Welcome to the final installment of our series of 41 questions pertaining to the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA. If you’ve been with us since the beginning, thank you for coming along for the ride. If not, you can certainly catch up on the Mavs Moneyball homepage. To date, we’ve covered 40 questions, leaving a single question remaining!
1. What is your expectation for the team this upcoming season?
I expect the team will be a pleasant surprise. I believe D’Angelo Russell will prove to be a much better addition than some seem to think. With a player option next year, this will effectively be a contract year for him and I think he is going to return to form. I have a completely unfounded sense that Kyrie Irving will be ready to return from his ACL injury on the favorable end of the timeframe – January – but the team may keep him out until after the All-Star break as a precaution because the team will be doing a bit better than expected. I also think Irving will contribute down the stretch for a team that will avoid the Play In Tournament and grab themselves a Playoff spot outright. I expect Anthony Davis to be more available than his injury history would lead one to believe, as he seems to have a chip on his shoulder to prove something. I expect Cooper Flagg will win Rookie of the Year, though not necessarily in run-away fashion, by putting together a very good year and showing rapid growth in no small part due to his veteran teammates.
In short, I think the team will be much better than last season would have us believe. I fully recognize the above sounds like a whole lot of Kool-Aid drinking, but there is much less emotion involved than would appear on the surface. I just feel the team couldn’t possibly be as injury-ridden as they were last year (please!) when they experienced unprecedented upheaval yet still won 39 games. As a result, my expectations are (perhaps irrationally) high.
I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.