Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[Dundalis]

To expand on this:

Let's use De Larrea as an example. I am super excited about him, but have no clue what the Mavs' plan for his rookie year is. Do they plan for him to the 14th man, almost never play and basically red shirt? Do they plan to force him into the rotation from day 1, but use him more as an off-ball spacer, secondary creator, side pick and roll, second action of the possession type of dude to get his feet wet? Or, are they hoping against hope that he can be THE backup PG and can run the offense for 15-20 minutes each night? I have no idea, but...

...if it's the last one, I like his chances 1000% more on this roster, with this coach, than I would've last season with the worst spacing in the history of modern basketball. He's obviously smart and understands the game. Give a guy like that (or Sasser, or Kyrie, or even Flagg) SPACE to operate, and the game gets easier. I'll never forget what Nick Van Exel said after his first few practices here back in the day. It was something like "Nellie's spacing here is incredible. Now I understand why Nash has been killing me." 

I also think there's a pretty good chance Gafford benefits greatly from what I think they might be doing based on these moves. I think it will be easier for Johnson to make an impact right away...etc.

I have a tentative feeling that we're going to be treated to basketball that's actually fun to watch this year, and I'm excited.

I would expect that's completely and utterly on De Larrea. Young players develop and adapt at speeds that just about no one can predict. Could be really quick, could be really slow or in between. I think it would be smart to plan building the roster so that we can cope with him playing a pretty small role, but leaving room for the role to expand purely depending on how well or not his transition starts off being.