick protections to either top four or 14 and higher
•No longer allowing a team to draft in the top four two years in a row
•Locking lottery positions after March 1

ESPN story: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4739...ms-tanking

The fact that the NBA uses the Mavs/Lively situation as a tanking reference is another example of what a moron Cuban is. The Mavs properly tanked like once in 25 years and he had to brag about it like he invented the wheel. There are 3-5 teams every year that do it more blatantly to reach a certain protection benchmark, but you obviously can not use these examples, since these teams are not dumb enough to admit it in public.

[Chicagojk]

•No longer allowing a team to draft in the top four two years in a row

Freakin Spurs!

[Chicagojk]

The fact that the NBA uses the Mavs/Lively situation as a tanking reference is another example of what a moron Cuban is. The Mavs properly tanked like once in 25 years and he had to brag about it like he invented the wheel. There are 3-5 teams every year that do it more blatantly to reach a certain protection benchmark, but you obviously can not use these examples, since these teams are not dumb enough to admit it in public.

Ha.  Yeah it wasn't even bad and most nba fandom don't know this was a season wide tank.    That team was awful.  They got blown out back to back against Charlotte.   They were walking dead to finish the season, but the team kept trying to win.  Only with two games left and needing OKC to lose their last game did they decide to tank.   Teams were tanking for months and they don't get it as bad as Dallas goes.   I don't like tanking at all, but Dallas didn't do anything bad imo.  Sort of surprised Cuban put a top 10 pick protection on that pick though.   Surprise there was not any pick protection on it going off past experience.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2025/12...le-digits/


NBA media rights deals and ratings are up double-digits.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://x.com/NBAPR/status/2003495802162020865


The 10 most viewed players through social media platforms.

[KillerLeft]

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2025/12...le-digits/


NBA media rights deals and ratings are up double-digits.

I wonder how much of this bump is directly correlated to the Mavs going out of their way to make both the Knicks and the Lakers relevant again.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6905539...us-randle/

Chris Finch was fined $35,000 for calling out officiating on the Thunder.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://x.com/ESPNNBA/status/2003305653536727545



Kon Knueppel, fastest to 100 3's in NBA history.