It's been a whirlwind few months for the Dallas Mavericks. The heart-rending pain of seeing Luka Dončić dealt to the Lakers at the trade deadline was mitigated, at least somewhat, by winning the No. 1 pick and landing transformational prospect Cooper Flagg.
The Mavericks enter this season with designs on being very competitive, but they're probably not a top-tier contender in the West. There is plenty of talent on this roster, but Flagg is still a rookie, Anthony Davis is still fragile, Kyrie Irving is out while he recovers from an ACL injury and D'Angelo Russell was the only other really meaningful offseason addition.
Still, the future is suddenly much brighter than it was in late February, and the release of the full schedule gives fans plenty of reason for optimism. Here's what the schedule offers the Mavs, and what it might mean for their regular season.
Cooper Flagg is going to be tested early and often
The NBA already highlighted the Opening Week matchup between Flagg and the Mavs and Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs — Oct. 22 on ESPN. Flagg is likely going to split minutes between the two forward positions, so probably won't spend a ton of time matched up directly with Wemby. But the Mavs' next six games are Washington, Toronto, Oklahoma City, Indiana, at Detroit and at Houston.
It's nice that he'll get five games at home before he goes on the road, but he'll be thrown right into the fire defensively. Given those opponents, he's likely to spend the first three weeks of his NBA career trying to defend Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, Jalen Williams, Pascal Siakam, Ausar Thompson, Amen Thompson and Kevin Durant — a brutal collection of elite athletes and polished, veteran scorers.
Flagg won't be the only defender the Mavs can throw at those matchups, but he's going to be a big part of the game plan. Given how his Summer League went — with some uneven offensive performances — Mavs fans shouldn't be surprised if it takes Flagg a little bit to find his footing at that end of the floor, with so many tough defensive matchups in front of him.
Mavs fans will have to wait to see Luka Dončić and the Lakers
The Luka Dončić trade has instantly ratcheted up the rivalry between the Lakers and Mavs, but the NBA seems to have carefully avoided fueling the fire for the sake of ratings. The Mavs will host Dončić and the Lakers twice, but not until deep into the regular season — Jan. 24 and April 5. Dallas will be in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers twice as well, but Nov. 28 and Feb. 12. That means three of their four matchups will be put off until 2026, perhaps giving fans time to cool off and some of the heat to die down naturally.
The Mavericks schedule gets tough late
The Mavericks have a lot of talent, but a loaded Western Conference means they still might have to fight their way into the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament. Unfortunately, the schedule doesn't do them any favors. Of their final 15 games, eight are on the road, including two back-to-backs. And in that stretch they'll have nine games against teams with a projected win-total of 45 or more — Cavs, Hawks, Clippers (twice), Warriors, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Magic and Lakers.
The silver lining is that their last three games come against the Suns, Spurs and Bulls. On paper, they should be much better than the Suns and Bulls and the Spurs are a team they could be fighting for playoff position — a chance to control their own fate.