The entire thing is a joke. ESPN is the worst but sports writers and pundits from all over the place disrespect the Mavs every single season. The Mavs are going to KILL this season. Book it.
@@jacobarford2877what he’s sayin is basically there are respectfully 14 other teams that can make the finals in the eastern conference not just the Cs. We saw everyone was riding high a year ago on the nuggets being a dynasty but we got ppl sitting here acting like the bucks or the Knicks can’t potentially make the finals next year instead of the Cs.
Quentin Grimes was 116.1 which is better than Jones, better than Hardaway and better than Green. And Naji Marshall defensive rating was 112.9. So one could effectively argue that they've gotten better on both ends. And besides the game where Porzingis went nuts, all the other games were close and the Mavs were lacking 3 point shooters or they could have easily won those games.
Defensive and offensive ratings are team stats, not individual stats. Without the context of who you were on the court with and against, the stats don’t tell you anything, or worse tell you lies. I think Klay’s defensive decline is slightly exaggerated, but DJJ is rated as one of the best on ball defenders in the league, it’s not close.
@@shadenym5094Rated as one of the best where? Eye test? DJJ was NOT an all world defender at the start of last season, he was fine but nowhere near enough to even get consistent minutes. Dude was not picked up on a minimum contract because he’s this Uber elite defender. His defense took an uptick when Gafford joined Lively. Which says he’s a good defender not great, whose defense got elevated by elite rim protection. As did a bunch of other players on the team, even PJ who was never an elite defender on the Hornets. The rim protection of the centers make or break the Mavs defense and will help elevate the perimeter defense, which it did second half of the season and in playoffs
Timpf says the Mav's hole is perimeter speed while mentioning Kyrie in the same breath? I'd say the "wait-and-see-isms" about the Mavs are really age/injury resistance and 3pt% consistency, but those are variables that most teams face on a nightly basis so I'm not sure I'd say its a "hole" specific to the Mavs.
@@screw41do you know how fast the nba is bruv? Luka and klay are slow on the defensive end and Kyrie is too small for his speed to matter btw I respect Kyrie defense and think he’s quiet underrated but this team undoubtedly suck defensively on the perimeter
He didn't watch them all year until the playoffs and then his discourse magically changed in the Mavs. This dude is a fake. His analysis is ALWAYS lacking
The only issue is that not a single team above them has a player who is CLEARLY better then Luka and when you have a healthy Luka betting against this team is gonna be a bad bet
@@flyboygreg09 they got smoked because Luka was hurt, Kyrie turned into garbage, and the role players couldn’t hit wide open shots. If Luka is healthy and kyrie plays like even 75% of who he is that series is much closer.
There is another solution to the Boston problem. Dereck Lively clearly gained some muscle over the offseason and in Dallas' first preseason game he was aggressively calling for the ball in post-ups whenever he had a smaller player on him. He obviously spent a lot of the summer working on his postgame to not allow a repeat of what happened in the finals. Should Dallas and Boston meet again they won't get away with putting Tatum or Brown on him.
@@zenecawll5677 he had 12 points in 15 minutes against Memphis’ starters….including 7’4 Edey. He was a non-scorer last year as a rookie. You don’t think rookies get better?
@@taylor7264 what makes you think KP will be there? he’s never had a complete season in his career and he’s not going to start playing until December or January…. Even if he’s playing will he be playing 15 or 20 minutes per game? A lot of if’s surrounding him. But if he does play, he’ll have a much bigger challenge than last year because Lively has gotten considerably better. And why would I give a shit if Boston respects PJs jumper or not? You’ve got Klay Thompson shooting above the break along with Kyrie and Luka. Dear that you also need your power forward up there shooting is ludicrous. If he’s having a bad shooting game you have Najee Marshall who is a better career shooter and currently shooting 38% from three above the break. He is the same size or slightly larger than Mark Washington so although PJ is an important part of the team, the Mavericks are deep enough to Substitute him out if he’s not being effective. What does Boston do if any of their players aren’t being effective because they have no bench, just two short white guys who are really good three-point shooters if they’re left open….. and they’re both defensive liabilities.
Jason hasn't reviewed the Nuggets yet but I expect he'll argue their core has already proven themselves to be championship caliber and that one or more of the young Nuggets are likely to make a leap. And of course, as the US men's olympic team learned in Paris v Serbia, if the opposing team has Jokic on it all bets are off. Personally I'd rank the Mavs slightly higher because of the question mark of the young players on Denver and the fit of Westbrook.
@@KogaDevv Except they're missing two of their most important players from that championship. I like Braun, but he's not KCP from 2 years ago and Westbrook is NOT Bruce Brown.
You need to look at film, comparing the quickness, fluidity and multiple capabilities of pre-injury Luka to the injured during the injury plagued Luka we saw last year during the entire playoff run. It was hard to believe the Mavs got to the finals last year in spite of Luka’s injury. The main thing that could hold the Mavs back from a potential championship is Luka’s health - he can’t be playing at 80% against the Celtics. I think Tatum understands that when he said he expects to see the Mavs in the championship series next year.
Two observation: - Naji Marshall is a prototypical forward, not a guard. 6'7, 220, 7 feet wingspan. He will play more 4 than 2 in the Mavs system, even if he is asked from time to time to be the PoA defender. - The Mavs can solve the Boston-issue in an alternative way too. If Lively is good enough as a post-up scorer punishing wings, that defensive strategy won't work. He won't even have to score on Tatum, its enough if he can score on Brown after the switch. Even Gafford gained 15 pounds of muscle, he may be able to punish switches inside.
Biggest issue is they can't shoot, which means clogged up space for Luka. Luka is most effective under the rim, he has highest rim FG% in the league besides some centers. You need Luka to drive more and not settle for shots. To do that you need shooting big who can spread out
I am usually negative after watching Jason talk Mavs... he didn't believe in them last year and you could hear it in his analysis. With that said... I like the analysis. I have issue with so little talk about Lively getting better... this team having an offseason and preseason. For some reason... not just Jason.. Mavs are talked about as though they have players that will not improve. Gafford, PJ, and Luka are all entering their prime. Klay is replacing a guy in Tim Hardaway that was not a huge part of either WCF run. It is so interesting that every in the NBA thinks Boston were the first to deploy that strayegy on the Mavs and they opened some sort of Pandora's box. This is a team that did not go to a game 7 in a loaded Western Conference and did not have home court advantage in a single series... this is a team that played together for less than half a season. I am good with Jason's assessment because he did the same thing last year in the playoffs so the Mavs doubt is fine with me. PJ must make a leap... it is the first time he has played meaningful basketball at the pro level. Lively is our 3rd best player and has a chance to make a huge leap. I will keep coming back to watch Jason pick teams over the Mavs and Luka.
Yea I actually agree with you. It’s easy to knee jerk against Jason as a Mavs fan because like you said he didn’t believe last year. Still remember him either leaving Luka out of his top 10 list or barely having him make it a year ago because he missed the playoffs a single time due to a terrible team. But for the most part this is a very reasonable analysis. And from what I’ve seen it seems like a lot of the coaching staff/players are aware of a lot of the stuff Jason is talking about, and have been attempting to work on it/improve it moving forward. I also agree that too many people are getting caught up on DJJ -> Klay and thinking that sums up our entire offseason. No, DJJ is getting replaced by Naji Marshall, who has much more offensive versatility. Klay is replacing the role that Kidd always wanted or was trying to force THJ into. People just don’t see this because THJ was so fucking horrible he had to get buried on the bench the entire second half of the season and the playoffs. There’s an entire dimension to this team that made a run to the Finals that most outsiders/casual fans basically didn’t know existed because Kidd couldn’t use it at all due to THJ actively being a net negative player. In theory we have the same team as last year but with version A for shooting (Klay at 3) and version B for more defense and athleticism (Naji at 3).
Timpf says its perimeter speed while mentioning Kyrie in the same breath? I'd say the "wait-and-see-isms" about the Mavs are really age/injury resistance and 3pt% consistency, but those are variables that most teams face on a nightly basis so I'm not sure I'd say its a "hole" specific to the Mavs.
you're fine because his analysis is consistently trash? The problem I have with these "smart talk" basketball is that they miss the point of what basketball is - storytelling. I would sit through the boring "smart" talk if it was smart, but they are just as wrong as any chum from espn or youtube. Just through at you a ton of stuff.
Let’s not forget too during the finals, we were on the Celtics asses the 2nd,3rd and especially 4th game during the series. People want to act like they were blowing us out of the water when we were keeping up while (mainly kyrie) we were having off nights against them, I wish people would just stop sleeping on this team.
I will NEVER understand how 2 teams the Mavs beat CLEARLY CRACKED in the playoffs are ranked ahead of them 😂! An I missing something? Cuz this OKC Slobberfest is disgusting! Caruso & Hartenstein have NEVER been series changing players😂 somebody help me out
Yeah an I can tell you a 34 year old klay is not the same player as he once was an is not a good defender an who does the mavs have to guard curry ant an Murray’s an shai an ja because if you have klay an Irving an Luka it’s not gonna go well for you
Maybe because one team added Alex freaking caruso probably best two way guy in the league and a 5 out center in Isaiah while getting rid of josh giddey without losing depth
@@closite9097 how is he the best 2way guy when he's ultra mid on offense 🤣🤣 hes not a scorer, he's not a good passer, and terrible rebounder 🤣! He only defends
Yes I think it was every series besides the clippers one. At some point you gotta just wonder if he’s mad because the mavs yoinked every player the lakers wanted from the last 2 years
So your explanation for having Denver above Dallas is purely bc of a matchup with Boston? lol which team is better though? Which team has the better chance to actually get there? The nuggets don’t have a bench.
You are sick in the head for having 4 teams over the Mavs😂😂😂 You’re going to regret this buddy How on earth do you have Denver ahead of us dude? I swear we have gotten to the point of Jokic being overrated if you really think just his mere presence is enough to make up for the lack of depth and falloff of Murray. The 23 championship is extremely overrated in the sense that they didn’t beat a single 50 win team while the Mavs did that 3X on their way to the NBA Finals. However losing Bruce Brown and now KCP is a HUGE DEAL! Russell Westbrick is cooked! I wouldn’t be surprised whatsoever if Denver isn’t a top 4 team in the West this season.
@@catalyst6882That’s false tho. May have been true for last season but Dallas is waaay more equipped to beat down Boston next time around. People want to forget that Luka was injured in the entire playoffs and if you want to bet on Kyrie being that bad in Boston again then go ahead but that wouldn’t be very smart. Dallas didn’t have a soul other than Luka,& Kyrie that could create now with Klay,Spence,Naji,& Grimes with an improved PJ Boston will catch hell trying to defend the Mavs this season. Once again he like everyone else is overrating Jokic😂 Ok so Boston doesn’t have a soul who can stop Jokic ok what about his teammates? This is a waste of conversation because Denver isn’t getting anywhere close to the finals this year unless Murray has an All NBA season which is very unlikely. He’s been cheeks since the Lakers series
@@catalyst6882 Boston ONLY beat Dallas by taking away the lob (and the corner 3) by putting Tatum on the center. It's a great coaching move....except Lively is way better on offense this year (he already has more jump shots made in the preseason than he had the entire postseason last year), you can't dare Klay, Naji, OR Grimes to shoot from above the break. You also can't bring help to stop Kyrie and even with a bad series, he put up 35 on Holiday one game, proving he CAN do it, it's just a matter of him relaxing and playing his game. But if he struggles, Boston is also going to have to stop Klay. Remind me again who's going to play Klay? Oh yeah, White....who's shorter and has the responsibility of helping on defense. Seriously, think before you post.
@@SDesWritershit wasn’t even close and your here making declarations Boston’s brought there C+ game and swept y’all yea losing game 4 to win at home doesn’t change that. Tatum can’t play any worse and Porzingis played one half lmao
Mailbag Question: There was an interview with Jason Kidd this week in which he talked about applying some triangle offense concepts with the Mavs after visiting Phil Jackson. He really specifically emphasized less dribbling and more quick passes instead of holding the ball as a key takeaway. Besides that, he also mentioned wanting someone other than Luka to bring the ball up and have Luka attack from different areas on the court. Beat writers have speculated this might mean more mid-post and low-post from Luka as well as more handoffs since Kyrie and Luka ranked 1st and 2rd among 57 players who ran 300 handoffs last season. Do you think these are things that are beneficial ways to improve the Dallas offense? As for defense, I think Dallas's potential woes have been a little overstated, Klay is no longer elite defensively but he isn't below average/a cone. BTW: I know Mavs fans probably sound salty in the comments, but it's because it feels like everyone is underrating the moves we made and our chances just like last season. Hope you aren't too annoyed with the comments Jason. Thanks for the breakdown!
The mavs are noticeably better than the Nuggets. The Nuggets are relying on the Westbrook to be a good fit (not a good bet), and christian braun to fill the role of KCP (also not a good bet, as he’s nowhere near the defender or shooter KCP is). The Mavs replaced Tim Hardaway with Klay which is a massive upgrade. They replaced Derrick Jones with Marshel which is a good upgrade, Derrick Lively has had an offseason to improve, and Luka is heading into the first year of his prime. If these two teams faced off in the WCF i would have Mavs in 6 due to their elite perimeter scoring, and elite rim protection. Not to mention the Nuggets would have a hard time playing with Westbrook. Do we really believe a lineup with Jokic, Gordon, and Westbrook would be beneficial for spacing the floor? Probably not
Nuggets above the Mavs? Mavs have SO much more versatility roster wise than the nuggets, they can put out shooting lineups or lockdown lineups depending on the situation. Nuggets are locked into one way of playing which weaknesses were exposed in the playoffs and are relying on young players who aren’t ready, that sounds much more like a situation where things need to go right than the Mavs are in
@@taylor7264 better than Denver. The nuggets have no one that can guard Luka, Braun might not be able to stay with Kyrie, and I have zero confidence in MPJ against Klay or Marshall. Joker is going to have a tough time with Lively & Gafford, although they won’t be able to do anything against him. I just don’t see them scoring enough to win.
@@taylor7264 you asked who they matched up better with. Read your own post. Both can beat Boston but Denver has to play a perfect game because they have less perimeter defenders and if Boston gets hot they can’t keep up. Dallas has better defense and MUCH better offense. We’ll see when they meet in the regular season, but Kidd can choose to outscore them or defend them like they did in the Finals. They can win either way. And never underestimate the fact that BOTH Denver and Dallas have a player head and shoulders better than anyone on Boston…..the best players always find a way to give you a chance.
Mavs are reigning Western Conference champions and their not giving it back this year. This analysis is poor. Dallas uses more than one offense, more than one defense and the assumption that D-Live adds nothing to his defensive game in year 2 is nuts. Denver and OKC will both have off years. Putting them above Dallas is nuts. Quentin Grimes and Naji Marshall add nothing? lol
The Thunder have considerable more talent than Dallas? The most talented team in the west "By far"? Hell no dude lol those guys are good but they are not an All Star team like Boston. You're giving too much credit to Jdub and Chet to get better plus I don't think their offseason additions are that much better than what the Mavs added. Rank them higher but at least keep it real
Are you aware of who's on the OKC roster? The amount of sheer defensive talent is ridiculous and offensively they're elite talent wise as well. In terms of pure talent I don't think Timpf's take was off at all. Whether that means they perform up to expectations is an open question to me. Last year they had a historical year in terms of health good luck which I doubt will be repeated. And they're still incredibly young. So I think their path this year will be more challenging since teams will come gunning for them this time around.
They are very talented. The problem is going to be that Lively has gotten MUCH better offensively and going to make life difficult for Chet (or destroy Heartenstein if they're dumb enough to use him against Derrick). Williams is solid, but not going to be a better scorer than Klay (unless he's playing far more minutes). Just watched OKC play only slightly better than the Spurs without Paul or Wemby....I'm really not afraid of them, even with SGA playing 35 minutes.
What happens if oKC actually has to weather a single Injury?? They didn’t last year. Their starters played almost every game and when they were missing, they freaking lost.
Feel like you’re underrating a Derrick Lively leap in the Boston matchup. What if he destroys the Tatum on Lively chess piece by developing a mismatch abusing post move? What if we see a Nurkic esque high post passing game with him Klay and Kai? He flashed both at times. In general I think people are too low on Lively. He is closer to Chet in talent and diversity than a classic run, dunk, block, rebound center and I don’t think people realize it yet.
25 mins of Klay does not have top defense down to 15th defensive implications….. that’s overblowing things. Especially when we upgraded with Naji/Grimes. Also, Luka was injured in the playoffs so you can’t take that 22 game sample size as matter of fact… Boston def would not destroy this Mavs team.. Naji will take PJs minutes if he doesn’t improve on ABTB threes…..
Exactly. And all the whining about Luka's defense simply ignores the fact he was a slow player playing on a sprained knee AND had a bruised sternum that required dangerous painkiller injections into the ribs just to be able to function. It's amazing....if Luka sat and Dallas lost, guys like this would be all over him for toughness. So he goes out an plays, leads the playoffs in pts/reb/assists/steals and they say, "Oh but his defense was bad.....even though Boston was 20ppg below their average".
If Naji is playing PF then who is playing SF? Klay? You’re gonna be playing Klay, Kyrie, and Luka on the floor at the same time against Boston? That sounds like a Swiss cheese defense
You know part of the depth the got was to help with the PJ problem if his three isn’t dropping. Naji is a shooter. Grimes is a shooter. Plus winwiddie. Don’t sleep on lively shooting. And how is OKC the most talented by far?
Mavs lower than the teams they ousted in the playoffs? Lol. Replaced THJ with Klay Thompson. Quentin Grimes = Josh Green with better handles. And Naji Marshall = Derrick Jones Jr with better handles.
One more thing....your argument was completely flawed. You stated that PJ would have to hit above the break 3s for Dallas to win. This is false for 3 reasons...first, Kyrie and Klay will be shooting them so PJ doesn't have to. Second they lost 2 games by 7 points and they don't need more 3s to make up that gap (Klay is a 10ppg better scorer in his WORST SEASON than Jones). Third, you completely forgot about Naji Marshall who is a much better above the break 3pt shooter, is a better perimeter defender, and is slightly bigger than Washington so can play the PF as well if PJ is struggling. How do you go into your big "This is how they lose" speech and forget about the guy coming off the bench who does it better? Oops....
So the Mavs SMOKE the Thunder by 30 (when Luka was healthy) and then whoop them in the playoffs (should’ve won in 5) but since they added Hartenstein and Caruso, now they’re better? Mavs added KLAY F’N THOMPSON, Grimes, Marshall (FOR DEFENSE), year 2 of Lively, and more cohesion of Gafford and Washington, but the Thunder are better? 😂 who’s gunna be the Thunders PG now that Giddey is gone? Shai? 😂 They said his teammates made fun of him cuz he doesn’t know how to throw a lob pass 😂 MAN I CANT WAIT FOR THIS SEASON TO START!!!!
The main reason why the Mavs lost in the Finals was because of not hitting their open 3s and basically no other players could score outside of Luka. They held the Celtics to their low offensive scores during the Finals.
What if lively can punish Tatum in the post? In those situations where he switches onto him in the pnr forcing Boston to put KP back onto him Remind you lively was a rookie and imo he’s going to keep getting better throughout the season and be well prepared to face Boston again This going to be his breakout season I’m calling it
Lively vs Tatum = Tatum in foul trouble. I will laugh my ass off if they try that shit and it winds up screwing them. Also, if KP is injured again (about a 95% probability), that means Horford will have to play PJ. If I was Kidd, I'd run PJ like he was Steph and wear out that fossil.
@@taylor7264 who is a non-shooter on the Mavericks? Other than Gafford, I’m not aware of another one. Since KP won’t be playing for AT LEAST 50% of the season, his projected stats are meaningless. So you have to go by 38 year old Horford
The Mavs did not punish Tatum in the post in the finals enough. They got a couple buckets with Gafford and went away from it. They need to try to get Tatum in foul trouble and make Boston adjust
Mailbag: i get the concern about the defense with Luka,Kyrie and Klay but I don’t think the Mavs defense will be outside the top 10 ( if everyone one buys in) for a specific reason, the trio of Luka,Kyrie and Klay will only play together almost 17-19 minutes per game and the rest of the minutes we will see at least 2 good premier defenders with a big (excuse my English 😁)
You know I’m supposed to be mad about this as a Mavs fan but it’s whatever. I’d personally have us closer to 3 but the league is so tight nowadays, who knows.
The mavs should definitely be top 3, if not top 2. How do you rate okc over dallas despite the mavs improving at least as much as okc in the off-season? The mavs clearly beat okc in a series that was not really close, despite luka being at maximum 60% because of injury...
Mavs added Klay Naji & Grimes. All amazing to above average at worst 3point shooters and defenders even though klay obviously isnt in his prime anymore but he still averaged 18ppg on 39% 9 3pt FGA a game. Great roster and one of the deepest bench ITL. Also spence, great ball handler and can create shots and clutch and was a huge part of that 2022 WCF run. They even have a 7’5 defensive stopper. They were just a few pieces away from beating Boston and I think they’ll be able to this time with hopefully a HEALTHY Luka and Kyrie getting over the hump. Get that hate out yo heart Jason. Whoever they meet, I think they will beat. I feel like they should and will win it this year💯💯
Calm down, the western champs is better than last year. If you talk about regular season, I think Dallas will be in the 5 or 4 seed. But in playoff mode they have a chance to win all if everybody stay healthy.
So you’re ranking Denver ahead of the Mavs because of how they matchup with Boston. But shouldn’t you think about how Denver will do against the other teams out West?
The other thing about the Boston thing is if Luka is healthy he is gonna cook Tatum on the switch there just isn’t a player who can bother him when he is healthy
@@301marco8 finals would play out the exact same way. But I’d worry about the team in your conference whose roster improved even more and who have more young players about to take a next step
@@301marco8 yeah I watched that series and I think Shai played just as well as Luka. Also I’m pretty sure they were a free throw away from going to game 7 in OKC where they would have been the favorite… personally I don’t care who wins, I actually would rather the Mavs come out of the west, but to me OKC seems better
I understand the doubts about Klay, but they're not expecting him to be prime Klay. Also, since he arrived in town, he's been working with some of the guys (primarily PJ). That can only help PJ grow and improve as a shooter, which pays dividends for us both short-term and long-term. Bottom line is this: Luka got us to the Finals last year while being banged up and out of shape. If he's healthy, I've yet to see a team truly stop him
Going off some of the points you’ve mentioned, I’ve seen some good signs from clips and quotes during training camp so far. 1) Kidd mentioned in an interview that last year his challenge to Luka was to play faster and this year is for him to allow himself to rely on others to bring the ball up. I saw another quote somewhere today that he wants pretty much everyone that isn’t Luka or Kyrie to be able to do it. To your point I think this roster is *much* better equipped to do this. Naji Marshall in theory at least is pretty much just DJJ who can actually handle the ball and make shots for himself maybe at the cost of a bit less defense. From my view I’m looking at the SF position as being pretty much split between Klay and Naji. This way we can basically run alternating version of the main lineup, one for shooting and one for more versatility/defense. 2) Kidd also mentioned taking a bit of inspiration from the triangle offense. Not saying it’s gonna turn into the 90s Bulls but I’m expecting to see a bit more of the other players setting Luka up for post up opportunities. These two things should hopefully really help lessen the load on Luka. In addition, -Apparently another focus during the offseason was tinkering with PJs shooting form. Players do this all the time but it could be very helpful like you were saying. -Based off just one pre-season game you can tell Lively has really been grinding to work on his game. He had a Giannis-like transition bucket and was aggressively hunting mismatch and post opportunities. There’s a lot of ifs here but basically if -We can lessen the load on Luka and get a bit ball handling and shot creation from roleplayers -Klay isn’t completely washed and ends up benefiting from the the change -PJ develops his shot a bit more -Lively takes a leap -Grimes and Naji are able to solidify themselves as the main guys off the bench after Gafford This team can be really scary and deep. 2 seasons ago on the WCF run, Dinwiddie was arguably Luka’s 2nd or 3rd option. This year he’s going to be battling for breadcrumb minutes. I know part of that is his own slight decline but it’s still insane to think about. You combine that with (if healthy) a full 48 minutes of either sophomore leap Lively or Daniel Gafford at center. Luka entering his prime. Kyrie still playing at a high level. Most of the core guys who aren’t Klay/Kyrie are around age 25-26 so are around the point of entering their primes together. This is basically the same team that went on the absolutely dominant tear to end the season and make the Finals last year but with more versatility and depth and the main players continuing to get better. But so many people can’t get over DJJ.
I think this is going to wind up looking like a bad ranking. Dallas has all the potential to be #1-2 in the west and anywhere from 1st-3rd best record in the league By my back of the napkin math, Luka and Kyrie will average 55 points (60 last season) and Klay, PJ, and DLive will average 45 points (38.5 last season with an expected leap from Lively). That's 100 points from just your starting 5. If Naji, Grimes, Dinwiddie, and Gafford just average what they averaged last season, you can pencil the Mavs in for 133 points per game. That's absolutely huge. Even if they take a step back defensively (not obvious, Naji was arguably the best perimeter defender in the league last year and Grimes has something to prove this year) they're gonna win a truckload of games. 60+ easily and perhaps as many as 65. I know those simple averages are never how these things actually work, but I think 125 ppg is totally on the table. I think provided Kidd makes 80% of the right moves to manage minutes and lineups they will be a top 10 defense and #1 offense
You are delusional if you think they are scoring 133 points per game next season 😂. You give Lively a 7 point jump in scoring but assume klay won’t decrease at all as he moves to a team where he’s now maybe the third option… imo Dallas will be great in the regular season and depending on matchup will probably be out in the 2nd or third round
@nickjones809 I said 125 by the end of that paragraph and also assumed a combined 5 point decrease from Luka and Kyrie from decreased usage. I'm basically protecting 15ppg each from Klay (averaged 20 ppg as the 3rd option when KD was there), PJ (should benefit from improved spacing and shooting more from his spot), and DLive who just scored 12 points in 14 minutes against the Grizzlies projected starters. The 100 points from the starting 5 I'm 95% sure will happen. It's how much the other guys will contribute I'm less sure of. 25 points from 5-7 dudes on any given night is completely reasonable. You're entitled to your wrong opinion. They just made the finals and got better during the off-season. They're arguably the deepest team in the west. OKC just got ousted by Dallas and didn't improve nearly enough to deserve the glazing they get, Denver has sacrificed way too much depth and Westbrook won't change that, and Minnesota just ruined their spacing for the sake of their cap.
@@orionzervakos ok. For the record I am not biased towards any of the west teams, but in my opinion the Mavs will have a great season but would lose to either of the thunder or maybe the nuggets in the playoffs. You beat the thunder in a very close series last year where you won the shooting variance battle - PJ had an outlier series, pretty much everyone on OKC shot below their averages. This year I think they’ve improved significantly more than the Mavs. I think Hartenstein and Caruso are both better pickups than anyone the Mavs got. The Nuggets would be close, but I just have some faith in Jokic that I don’t have w Luka. I think Boston is also still clearly better, the other east teams are tough to predict vs Mavs. All in all I think the Mavs have a decent shot at the title but they need to avoid some teams.
#5.......the 2nd best team in the NBA last season who added THREE better players to weed out players who underperformed....the deepest bench in the NBA.....the best offensive player in the NBA....the best offensive duo in the NBA.....and your silly ass thinks they're #5. WTF man.....I'm going to remember this and remind you of it every post after the playoffs. I can't wait to see someone put a PF on Lively. Evidently you missed the first game of the preseason where Lively was shooting jump shots and hooks. There's this crazy thing called PRACTICE that some players do in the summer to get better at things they're not good at. Maybe before you make pronouncements you should actually see these guys play.
@@RellSpeaks96 #2. They beat 3 50 win teams in the playoffs, then improved at 1 starting position and 3 bench positions. There could be injuries or chemistry problems that caused them to not finish as strongly as I think they will, but how do you downgrade the number two team in the league last year when they got better?
I don't care how sexy their two way wings are the idea that a team with Brunson and KAT as the first two options is a level above the Mavs as contenders is laughable.
@@drewp839How is that clear? One team has been to the finals and the other is yet to accomplish anything together as of yet. The Mavs just won easily against a team who had KAT as the second option and was the best defensive team in the league. Is New York going to have a way better defense than Minnesota had last season? Is Brunson a significantly better 1st option than Ant? Why should I think this New York team would do much better than the Wolves against the Mavs?
@@williamroper5422 First, yes brunson is a better first offensive option than ant (this is not a question), second Minnesota had a better defense but had a terrible offense, the Knicks were elite at both. The twolves were a worse team than the Knicks last year and so we’re the mavs. The Knicks roster this year is significantly more talented, likely a better offense, a much better defense, fits together, has a better culture, and better coach. I get Lukas great but that team lacks defensive players, size, and they just aren’t a great fitting team. I have them 4th, but the gap between them and the top 4 teams is large.
@@williamroper5422 The Knicks would’ve beat the mavs last year, even without randle, because THEY HAVE AN ELITE OFFENSE. The wolves were a joke offensively last year
@@drewp839You have a poor grasp of the word elite and you can think that just like most people thought the Thunder and Wolves would beat the Mavs and you would be proven wrong just like they were.
Barring any crazy dramatics, the Mavs will be a home court team in the playoffs. OKC is the only other top team that got clearly better talent-wise. Dallas, Kidd specifically, has had a habit of giving games away early in seasons for the sake of testing out certain lineups and players. For the first time in the Luka/Kidd era, the Mavs are starting the season with a roster that expects to be in the Finals again, so I don’t think Kidd is going to do any of that tinkering unless he has to due to injury/rest. Naji is the X-factor when it comes to Dallas vs Boston. He is capable of hitting the three better than DJJ did and will certainly attack closeouts much better. And of course there’s Klay and Grimes who were not on the team. Also, if the new guard depth means that Luka makes it to the Finals *healthy*, that makes a huge difference. Luka’s 3 ball was weakened all playoffs by that knee.
This summer the mavs have said they have reworked PJ's shot a little so it goes in more so I'm not too worried about the above the break 3s but the method of having the forwards on mavs centers won't work this year cuz lively and gafford both have back to the basket game now and they showed a little of it during yesterday's preseason game. I believe through the course of the season you will be much more optimistic about the mavs chance at the chip once you see these changes but i get why you have them here since you don't cover the mavs as extensively as the lakers
He will NEVER stop glazing Curry, James, and Boston. Dallas could have 60 wins and the Lakers & Warriors barely make the Play-in and he'd be on here talking about why they can beat the Mavs. He's also constantly playing down Luka's accomplishments. I wouldn't call him a hater because he admits the obvious (Luka is in the top 3 best players no matter what calculation you use), but Curry can have his worst year in 10 years and he still puts him in the top 8 players. If Luka had a bad season he'd disappear from the list from this knucklehead.
As a maverick’s fan Dereck Livelys 2nd year leap is about to be scary for you. If you think putting Jayson Tatum on D Live is gonna work this year you are sadly mistaken expect a post game and 3 ball coming from Dereck lively this season
The nuggets look like a first round exit, they have horrible depth, their starting lineup is no longer that same level, the lack of kcp is the end of them contending
I think you have a good point about Denver being a better matchup to Boston but I think mavs should be over the nuggets because we are better then the nuggets the nuggets is going to have to go thur us in the playoffs b4 they get to Boston nn they have no defenders to put on Luka or ky
The fact you had to look at your screen to say who left and who was added says so much. I'm curious if you had the Mavs in the Finals last year...I doubt it. Smh
Totally disagree with okc being far more talented...😂 jason just has something against the mavs he will never give them the benefit of the doubt...im taking luka over shai ...im taking kai over jdub ...chet and lively is close asf
Yes they are. I really like Chet, but as long as he's standing out there launching 3s, anyone over 6'5 can guard him. If he was playing in the post it would be a different story.
@@ronmoody3001lol an who does Dallas have to guard the Sha an ant an curry an brown an Tatum Because if you are counting on grimes an Marshall to do it it won’t end well for the mavs an klay isn’t the same player
@@ronmoody3001 Bro the mavs don’t have really any good defenders other than then Marshall klay isn’t the same player Luka an Irving aren’t good defenders the mavs lack defense a line up of Irving Luka an klay is QB chicken Boston would eat that alive
I can understand Boston being higher than Mavs. Ok,Okc because everyone loves them. Ok,Denver cause Jokic and they just won title. But Knicks?What Knicks did to consider them better?
Defense wasn't the problem against Boston, offense was. Last year, the team reached the finals after only half a year of playing together, Luka was 90% healthy and the best center was a rookie. Now they have experience, so I think they are much better than last year. But I'm a Luka fan, so I'm probably a bit biased.
Are you really just going to go based off last year? Teams got better, the grizzlies will be better who’s in their division. Just look at the Miami heat who got to the finals last yr. If your not clear cut the best team in the league like the Celtics doesn’t mean your going to go to the finals again based on last yr. They are right where they should be which is top 5. This is prefect for them.
The MAVS disrespect is crazyy and overating DENVER and JOKIC is so absurd 😅 Klay > THJ Naji > DJJ Grimes > Josh Green DALLAS improved in every category but this clowns overhyping DJJ's defense lol DALLAS was a trash defensive team not after Trade deadline last season when they added GAFFORD and PJ. But these UA-camR CLOWNS thought DJJ was the main reason for that great defensive team Dallas was last season. Lol
Mentioning the Bucks making the finals over the Knicks is straight hater energy. Milwaukee's depth is nonexistent and you're relying on two guys to carry you past full blown squads.
You and the rest of the media gon have to EXPLAIN the logic behind crowning SGA/Thunder as a "LEGIT TITLE Favorite" while claiming West is so stacked *VS* Last season ALL yall clowns ignored CELTICS had already MADE Finals and multiple Conference Finals... had Mavs over Celtics..lol so I need a REAL explanation since SGA has zero playoff success 🤔🤔🤣🤦🏿♂️
I don’t disagree with the analysis of the matchup last year and how that could possibly lay out again this year, but the big aspect I think you missed was a Derek Lively jump during year 2 the offseason they have talked about how much he has improved on interior scoring and the first preseason game showed flashes of that, so if that is the case then they wouldn’t be able to put Tatum on him inside throwing their whole defense out the window if that were to happen
I always enjoy your analysis and appreciate you ranking the Mavs on top of tier 2. However I think you may have tier 1 too big. Denver has the glaring weakness of lack of depth And the Knicks are so radically different from last year they’re now an unproven concept team that might work together but it might not. So I really think they deserve to be in this tier also with the battle tested Mavs above the Knicks.
It’s exactly where I have them ranked. Specifically, I’m most concerned about their perimeter defense and I don’t think most people are aware of how significant Klay’s regression has been. They aren’t going to be able to guard on the perimeter at all with their starting lineup. But, Luka is still Luka and Kyrie is still Kyrie so they’ll be an extremely good team
Top 6 teams even split between east and west! (Knicks, Sixers, Celts / Nuggs, Mavs, Okc) nice to see despite the imbalance in conferences (and objectivity of this list) the top end teams a still have a lot of parity
Mailbag! I like your point abt Klay not changing the match up w boston schematically bc as long as they have 1 shooter to help off of the Celtics can execute their scheme. That being said how do you think the 2020 lakers deal w that scheme in the highly discussed hypothetical matchup between them n the ‘24 Celtics?? Seems to me like Boston would be allowed to park porzingus in the paint bc those lakers always had a bad above the break shooter on the floor.
Having Denver over Dallas since they are a tougher matchup for Boston makes sense with how you’ve done this list so far, even if I personally disagree that Denver is a better team heading into this year. Just curious: how would you see a series between Denver and Dallas go down in a potential Western Conference semifinal or final? Love the content and breakdowns, can’t wait for the season to get started.
Super long mailbag question: As a mavs fan i think i agree with them being in this tier but my argument would be that i think the Knicks should be below them in your rankings. I don't think the knicks have proven that this current core is championship ready nor as capable of making a finals run like the mavs did. My main concern with them comes at the center position: 1. Are we 100% sure Mitchell Robinson is a matchup proof center come playoff time? I think that will be needed given KATs foul happy tendencies. I would argue Robinson's weaknesses are comparable to Gobert's weaknesses on the offensive end. Which is why Hartenstein played the majority of playoff minutes at that position. 2. idt we can lump the dominant +/- numbers associated with post deadline knicks last year with this current iteration simply because the center position may not give them the same things. Hartenstein gave them connectivity as a passer that idt KAT or Robinson will give them. Hartenstein as a decision maker in the short roll will be something I believe the knicks will really miss this season. If you place KAT in that role he'll be turnover prone and has a tendency to be out of control barreling towards the basket rather than taking the 8 foot floater that Hartenstein thrived with. I know you might respond by saying KAT's role in the pick and pop 2 man game with Brunson will make up for that but i disagree. Cause that involves a lot more shooting variance than the easy looks Hartenstein created with his playmaking. Who's to say he doesnt have another shooting slump like he did in the conference finals?
Thanks for the insight! Stupid question and probably already answered but if Luka’s defender switches of and on Lively it’s likely a smaller guard - was the Mavs unsuccessfully lob it or throw it over for a dunk/lay up? That way if Porzingus help off PJ that’s a corner 3 that Lively can pass to. Was Lively that bad of a paint scorer? Traumatized by the finals so I don’t remember much lol. Thanks again!
You’re sleeping on the Mavs and their defense. The Mavs ended as the best defense in the league last year. People give DJJ so much credit like he wasn’t a vet minimum player before he got to The Mavs and they restored his career. They will be top 10 defensively. Guarantee it.
For the mailbag: Hey Jason, my friend mentions that AD is an injury risk, but I remember you breaking down why that's an unfair label in the past. Could you re hash that so I can send that to them?
Mavs disrespect continues. This guy was wrong about them all last year.
this guy has the lakers in the best teams 😂😂😂😂
MAVS GOING TO WIN THE WEST COUNT IT 🤫I called they would go to the finals at the beginning of last year we old got better
this guy pretends to watch film and analyze basketball. He is getting exposed year after year.
The entire thing is a joke. ESPN is the worst but sports writers and pundits from all over the place disrespect the Mavs every single season. The Mavs are going to KILL this season. Book it.
@@CrustyRusty366he knows ball but I don’t think he understands how good Luka is and this Mavs team is night and day better than last years.
This guy refused to explain how the Nuggets and Thunder beat Dallas and instead goes on about the Celtics who they can only play in the finals.
what happened last year?
@@jacobarford2877 ???
@@jacobarford2877what he’s sayin is basically there are respectfully 14 other teams that can make the finals in the eastern conference not just the Cs. We saw everyone was riding high a year ago on the nuggets being a dynasty but we got ppl sitting here acting like the bucks or the Knicks can’t potentially make the finals next year instead of the Cs.
My confidence in the Mavs has jumped up considerably.
Klay Thompson defensive rating is 117.8 last year. Derrick Jones Jr was 116.3. It's not like they are worlds apart.
Quentin Grimes was 116.1 which is better than Jones, better than Hardaway and better than Green. And Naji Marshall defensive rating was 112.9. So one could effectively argue that they've gotten better on both ends. And besides the game where Porzingis went nuts, all the other games were close and the Mavs were lacking 3 point shooters or they could have easily won those games.
@@EricFox-t5tthese Celtics fans have selective memory…
Defensive and offensive ratings are team stats, not individual stats. Without the context of who you were on the court with and against, the stats don’t tell you anything, or worse tell you lies. I think Klay’s defensive decline is slightly exaggerated, but DJJ is rated as one of the best on ball defenders in the league, it’s not close.
@@shadenym5094Rated as one of the best where? Eye test? DJJ was NOT an all world defender at the start of last season, he was fine but nowhere near enough to even get consistent minutes. Dude was not picked up on a minimum contract because he’s this Uber elite defender. His defense took an uptick when Gafford joined Lively. Which says he’s a good defender not great, whose defense got elevated by elite rim protection. As did a bunch of other players on the team, even PJ who was never an elite defender on the Hornets. The rim protection of the centers make or break the Mavs defense and will help elevate the perimeter defense, which it did second half of the season and in playoffs
The Mavs disrespect is getting crazy.
No way we got PBG in the Hoops Tonight comment section
every "smart basketball analyst" is against them
Timpf says the Mav's hole is perimeter speed while mentioning Kyrie in the same breath? I'd say the "wait-and-see-isms" about the Mavs are really age/injury resistance and 3pt% consistency, but those are variables that most teams face on a nightly basis so I'm not sure I'd say its a "hole" specific to the Mavs.
@@screw41do you know how fast the nba is bruv? Luka and klay are slow on the defensive end and Kyrie is too small for his speed to matter btw I respect Kyrie defense and think he’s quiet underrated but this team undoubtedly suck defensively on the perimeter
@@screw41 he’s talking about perimeter speed on the defensive end.
Jason’s insights on the Mavs is insane. You hate on them so much lol.
He didn't watch them all year until the playoffs and then his discourse magically changed in the Mavs. This dude is a fake. His analysis is ALWAYS lacking
@@MemesOfProduction69 He just watches the Lakers and Warriors all year lol.
The Mavs are going to steamroll this season and most of sports media is just not ready for it.
It’s because he REALLY doesn’t like Luka lol
@@Matt4pf these white podcasters like all of them just hate on Luka. It’s all of them except Legler
The only issue is that not a single team above them has a player who is CLEARLY better then Luka and when you have a healthy Luka betting against this team is gonna be a bad bet
Doesn’t matter, it’s about who has the best team. You clearly saw this in the finals. Luka was the best player in that series and they got smoked.
Unfortunately they are ridicoulously talented. But not ruling anything out with luka.
Luka was injured and still the best player….what’s that say about his godlike skills?
How’d that go in the finals 😂
@@flyboygreg09 they got smoked because Luka was hurt, Kyrie turned into garbage, and the role players couldn’t hit wide open shots. If Luka is healthy and kyrie plays like even 75% of who he is that series is much closer.
There is another solution to the Boston problem. Dereck Lively clearly gained some muscle over the offseason and in Dallas' first preseason game he was aggressively calling for the ball in post-ups whenever he had a smaller player on him. He obviously spent a lot of the summer working on his postgame to not allow a repeat of what happened in the finals. Should Dallas and Boston meet again they won't get away with putting Tatum or Brown on him.
Yep....plus he forgot that Naji Marshall exists.
Lmao Boston’s already won if you’re running posts up for a non scorer
@@zenecawll5677 he had 12 points in 15 minutes against Memphis’ starters….including 7’4 Edey. He was a non-scorer last year as a rookie. You don’t think rookies get better?
Even IF he improved to where a lively post up v the jays is efficient offense, KP would be there to help/double bc they don’t respect pjs jumper
@@taylor7264 what makes you think KP will be there? he’s never had a complete season in his career and he’s not going to start playing until December or January…. Even if he’s playing will he be playing 15 or 20 minutes per game? A lot of if’s surrounding him. But if he does play, he’ll have a much bigger challenge than last year because Lively has gotten considerably better.
And why would I give a shit if Boston respects PJs jumper or not? You’ve got Klay Thompson shooting above the break along with Kyrie and Luka. Dear that you also need your power forward up there shooting is ludicrous. If he’s having a bad shooting game you have Najee Marshall who is a better career shooter and currently shooting 38% from three above the break. He is the same size or slightly larger than Mark Washington so although PJ is an important part of the team, the Mavericks are deep enough to Substitute him out if he’s not being effective. What does Boston do if any of their players aren’t being effective because they have no bench, just two short white guys who are really good three-point shooters if they’re left open….. and they’re both defensive liabilities.
I genuinely cannot fathom how the Nuggets are above the Mavs.
Because Jokic and the Nuggets have already proven their style of basketball can win a championship.
Jason hasn't reviewed the Nuggets yet but I expect he'll argue their core has already proven themselves to be championship caliber and that one or more of the young Nuggets are likely to make a leap. And of course, as the US men's olympic team learned in Paris v Serbia, if the opposing team has Jokic on it all bets are off. Personally I'd rank the Mavs slightly higher because of the question mark of the young players on Denver and the fit of Westbrook.
Yeah it's not like Bogdan played a role in keeping Serbia in the game. Just Jokic and a buncha bums...be real for a second s@@tompratt7125
@@KogaDevvbut they lost important players who helped them win a championship…
@@KogaDevv Except they're missing two of their most important players from that championship. I like Braun, but he's not KCP from 2 years ago and Westbrook is NOT Bruce Brown.
You need to look at film, comparing the quickness, fluidity and multiple capabilities of pre-injury Luka to the injured during the injury plagued Luka we saw last year during the entire playoff run. It was hard to believe the Mavs got to the finals last year in spite of Luka’s injury. The main thing that could hold the Mavs back from a potential championship is Luka’s health - he can’t be playing at 80% against the Celtics. I think Tatum understands that when he said he expects to see the Mavs in the championship series next year.
Same mistake as last season. Media will be wrong about Dallas AGAIN. nothing learned
💯
All Media picked dallas in the finals what you talking about?
The Knicks over Mavs is a wild one - people are drinking the cool-air.
You don’t trust big Purr?
@@FaaababaaI do not. I maybe in the minority, but I think the timberwolves won the trade.
@@Poseidonraider yeah you're definitely in the minority. Knicks won
@@StevenTorres.NYC-CA We will see. ;)
They were a better team last year
Two observation:
- Naji Marshall is a prototypical forward, not a guard. 6'7, 220, 7 feet wingspan. He will play more 4 than 2 in the Mavs system, even if he is asked from time to time to be the PoA defender.
- The Mavs can solve the Boston-issue in an alternative way too. If Lively is good enough as a post-up scorer punishing wings, that defensive strategy won't work. He won't even have to score on Tatum, its enough if he can score on Brown after the switch. Even Gafford gained 15 pounds of muscle, he may be able to punish switches inside.
Both centers will take over and will win even if they switch them up with starters, Lively will be a top 5 center this season.
Biggest issue is they can't shoot, which means clogged up space for Luka. Luka is most effective under the rim, he has highest rim FG% in the league besides some centers. You need Luka to drive more and not settle for shots. To do that you need shooting big who can spread out
@@bedandbreakfast4033 doesn’t need to shoot he has a deadly 1-2 lob threats.
@@301marco8 yeah, what happened against Boston? Where were those lob threats?
Don't worry guys. Mavs made him look a fool last year too.
He predicted the finals pretty accurately
@@nickjones809 Who didn't?
@@circaen lots of ppl lmao, among major media analysts it was pretty close to 50-50. Even fewer ppl predicted how lopsided it would be
I am usually negative after watching Jason talk Mavs... he didn't believe in them last year and you could hear it in his analysis. With that said... I like the analysis. I have issue with so little talk about Lively getting better... this team having an offseason and preseason. For some reason... not just Jason.. Mavs are talked about as though they have players that will not improve. Gafford, PJ, and Luka are all entering their prime. Klay is replacing a guy in Tim Hardaway that was not a huge part of either WCF run. It is so interesting that every in the NBA thinks Boston were the first to deploy that strayegy on the Mavs and they opened some sort of Pandora's box. This is a team that did not go to a game 7 in a loaded Western Conference and did not have home court advantage in a single series... this is a team that played together for less than half a season. I am good with Jason's assessment because he did the same thing last year in the playoffs so the Mavs doubt is fine with me. PJ must make a leap... it is the first time he has played meaningful basketball at the pro level. Lively is our 3rd best player and has a chance to make a huge leap. I will keep coming back to watch Jason pick teams over the Mavs and Luka.
Yea I actually agree with you. It’s easy to knee jerk against Jason as a Mavs fan because like you said he didn’t believe last year. Still remember him either leaving Luka out of his top 10 list or barely having him make it a year ago because he missed the playoffs a single time due to a terrible team.
But for the most part this is a very reasonable analysis. And from what I’ve seen it seems like a lot of the coaching staff/players are aware of a lot of the stuff Jason is talking about, and have been attempting to work on it/improve it moving forward.
I also agree that too many people are getting caught up on DJJ -> Klay and thinking that sums up our entire offseason. No, DJJ is getting replaced by Naji Marshall, who has much more offensive versatility. Klay is replacing the role that Kidd always wanted or was trying to force THJ into. People just don’t see this because THJ was so fucking horrible he had to get buried on the bench the entire second half of the season and the playoffs. There’s an entire dimension to this team that made a run to the Finals that most outsiders/casual fans basically didn’t know existed because Kidd couldn’t use it at all due to THJ actively being a net negative player.
In theory we have the same team as last year but with version A for shooting (Klay at 3) and version B for more defense and athleticism (Naji at 3).
Timpf says its perimeter speed while mentioning Kyrie in the same breath? I'd say the "wait-and-see-isms" about the Mavs are really age/injury resistance and 3pt% consistency, but those are variables that most teams face on a nightly basis so I'm not sure I'd say its a "hole" specific to the Mavs.
you're fine because his analysis is consistently trash?
The problem I have with these "smart talk" basketball is that they miss the point of what basketball is - storytelling. I would sit through the boring "smart" talk if it was smart, but they are just as wrong as any chum from espn or youtube. Just through at you a ton of stuff.
Let’s not forget too during the finals, we were on the Celtics asses the 2nd,3rd and especially 4th game during the series. People want to act like they were blowing us out of the water when we were keeping up while (mainly kyrie) we were having off nights against them, I wish people would just stop sleeping on this team.
Keeping up is wild. That shit wasn’t even close it was boring to watch
I will NEVER understand how 2 teams the Mavs beat CLEARLY CRACKED in the playoffs are ranked ahead of them 😂! An I missing something? Cuz this OKC Slobberfest is disgusting! Caruso & Hartenstein have NEVER been series changing players😂 somebody help me out
Yeah an I can tell you a 34 year old klay is not the same player as he once was an is not a good defender an who does the mavs have to guard curry ant an Murray’s an shai an ja because if you have klay an Irving an Luka it’s not gonna go well for you
@bennyhaus I can guarantee u! That OKC got waxed in the playoffs & none of yo "Would ifs" matter
Maybe because one team added Alex freaking caruso probably best two way guy in the league and a 5 out center in Isaiah while getting rid of josh giddey without losing depth
@@closite9097 how is he the best 2way guy when he's ultra mid on offense 🤣🤣 hes not a scorer, he's not a good passer, and terrible rebounder 🤣! He only defends
Mavs are definitely top 3
Always underrated
Hell no
Nah they 4th
@@drewp839 Nah, they 2nd
@@MojoJM I can’t with that flawed roster
i got the Mavs top 3
Same
If Luka goes healthy into the post season, the Mavs win it all, no matter who they face.
Didnt this guy say that dallas would lose every series, or he picked them over thunder. Dont recall.
Yes I think it was every series besides the clippers one. At some point you gotta just wonder if he’s mad because the mavs yoinked every player the lakers wanted from the last 2 years
@@BrianXu352 I honestly dont know what to say. I think explaining why he got this team wrong so many times I am not sure what to say.
@@BrianXu352he picks every series in the nba, he went 2 and 2 picking series that the mavs were in. It’s normal not to pick every series correctly
He loves LA hates mavs caption of the video!
So your explanation for having Denver above Dallas is purely bc of a matchup with Boston? lol which team is better though? Which team has the better chance to actually get there? The nuggets don’t have a bench.
You are sick in the head for having 4 teams over the Mavs😂😂😂
You’re going to regret this buddy
How on earth do you have Denver ahead of us dude? I swear we have gotten to the point of Jokic being overrated if you really think just his mere presence is enough to make up for the lack of depth and falloff of Murray.
The 23 championship is extremely overrated in the sense that they didn’t beat a single 50 win team while the Mavs did that 3X on their way to the NBA Finals. However losing Bruce Brown and now KCP is a HUGE DEAL! Russell Westbrick is cooked! I wouldn’t be surprised whatsoever if Denver isn’t a top 4 team in the West this season.
He stated his reasoning, Denver is a better match up for Boston than Dallas which I think is fair as an assessment.
@@catalyst6882That’s false tho. May have been true for last season but Dallas is waaay more equipped to beat down Boston next time around.
People want to forget that Luka was injured in the entire playoffs and if you want to bet on Kyrie being that bad in Boston again then go ahead but that wouldn’t be very smart. Dallas didn’t have a soul other than Luka,& Kyrie that could create now with Klay,Spence,Naji,& Grimes with an improved PJ Boston will catch hell trying to defend the Mavs this season.
Once again he like everyone else is overrating Jokic😂 Ok so Boston doesn’t have a soul who can stop Jokic ok what about his teammates? This is a waste of conversation because Denver isn’t getting anywhere close to the finals this year unless Murray has an All NBA season which is very unlikely. He’s been cheeks since the Lakers series
@@catalyst6882 based on what? regular season? suns swept wolves in regular season didnt mean shit. Nuggets have 0 depth
@@catalyst6882 Boston ONLY beat Dallas by taking away the lob (and the corner 3) by putting Tatum on the center. It's a great coaching move....except Lively is way better on offense this year (he already has more jump shots made in the preseason than he had the entire postseason last year), you can't dare Klay, Naji, OR Grimes to shoot from above the break. You also can't bring help to stop Kyrie and even with a bad series, he put up 35 on Holiday one game, proving he CAN do it, it's just a matter of him relaxing and playing his game. But if he struggles, Boston is also going to have to stop Klay. Remind me again who's going to play Klay? Oh yeah, White....who's shorter and has the responsibility of helping on defense.
Seriously, think before you post.
@@SDesWritershit wasn’t even close and your here making declarations Boston’s brought there C+ game and swept y’all yea losing game 4 to win at home doesn’t change that. Tatum can’t play any worse and Porzingis played one half lmao
Mailbag Question: There was an interview with Jason Kidd this week in which he talked about applying some triangle offense concepts with the Mavs after visiting Phil Jackson. He really specifically emphasized less dribbling and more quick passes instead of holding the ball as a key takeaway. Besides that, he also mentioned wanting someone other than Luka to bring the ball up and have Luka attack from different areas on the court. Beat writers have speculated this might mean more mid-post and low-post from Luka as well as more handoffs since Kyrie and Luka ranked 1st and 2rd among 57 players who ran 300 handoffs last season. Do you think these are things that are beneficial ways to improve the Dallas offense? As for defense, I think Dallas's potential woes have been a little overstated, Klay is no longer elite defensively but he isn't below average/a cone.
BTW: I know Mavs fans probably sound salty in the comments, but it's because it feels like everyone is underrating the moves we made and our chances just like last season. Hope you aren't too annoyed with the comments Jason. Thanks for the breakdown!
Naji Marshall and grimes are good defenders. I’m more excited about the addition of them than Klay.
The mavs are noticeably better than the Nuggets. The Nuggets are relying on the Westbrook to be a good fit (not a good bet), and christian braun to fill the role of KCP (also not a good bet, as he’s nowhere near the defender or shooter KCP is).
The Mavs replaced Tim Hardaway with Klay which is a massive upgrade. They replaced Derrick Jones with Marshel which is a good upgrade, Derrick Lively has had an offseason to improve, and Luka is heading into the first year of his prime. If these two teams faced off in the WCF i would have Mavs in 6 due to their elite perimeter scoring, and elite rim protection. Not to mention the Nuggets would have a hard time playing with Westbrook. Do we really believe a lineup with Jokic, Gordon, and Westbrook would be beneficial for spacing the floor? Probably not
Nuggets above the Mavs? Mavs have SO much more versatility roster wise than the nuggets, they can put out shooting lineups or lockdown lineups depending on the situation. Nuggets are locked into one way of playing which weaknesses were exposed in the playoffs and are relying on young players who aren’t ready, that sounds much more like a situation where things need to go right than the Mavs are in
If the Nuggets lose ANY player from their top 6 they are done. They have the thinnest depth in the league. Detroit may have a better bench.
Do you think the mavs matchup better with Boston than Denver?
@@taylor7264 better than Denver. The nuggets have no one that can guard Luka, Braun might not be able to stay with Kyrie, and I have zero confidence in MPJ against Klay or Marshall. Joker is going to have a tough time with Lively & Gafford, although they won’t be able to do anything against him. I just don’t see them scoring enough to win.
@@SDesWriter I’m not asking who would win if dal played den. I’m asking who’s more likely to beat boston, dal or den?
@@taylor7264 you asked who they matched up better with. Read your own post. Both can beat Boston but Denver has to play a perfect game because they have less perimeter defenders and if Boston gets hot they can’t keep up. Dallas has better defense and MUCH better offense. We’ll see when they meet in the regular season, but Kidd can choose to outscore them or defend them like they did in the Finals. They can win either way. And never underestimate the fact that BOTH Denver and Dallas have a player head and shoulders better than anyone on Boston…..the best players always find a way to give you a chance.
Mavs are reigning Western Conference champions and their not giving it back this year. This analysis is poor. Dallas uses more than one offense, more than one defense and the assumption that D-Live adds nothing to his defensive game in year 2 is nuts. Denver and OKC will both have off years. Putting them above Dallas is nuts. Quentin Grimes and Naji Marshall add nothing? lol
They added two defenders that are better offensively than djj and green. Grimes is key as the poa defender is he gets the Luka bump on 3s.
The Thunder have considerable more talent than Dallas? The most talented team in the west "By far"? Hell no dude lol those guys are good but they are not an All Star team like Boston. You're giving too much credit to Jdub and Chet to get better plus I don't think their offseason additions are that much better than what the Mavs added. Rank them higher but at least keep it real
Exactly….hartenstein isn’t a 5 out center…that’s gonna be clunky for awhile….
Are you aware of who's on the OKC roster? The amount of sheer defensive talent is ridiculous and offensively they're elite talent wise as well. In terms of pure talent I don't think Timpf's take was off at all. Whether that means they perform up to expectations is an open question to me. Last year they had a historical year in terms of health good luck which I doubt will be repeated. And they're still incredibly young. So I think their path this year will be more challenging since teams will come gunning for them this time around.
The mavs roster is better nor even close
They are very talented. The problem is going to be that Lively has gotten MUCH better offensively and going to make life difficult for Chet (or destroy Heartenstein if they're dumb enough to use him against Derrick). Williams is solid, but not going to be a better scorer than Klay (unless he's playing far more minutes).
Just watched OKC play only slightly better than the Spurs without Paul or Wemby....I'm really not afraid of them, even with SGA playing 35 minutes.
What happens if oKC actually has to weather a single Injury?? They didn’t last year. Their starters played almost every game and when they were missing, they freaking lost.
Feel like you’re underrating a Derrick Lively leap in the Boston matchup.
What if he destroys the Tatum on Lively chess piece by developing a mismatch abusing post move? What if we see a Nurkic esque high post passing game with him Klay and Kai? He flashed both at times.
In general I think people are too low on Lively. He is closer to Chet in talent and diversity than a classic run, dunk, block, rebound center and I don’t think people realize it yet.
I don’t get it. Luka literally had great defensive numbers in the playoffs. The team shot like crap, it wasn’t Lukas defense lol
25 mins of Klay does not have top defense down to 15th defensive implications….. that’s overblowing things. Especially when we upgraded with Naji/Grimes.
Also, Luka was injured in the playoffs so you can’t take that 22 game sample size as matter of fact…
Boston def would not destroy this Mavs team..
Naji will take PJs minutes if he doesn’t improve on ABTB threes…..
Exactly. And all the whining about Luka's defense simply ignores the fact he was a slow player playing on a sprained knee AND had a bruised sternum that required dangerous painkiller injections into the ribs just to be able to function. It's amazing....if Luka sat and Dallas lost, guys like this would be all over him for toughness. So he goes out an plays, leads the playoffs in pts/reb/assists/steals and they say, "Oh but his defense was bad.....even though Boston was 20ppg below their average".
If Naji is playing PF then who is playing SF? Klay? You’re gonna be playing Klay, Kyrie, and Luka on the floor at the same time against Boston? That sounds like a Swiss cheese defense
You know part of the depth the got was to help with the PJ problem if his three isn’t dropping. Naji is a shooter. Grimes is a shooter. Plus winwiddie. Don’t sleep on lively shooting. And how is OKC the most talented by far?
Mavs lower than the teams they ousted in the playoffs? Lol. Replaced THJ with Klay Thompson. Quentin Grimes = Josh Green with better handles. And Naji Marshall = Derrick Jones Jr with better handles.
One more thing....your argument was completely flawed. You stated that PJ would have to hit above the break 3s for Dallas to win. This is false for 3 reasons...first, Kyrie and Klay will be shooting them so PJ doesn't have to. Second they lost 2 games by 7 points and they don't need more 3s to make up that gap (Klay is a 10ppg better scorer in his WORST SEASON than Jones). Third, you completely forgot about Naji Marshall who is a much better above the break 3pt shooter, is a better perimeter defender, and is slightly bigger than Washington so can play the PF as well if PJ is struggling. How do you go into your big "This is how they lose" speech and forget about the guy coming off the bench who does it better? Oops....
Klay is the 2nd best shooter in the world but he is not in the top 75 all time? Can someone explain this to me?
Mavericks are going to be the #1 or #2 seed this season. They are going to put the league on a MurderTrain.
As a Mavs fan, I doubt they will finish 1 or 2 because Kidd wants to experiment with lineups / combinations for use in the playoffs.
@@txhigolfer Its unfortunate then because almost all championships are won by #1's and #2's.
So the Mavs SMOKE the Thunder by 30 (when Luka was healthy) and then whoop them in the playoffs (should’ve won in 5) but since they added Hartenstein and Caruso, now they’re better? Mavs added KLAY F’N THOMPSON, Grimes, Marshall (FOR DEFENSE), year 2 of Lively, and more cohesion of Gafford and Washington, but the Thunder are better? 😂 who’s gunna be the Thunders PG now that Giddey is gone? Shai? 😂 They said his teammates made fun of him cuz he doesn’t know how to throw a lob pass 😂 MAN I CANT WAIT FOR THIS SEASON TO START!!!!
The main reason why the Mavs lost in the Finals was because of not hitting their open 3s and basically no other players could score outside of Luka. They held the Celtics to their low offensive scores during the Finals.
What if lively can punish Tatum in the post? In those situations where he switches onto him in the pnr forcing Boston to put KP back onto him
Remind you lively was a rookie and imo he’s going to keep getting better throughout the season and be well prepared to face Boston again
This going to be his breakout season I’m calling it
Lively vs Tatum = Tatum in foul trouble. I will laugh my ass off if they try that shit and it winds up screwing them. Also, if KP is injured again (about a 95% probability), that means Horford will have to play PJ. If I was Kidd, I'd run PJ like he was Steph and wear out that fossil.
As long as KP is on a non shooter he’ll be there to help/double if they go to lively v a switch
@@taylor7264 who is a non-shooter on the Mavericks? Other than Gafford, I’m not aware of another one. Since KP won’t be playing for AT LEAST 50% of the season, his projected stats are meaningless. So you have to go by 38 year old Horford
@@SDesWriterpj is a non-shooter above the break.
38 yr old horford looked pretty good against yall in the finals
The Mavs did not punish Tatum in the post in the finals enough. They got a couple buckets with Gafford and went away from it. They need to try to get Tatum in foul trouble and make Boston adjust
Mailbag: i get the concern about the defense with Luka,Kyrie and Klay but I don’t think the Mavs defense will be outside the top 10 ( if everyone one buys in) for a specific reason, the trio of Luka,Kyrie and Klay will only play together almost 17-19 minutes per game and the rest of the minutes we will see at least 2 good premier defenders with a big (excuse my English 😁)
You know I’m supposed to be mad about this as a Mavs fan but it’s whatever. I’d personally have us closer to 3 but the league is so tight nowadays, who knows.
The mavs should definitely be top 3, if not top 2. How do you rate okc over dallas despite the mavs improving at least as much as okc in the off-season? The mavs clearly beat okc in a series that was not really close, despite luka being at maximum 60% because of injury...
"okc has much more talent" still talking about okc having much more talent when mavs just beat them in the playoffs lol
Mavs added Klay Naji & Grimes. All amazing to above average at worst 3point shooters and defenders even though klay obviously isnt in his prime anymore but he still averaged 18ppg on 39% 9 3pt FGA a game. Great roster and one of the deepest bench ITL. Also spence, great ball handler and can create shots and clutch and was a huge part of that 2022 WCF run. They even have a 7’5 defensive stopper. They were just a few pieces away from beating Boston and I think they’ll be able to this time with hopefully a HEALTHY Luka and Kyrie getting over the hump. Get that hate out yo heart Jason. Whoever they meet, I think they will beat. I feel like they should and will win it this year💯💯
Calm down, the western champs is better than last year. If you talk about regular season, I think Dallas will be in the 5 or 4 seed. But in playoff mode they have a chance to win all if everybody stay healthy.
It’s every year people doubt the Mavs
So you’re ranking Denver ahead of the Mavs because of how they matchup with Boston. But shouldn’t you think about how Denver will do against the other teams out West?
The other thing about the Boston thing is if Luka is healthy he is gonna cook Tatum on the switch there just isn’t a player who can bother him when he is healthy
He did that last year, didn’t matter
@@nickjones809we upgraded our roster and our rookie is taking that next step, see it coming, it’s going to be a reality check
@@301marco8 finals would play out the exact same way. But I’d worry about the team in your conference whose roster improved even more and who have more young players about to take a next step
@@nickjones809 who would that be ? I know for a fact it’s not the sorry okc thunder because luka already proved he’s shai’s father
@@301marco8 yeah I watched that series and I think Shai played just as well as Luka. Also I’m pretty sure they were a free throw away from going to game 7 in OKC where they would have been the favorite… personally I don’t care who wins, I actually would rather the Mavs come out of the west, but to me OKC seems better
I understand the doubts about Klay, but they're not expecting him to be prime Klay. Also, since he arrived in town, he's been working with some of the guys (primarily PJ). That can only help PJ grow and improve as a shooter, which pays dividends for us both short-term and long-term. Bottom line is this: Luka got us to the Finals last year while being banged up and out of shape. If he's healthy, I've yet to see a team truly stop him
Going off some of the points you’ve mentioned, I’ve seen some good signs from clips and quotes during training camp so far.
1) Kidd mentioned in an interview that last year his challenge to Luka was to play faster and this year is for him to allow himself to rely on others to bring the ball up. I saw another quote somewhere today that he wants pretty much everyone that isn’t Luka or Kyrie to be able to do it. To your point I think this roster is *much* better equipped to do this. Naji Marshall in theory at least is pretty much just DJJ who can actually handle the ball and make shots for himself maybe at the cost of a bit less defense. From my view I’m looking at the SF position as being pretty much split between Klay and Naji. This way we can basically run alternating version of the main lineup, one for shooting and one for more versatility/defense.
2) Kidd also mentioned taking a bit of inspiration from the triangle offense. Not saying it’s gonna turn into the 90s Bulls but I’m expecting to see a bit more of the other players setting Luka up for post up opportunities.
These two things should hopefully really help lessen the load on Luka.
In addition,
-Apparently another focus during the offseason was tinkering with PJs shooting form. Players do this all the time but it could be very helpful like you were saying.
-Based off just one pre-season game you can tell Lively has really been grinding to work on his game. He had a Giannis-like transition bucket and was aggressively hunting mismatch and post opportunities.
There’s a lot of ifs here but basically if
-We can lessen the load on Luka and get a bit ball handling and shot creation from roleplayers
-Klay isn’t completely washed and ends up benefiting from the the change
-PJ develops his shot a bit more
-Lively takes a leap
-Grimes and Naji are able to solidify themselves as the main guys off the bench after Gafford
This team can be really scary and deep.
2 seasons ago on the WCF run, Dinwiddie was arguably Luka’s 2nd or 3rd option. This year he’s going to be battling for breadcrumb minutes. I know part of that is his own slight decline but it’s still insane to think about.
You combine that with (if healthy) a full 48 minutes of either sophomore leap Lively or Daniel Gafford at center. Luka entering his prime. Kyrie still playing at a high level. Most of the core guys who aren’t Klay/Kyrie are around age 25-26 so are around the point of entering their primes together.
This is basically the same team that went on the absolutely dominant tear to end the season and make the Finals last year but with more versatility and depth and the main players continuing to get better. But so many people can’t get over DJJ.
I think this is going to wind up looking like a bad ranking. Dallas has all the potential to be #1-2 in the west and anywhere from 1st-3rd best record in the league
By my back of the napkin math, Luka and Kyrie will average 55 points (60 last season) and Klay, PJ, and DLive will average 45 points (38.5 last season with an expected leap from Lively). That's 100 points from just your starting 5. If Naji, Grimes, Dinwiddie, and Gafford just average what they averaged last season, you can pencil the Mavs in for 133 points per game. That's absolutely huge. Even if they take a step back defensively (not obvious, Naji was arguably the best perimeter defender in the league last year and Grimes has something to prove this year) they're gonna win a truckload of games. 60+ easily and perhaps as many as 65. I know those simple averages are never how these things actually work, but I think 125 ppg is totally on the table.
I think provided Kidd makes 80% of the right moves to manage minutes and lineups they will be a top 10 defense and #1 offense
You are delusional if you think they are scoring 133 points per game next season 😂. You give Lively a 7 point jump in scoring but assume klay won’t decrease at all as he moves to a team where he’s now maybe the third option… imo Dallas will be great in the regular season and depending on matchup will probably be out in the 2nd or third round
@nickjones809 I said 125 by the end of that paragraph and also assumed a combined 5 point decrease from Luka and Kyrie from decreased usage. I'm basically protecting 15ppg each from Klay (averaged 20 ppg as the 3rd option when KD was there), PJ (should benefit from improved spacing and shooting more from his spot), and DLive who just scored 12 points in 14 minutes against the Grizzlies projected starters. The 100 points from the starting 5 I'm 95% sure will happen. It's how much the other guys will contribute I'm less sure of. 25 points from 5-7 dudes on any given night is completely reasonable.
You're entitled to your wrong opinion. They just made the finals and got better during the off-season. They're arguably the deepest team in the west. OKC just got ousted by Dallas and didn't improve nearly enough to deserve the glazing they get, Denver has sacrificed way too much depth and Westbrook won't change that, and Minnesota just ruined their spacing for the sake of their cap.
@@orionzervakos ok. For the record I am not biased towards any of the west teams, but in my opinion the Mavs will have a great season but would lose to either of the thunder or maybe the nuggets in the playoffs. You beat the thunder in a very close series last year where you won the shooting variance battle - PJ had an outlier series, pretty much everyone on OKC shot below their averages. This year I think they’ve improved significantly more than the Mavs. I think Hartenstein and Caruso are both better pickups than anyone the Mavs got. The Nuggets would be close, but I just have some faith in Jokic that I don’t have w Luka. I think Boston is also still clearly better, the other east teams are tough to predict vs Mavs. All in all I think the Mavs have a decent shot at the title but they need to avoid some teams.
#5.......the 2nd best team in the NBA last season who added THREE better players to weed out players who underperformed....the deepest bench in the NBA.....the best offensive player in the NBA....the best offensive duo in the NBA.....and your silly ass thinks they're #5. WTF man.....I'm going to remember this and remind you of it every post after the playoffs.
I can't wait to see someone put a PF on Lively. Evidently you missed the first game of the preseason where Lively was shooting jump shots and hooks. There's this crazy thing called PRACTICE that some players do in the summer to get better at things they're not good at. Maybe before you make pronouncements you should actually see these guys play.
Where would you rank the Mavericks?
@@RellSpeaks96 2 or 3 depending on if you want to give the Thunder the edge. I'd have them at 2
@@RellSpeaks963
@@RellSpeaks96 #2. They beat 3 50 win teams in the playoffs, then improved at 1 starting position and 3 bench positions. There could be injuries or chemistry problems that caused them to not finish as strongly as I think they will, but how do you downgrade the number two team in the league last year when they got better?
I don't care how sexy their two way wings are the idea that a team with Brunson and KAT as the first two options is a level above the Mavs as contenders is laughable.
How, the Knicks roster is just clearly better
@@drewp839How is that clear? One team has been to the finals and the other is yet to accomplish anything together as of yet. The Mavs just won easily against a team who had KAT as the second option and was the best defensive team in the league. Is New York going to have a way better defense than Minnesota had last season? Is Brunson a significantly better 1st option than Ant? Why should I think this New York team would do much better than the Wolves against the Mavs?
@@williamroper5422 First, yes brunson is a better first offensive option than ant (this is not a question), second Minnesota had a better defense but had a terrible offense, the Knicks were elite at both. The twolves were a worse team than the Knicks last year and so we’re the mavs. The Knicks roster this year is significantly more talented, likely a better offense, a much better defense, fits together, has a better culture, and better coach. I get Lukas great but that team lacks defensive players, size, and they just aren’t a great fitting team. I have them 4th, but the gap between them and the top 4 teams is large.
@@williamroper5422 The Knicks would’ve beat the mavs last year, even without randle, because THEY HAVE AN ELITE OFFENSE. The wolves were a joke offensively last year
@@drewp839You have a poor grasp of the word elite and you can think that just like most people thought the Thunder and Wolves would beat the Mavs and you would be proven wrong just like they were.
Ummmmmmmmm.....U DO REALIZE THE MAVS LOST TO NO ONE ....EXCEPT THE CELTICS......
I HAVENT HEARD NOTHIN BOUT HOW THE OTHER WEST TEAMS GONNA BEAT DALLAS
How you say the mavs weakness and the only team that seems to have that is Boston and yet you still put okc and Denver over them
Dude been smoking good
1. Celtics 2. Mavs Any other top 2 is just wrong.
Barring any crazy dramatics, the Mavs will be a home court team in the playoffs. OKC is the only other top team that got clearly better talent-wise. Dallas, Kidd specifically, has had a habit of giving games away early in seasons for the sake of testing out certain lineups and players. For the first time in the Luka/Kidd era, the Mavs are starting the season with a roster that expects to be in the Finals again, so I don’t think Kidd is going to do any of that tinkering unless he has to due to injury/rest.
Naji is the X-factor when it comes to Dallas vs Boston. He is capable of hitting the three better than DJJ did and will certainly attack closeouts much better. And of course there’s Klay and Grimes who were not on the team. Also, if the new guard depth means that Luka makes it to the Finals *healthy*, that makes a huge difference. Luka’s 3 ball was weakened all playoffs by that knee.
People need to understand that these analysis are purely opinion and predictions. This guy got every prediction wrong in the west last year.
I get Boston & Thunder(MAYBE) but the knicks & Denver?? After Denver has lost there best 2 way player . Strange …
Plus can the okc win before we treat them like they have a 2018 bron or 2017 curry who is doing something unstoppable
This summer the mavs have said they have reworked PJ's shot a little so it goes in more so I'm not too worried about the above the break 3s but the method of having the forwards on mavs centers won't work this year cuz lively and gafford both have back to the basket game now and they showed a little of it during yesterday's preseason game. I believe through the course of the season you will be much more optimistic about the mavs chance at the chip once you see these changes but i get why you have them here since you don't cover the mavs as extensively as the lakers
He will NEVER stop glazing Curry, James, and Boston. Dallas could have 60 wins and the Lakers & Warriors barely make the Play-in and he'd be on here talking about why they can beat the Mavs. He's also constantly playing down Luka's accomplishments. I wouldn't call him a hater because he admits the obvious (Luka is in the top 3 best players no matter what calculation you use), but Curry can have his worst year in 10 years and he still puts him in the top 8 players. If Luka had a bad season he'd disappear from the list from this knucklehead.
As a maverick’s fan Dereck Livelys 2nd year leap is about to be scary for you. If you think putting Jayson Tatum on D Live is gonna work this year you are sadly mistaken expect a post game and 3 ball coming from Dereck lively this season
The nuggets look like a first round exit, they have horrible depth, their starting lineup is no longer that same level, the lack of kcp is the end of them contending
Terrible take having Dallas at 5
I think you have a good point about Denver being a better matchup to Boston but I think mavs should be over the nuggets because we are better then the nuggets the nuggets is going to have to go thur us in the playoffs b4 they get to Boston nn they have no defenders to put on Luka or ky
The fact you had to look at your screen to say who left and who was added says so much. I'm curious if you had the Mavs in the Finals last year...I doubt it. Smh
Totally disagree with okc being far more talented...😂 jason just has something against the mavs he will never give them the benefit of the doubt...im taking luka over shai ...im taking kai over jdub ...chet and lively is close asf
Yes they are. I really like Chet, but as long as he's standing out there launching 3s, anyone over 6'5 can guard him. If he was playing in the post it would be a different story.
@@SDesWriter LOL OKC MORE TALENTED.....YET LOSS TO DALLAS 4...2....
AND THAT WAS WITH A HURT LUKA..
WHERE'S THE BETTER TALENT?
@@ronmoody3001lol an who does Dallas have to guard the Sha an ant an curry an brown an Tatum Because if you are counting on grimes an Marshall to do it it won’t end well for the mavs an klay isn’t the same player
@@CarsonCarpenter-c6x WTF THE SAME PLAYERS THAT BEAT THEM 4 2 LAST SEASON....
THAT DONT EVEN MAKE SENSE
@@ronmoody3001 Bro the mavs don’t have really any good defenders other than then Marshall klay isn’t the same player Luka an Irving aren’t good defenders the mavs lack defense a line up of Irving Luka an klay is QB chicken Boston would eat that alive
I can understand Boston being higher than Mavs.
Ok,Okc because everyone loves them.
Ok,Denver cause Jokic and they just won title.
But Knicks?What Knicks did to consider them better?
many coaches would love to have the Celtics personnel to try and guard Dallas the way they did... good luck with that
Ain't no way there are 4 teams better than the mavs in playoffs ain't no way
“The barrier standing between the Mavs and the championship is Boston”. Therefore, I rank them 5.
Ridiculous take …
Defense wasn't the problem against Boston, offense was. Last year, the team reached the finals after only half a year of playing together, Luka was 90% healthy and the best center was a rookie. Now they have experience, so I think they are much better than last year. But I'm a Luka fan, so I'm probably a bit biased.
Mavs are top 3 in the NBA for sure lol.
Celtics only for sure team who you can legitimately say are higher or project higher even.
Yikes lol
How about you finish the video
This guy doesn’t know ball like that fr. Having 4 teams over the Mavs is wild
Are you really just going to go based off last year? Teams got better, the grizzlies will be better who’s in their division. Just look at the Miami heat who got to the finals last yr. If your not clear cut the best team in the league like the Celtics doesn’t mean your going to go to the finals again based on last yr. They are right where they should be which is top 5. This is prefect for them.
I watched the whole thing….commenting off that right away because it was so irrational…
The MAVS disrespect is crazyy and overating DENVER and JOKIC is so absurd 😅
Klay > THJ
Naji > DJJ
Grimes > Josh Green
DALLAS improved in every category but this clowns overhyping DJJ's defense lol
DALLAS was a trash defensive team not after Trade deadline last season when they added GAFFORD and PJ.
But these UA-camR CLOWNS thought DJJ was the main reason for that great defensive team Dallas was last season. Lol
I think other teams trying to defend the mavs like the celtics did will only help them understant how to attack and be ready for it.
Mentioning the Bucks making the finals over the Knicks is straight hater energy. Milwaukee's depth is nonexistent and you're relying on two guys to carry you past full blown squads.
You and the rest of the media gon have to EXPLAIN the logic behind crowning SGA/Thunder as a "LEGIT TITLE Favorite" while claiming West is so stacked *VS* Last season ALL yall clowns ignored CELTICS had already MADE Finals and multiple Conference Finals... had Mavs over Celtics..lol so I need a REAL explanation since SGA has zero playoff success 🤔🤔🤣🤦🏿♂️
Great content and my favorite part is the live breakdowns at the end
I don’t disagree with the analysis of the matchup last year and how that could possibly lay out again this year, but the big aspect I think you missed was a Derek Lively jump during year 2 the offseason they have talked about how much he has improved on interior scoring and the first preseason game showed flashes of that, so if that is the case then they wouldn’t be able to put Tatum on him inside throwing their whole defense out the window if that were to happen
I always enjoy your analysis and appreciate you ranking the Mavs on top of tier 2. However I think you may have tier 1 too big. Denver has the glaring weakness of lack of depth And the Knicks are so radically different from last year they’re now an unproven concept team that might work together but it might not. So I really think they deserve to be in this tier also with the battle tested Mavs above the Knicks.
I told folks somewhere, Mavs don't need respect, they EARN it on court. All we need to do is support❤ #MFFL.
mavs should be 3 at a minimum. the Denver overrating continues. Can Jokic beat a 50 win team before we just pencil him in?
Curious on your thoughts from okc’s double big lineup and okc’s new pieces and overall team improvements vs San Antonio last night?
Great video.
Finally Zion is adding counters to his game
It’s exactly where I have them ranked. Specifically, I’m most concerned about their perimeter defense and I don’t think most people are aware of how significant Klay’s regression has been. They aren’t going to be able to guard on the perimeter at all with their starting lineup. But, Luka is still Luka and Kyrie is still Kyrie so they’ll be an extremely good team
Top 6 teams even split between east and west! (Knicks, Sixers, Celts / Nuggs, Mavs, Okc) nice to see despite the imbalance in conferences (and objectivity of this list) the top end teams a still have a lot of parity
They Are 3. for me.
Mailbag!
I like your point abt Klay not changing the match up w boston schematically bc as long as they have 1 shooter to help off of the Celtics can execute their scheme.
That being said how do you think the 2020 lakers deal w that scheme in the highly discussed hypothetical matchup between them n the ‘24 Celtics??
Seems to me like Boston would be allowed to park porzingus in the paint bc those lakers always had a bad above the break shooter on the floor.
Having Denver over Dallas since they are a tougher matchup for Boston makes sense with how you’ve done this list so far, even if I personally disagree that Denver is a better team heading into this year. Just curious: how would you see a series between Denver and Dallas go down in a potential Western Conference semifinal or final? Love the content and breakdowns, can’t wait for the season to get started.
What is more likely: Denver beating the Mavs or Mavs beating Bosting?
@@lsmith77 No one is tougher matchup than Dallas is. This year Dallas is the best team in the NBA
@@grumsigrumsi3185no they are not Boston is the best team in the nba right now buddy
Super long mailbag question:
As a mavs fan i think i agree with them being in this tier but my argument would be that i think the Knicks should be below them in your rankings. I don't think the knicks have proven that this current core is championship ready nor as capable of making a finals run like the mavs did. My main concern with them comes at the center position:
1. Are we 100% sure Mitchell Robinson is a matchup proof center come playoff time? I think that will be needed given KATs foul happy tendencies. I would argue Robinson's weaknesses are comparable to Gobert's weaknesses on the offensive end. Which is why Hartenstein played the majority of playoff minutes at that position.
2. idt we can lump the dominant +/- numbers associated with post deadline knicks last year with this current iteration simply because the center position may not give them the same things. Hartenstein gave them connectivity as a passer that idt KAT or Robinson will give them. Hartenstein as a decision maker in the short roll will be something I believe the knicks will really miss this season. If you place KAT in that role he'll be turnover prone and has a tendency to be out of control barreling towards the basket rather than taking the 8 foot floater that Hartenstein thrived with.
I know you might respond by saying KAT's role in the pick and pop 2 man game with Brunson will make up for that but i disagree. Cause that involves a lot more shooting variance than the easy looks Hartenstein created with his playmaking. Who's to say he doesnt have another shooting slump like he did in the conference finals?
Thanks for the insight! Stupid question and probably already answered but if Luka’s defender switches of and on Lively it’s likely a smaller guard - was the Mavs unsuccessfully lob it or throw it over for a dunk/lay up? That way if Porzingus help off PJ that’s a corner 3 that Lively can pass to. Was Lively that bad of a paint scorer? Traumatized by the finals so I don’t remember much lol. Thanks again!
Mavs about to go crazy this year, watch. I won't be surprised if Lively makes Allstar
Yea the team that made the finals is just a if things go right team lol ok just gotta prove him wrong
Excellent work again Jason. Top not sure who the other team is besides Boston, okc, and denver that you ranked above the Mavs. Anyway, let's see
You’re sleeping on the Mavs and their defense. The Mavs ended as the best defense in the league last year. People give DJJ so much credit like he wasn’t a vet minimum player before he got to The Mavs and they restored his career. They will be top 10 defensively. Guarantee it.
I saw that clip of OKC with Chet and iHart yesterday and got really scared of OKC this year.
For the mailbag: Hey Jason, my friend mentions that AD is an injury risk, but I remember you breaking down why that's an unfair label in the past. Could you re hash that so I can send that to them?