Watch out for Kidd to move over to GM and they hire a coach instead this offseason

Klay and BWill are putting on a show in the injury bowl

Guitarsoup said:

---

Klay and BWill are putting on a show in the injury bowl

---

And at least 3 guys have gone to locker room with injuries: BWill, KCP, and Jock

So in the bizarro world of the WNBA, the Dallas Wings just won the draft lottery for the 2nd year in a row. I was curious who the top prospect is since they got Paige Bueckers with it last year. There is quite a bit of consensus that it is Azzi Fudd from UConn… who is Bueckers' girlfriend lol. What could go wrong there?

So all that said, Cooper Flagg isn't dating Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer, is he?

lol I know next to nothing about the WNBA but man that sounds like a recipe for disaster

Well, dropped another close one to Miami last night. As bad as it seems (it is) we've taken so many of these losses down to the wire. Crazy.

On another note, AD has been talked to death so can we talk about Lively? How "injured" is he? 46 games missed last year. Only 7 played this year, with minimal production. Is this part of tank mode?

Last year I had food poisoning and resorted to watching WNBA "highlights" at 3am to pass the time. It at least game me something to laugh about.

Lively's health is an issue and why earlier in the thread he was not exempt on my "I'm taking trade calls on everyone but Flagg" list.

Could Nico have been any more wrong?

Offense gets you to the playoffs, defense wins in the playoffs once you have weeded out the teams so bad at offense they aren't competitive no matter what. There is a baseline minimum threshold of scoring efficiency below which it doesn't matter how good your defense is, whereas the inverse isn't true. Elite offenses with bad defenses can win enough shootouts to still be quality teams that lose in the playoffs.

NoahAg said:

---

Well, dropped another close one to Miami last night. As bad as it seems (it is) we've taken so many of these losses down to the wire. Crazy.

On another note, AD has been talked to death so can we talk about Lively? How "injured" is he? 46 games missed last year. Only 7 played this year, with minimal production. Is this part of tank mode?

---

Seems to be pretty injured. This sucks. Really wanted to see Lively prove he could stay healthy this year

More from Dallas: It is feared that the Mavs face an extended injury absence for Dereck Lively II, @TheSteinLine has learned.

Held out Monday in Miami for right foot injury management, Lively has played in seven of 19 games after offseason foot surgery and a recent knee issue. https://t.co/yIPbWa7bQK

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 25, 2025

Dallas Mavericks' Anthony Davis – sidelined for the last month with a calf strain – plans to return to action against the Lakers in Los Angeles tonight, sources tell ESPN. It's the first time the 2020 NBA champion is facing his former team in L.A. since the February trade. pic.twitter.com/D5Dg6uPz3Y

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 28, 2025

Yeah. The trade still sucks but would be more palatable with Reeves.

Cooper with 33 tonight…and somehow a negative +/-

Also, Dwight Powell with 33 mins….and Caleb Martin with ZERO points in 21 mins

Can't get mad about winning a game where Flagg goes off, but Mavs need to lose the next 4 games. The tank race is going to be tough. For some reason the Clippers (OKC has their pick) can't win, which is unacceptable. NBA teams need to start feeding them wins at this point, this is crazy. You want to give OKC Boozer or Dybanasta? Come on. New Orleans also doesn't have their pick and can't win. I expect Utah to tank hard to keep their top 8 protected pick.

The Chicago Bulls have discussed trading for Anthony Davis, per @JamalCollier

“The Bulls have had internal discussions about how to proceed, including conversations about Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis, sources told ESPN, whom they believe could help the team's porous rim… pic.twitter.com/XFLE72BJMn

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 1, 2025

What would a Bulls trade look like? I see they have a protected 1-14 pick.

NoahAg said:

---

What would a Bulls trade look like? I see they have a protected 1-14 pick.

---

Bulls have all their own draft picks, plus own the Portland pick this year if Portland makes the playoffs (it will go to 27 and 28 or becomes a 2nd rounder.)

Davis makes about 54M so you need to add up contracts and not go over that as Dallas likely wants to cut some cash while tanking.

Expiring contracts:

Vooch 21M
Collins 18M
Heurter 18M
Coby White 13M
Ayo 7.5M

Longer term deals:
Patrick Williams (3y54M after this year)
Jalen Smith (1y9M)
Issac Okoro (1y12M)

Off the table (IMO):

Buzelis
Giddey
Noa

Draft picks:
All their own 1st outright
Portland 1st in 26 (or 27 or 28) Lottery protected)

I don't like Patrick Williams and wouldn't consider him.

I would also make Chicago eat Caleb Martin.

So you could do:

Vooch+Heurter+Coby White+Issac Okoro+Bulls 26th 1st and Portland 26 1st

for:

AD+Hardy+Martin. Mavs would want to keep Coby White with an extension. Vooch and Huerter could be flipped or kept for ending contract. Okoro has ~12M on for next year, but at least he is playable as a D&3.

Mavs save 6.4M this year. White+Heurter+Vooch represent 52.2M in ending contracts while AD+Hardy+Martin represent 74.5M in contracts next year. Maybe White gets a contract similar to Giddey (4y100M) and you are still way ahead financially with just 37M in contracts for White+Okoro next year while losing 75M in AD/Hardy/Martin.

Nothing is going to look great and that Portland pick will likely be 15-20 range in the next 3 years. Bulls right now are a playin team so that pick is likely 12-16.


So in that scenario, 2026-27 would look like:

C: Gaff / Lively
F: Flagg / Naji
F: PJ / Klay / Okoro
G: White / Christie
G: Kyrie

2026 Mavs Pick: 5th (?) Mikel Brown PG Louisville
2026 Bulls Pick: 12th (?) Jayden Quaintance PF/C Kentucky
2026 Blazers Pick: 16 (?) Dame Sarr Wing Duke

Would be nice to try to move Vooch and Klay for additional future picks. A lot will depend on where the NBA slots the Mavs draft picks. I used Brown, but Peterson would obviously be the dream.

Thanks, I appreciate your knowledge on this stuff. I don't love the immediate return but it would be good to get picks.

Why do our top three big men have to be made of glass?
Lively out at least a couple more games.
Gafford out tonight.

Hopefully the AD-Powell show can make it through 48 minutes @Denver tonight. I wonder which one will come down with altitude sickness?

Well that's embarrassing for Denver

Didn't see that win coming. AD can play in those rare games he actually plays!

Coop is in fact that guy; Nembhard is an absolute find; and AD is still AD when healthy. The Mavs are going to win a lot more games simply by keeping AD around 30 minutes a game and healthy, and inserting Nembhard as the night in night out PG.

I still think trading AD is the best, most likely outcome as long as he's healthy, but they are for sure not a bottom feeder team when he's in the lineup.

My head says tanking is the best path toward rebuilding but my heart keeps saying "if, IF, big fat IF we are healthy we can be really good!"

Great game @Denver. Nembhard can flat out plat.
Flagg-Nembhard, elite duo of the future!

I love your optimism (I really do), but the Mavs are in such a huge hole right now. Over 1/4 through the season and the Mavs are 7-15. Historically, a start that bad means your season is already over (play-in hopes at best). If the Mavs are .500 after Christmas, I'll start to share some optimism, but at this point the goal should still be to position the franchise as best as possible for the future.

In a weird way, keeping an elite/borderline elite injury prone player helps to serve the goal of tanking, since you're awful when he's out, but then also helps Flagg be on a semi-competitive and competent roster when the big man does play, so that he isn't just languishing on an awful cellar dweller team.

I think there's some truly awful teams that the Mavs can't outtank to you're probably not likely to get the juiciest lottery odds, but with it being flattened out that can still be OK.

haha, thanks. I look at Aggie football and Mavs basketball through opposite lenses.

Cooper is clearly growing in confidence. Certainly an exciting future. Small sample size for Nembhard, but early production is encouraging.

100% agree here. The Mavs will simply be too good to truly compete for top five odds in the draft. Heck if they can keep AD on the court they won't even be in the running for top 10 draft odds. Then you add Kyrie back in late January and there's no chance this team sniffs that. I still think looking to trade AD is the right path for this team moving forward strictly from a cap perspective, but we'll see what happens over the next few months.