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Dallas Wings trade DiJonai Carrington to Minnesota Lynx

2025-08-03T13:12:02-05:00

Photo by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images

Wings land Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson, 2027 pick

The Dallas Wings traded forward DiJonai Carrington to the league-leading Minnesota Lynx Sunday, receiving forward Diamond Miller, guard Karlie Samuelson and a second-round pick in 2027, according to a press release from the team.

The deal fortifies 24-5 Minnesota, runner-up for the championship last year, as it prepares for another Finals run. Carrington averaged 10.4 points per game on 35.4% shooting, playing a variety of roles for the Wings in her fifth WNBA season. She brings Finals experience to the Lynx, having reached the brink of a title with Connecticut in 2022.

Miller, a 6’3” forward who was the second pick of the 2023 draft, brings some floor-stretching potential as her accuracy from deep has skyrocketed this year to a career-high .538 in a role that has been reduced significantly since her rookie season. After averaging double figures in 2023 she was all but out of the rotation in the Lynx’ playoff run last year after a knee injury. Although Miller’s marksmanship has come on only one attempt per game this year, the Wings need all the shooting help they can get. The Wings have been prevented at times not only from making threes, but from taking them, as evidenced by Friday’s 2-15 showing from deep.

Following Friday’s 88-78 home loss to an Indiana team playing without Caitlin Clark, the deal for 8-21 Dallas seems an acknowledgement that trying to erase a 6.5-game deficit for eighth place with 15 games remaining would be a difficult ask for the team as currently constructed.

Carrington was one of two Baylor alums the Wings brought aboard this offseason while building around top overall pick Paige Bueckers. The other, NaLyssa Smith, was dealt to Las Vegas June 30 for a first-round pick in another forward-looking move.

To free up roster space for the new acquisitions, Dallas waived center Teaira McCowan, who averaged double figures for three of her four seasons in Dallas and whose old-school skill set often stood in contrast to league-wide styles of play trending towards speed and athleticism. McCowan’s .570 field goal percentage as a Wing is a record for the franchise.

Samuelson, limited to 16 games this season after a left foot injury June 29 and subsequent surgery, is not expected to play again in 2025. The veteran is a career .392 shooter from deep. She previously played for the Wings in 2019 and her sister Katie Lou Samuelson played for the Wings in 2020.

Wings Things: Aziaha James is Paige Bueckers’ best backcourt partner — where has her playing time gone?

2025-08-02T09:00:00-05:00

Getty Images

The future is now for the young, rebuilding Dallas Wings. Friday’s 88-78 loss to the Indiana Fever is further evidence that the team needs to play fellow rookie Aziaha James more.

DALLAS, TX — Paige Bueckers was Paige Bueckers again on Friday in the Indiana Fever’s (16-12) second and final visit of the season to American Airlines Center. She was lethal in the midrange against whichever defender Fever head coach Stephanie White sent her way.
Bueckers scored 15 of her 22 points in the first half of the Wings’ 88-78 loss.

The problem? No one in the starting lineup rode shotgun alongside Bueckers. The rest of Dallas’ starting five scored just 12 points in the first half, and Dallas shot 0-for-5 from 3-point range in the first two quarters (2-of-15 for the game), as the Fever took a 48-42 lead into the break. Indiana built on that lead and held the Wings at arm’s length throughout much of the second half, again without Caitlin Clark, who sat out with a groin injury in the Fever’s second swing through Dallas.

Make no mistake, Bueckers’ buckets didn’t come easy. Her defenders were draped all over her all night long, forcing the rookie phenom to come off multiple screens and work hard for every inch of space she got.

She needs someone to run with who consistently brings some additional scoring punch.

You know who has been instant offense for this 8-21 Wings team, despite her workload being cut nearly in half since the Dallas roster worked its way closer to full health? Fellow rookie Aziaha James, who the Wings selected with the 12th pick of this year’s WNBA Draft.

James shook Sophie Cunningham out of her shoes in the mid-range, issuing a series of crossover jukes to work her way to the basket for her first score of the game with 3:55 left in the first half. She scored in transition a minute later on a nice find from Arike Ogunbowale to keep the Wings within five, down 41-36 at the time.

“I’m just trying to be that instant offense off the bench — that energetic rookie,” James said. “Do what I’ve got to do and get the ball in the basket. You’ve just always got to stay ready.”

COOK ROOK

Aziaha James gets busy in the lane with the hesi plus the finish

DAL-IND | ION pic.twitter.com/CBNE9w5pkR
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 2, 2025

With Ogunbowale back and firmly entrenched in the starting lineup, it’s a good thing to have a weapon like James available off the bench. JJ Quinerly, the third member of the Wings’ Draft Class of 2025, may be the closest thing to a pure point guard on this Wings roster, despite her lack of size defensively, and Dallas needs someone dependable to bring the ball up among the overstock of off-guards on the roster.

So I get the decision-making calculus facing Wings head coach Chris Koclanes when it comes to the distribution of minutes among this group of guards. The fact remains — James can no longer be the odd guard out in this rotation.

“You want to try to establish rhythm and normality with your subbing and rotations, and you go into every game thinking that’s going to be the case,” Koclanes said. “And then the game unfolds, and things change. And I loved Aziaha’s answer, when she said, ‘No, you just have to stay ready.’”

When Koclanes put James in the starting lineup out of pure necessity earlier this year with both Ogunbowale and DiJonai Carrington on the shelf with injuries, she immediately blossomed alongside Bueckers and Quinerly. James scored in double figures for seven straight games in late June and early July, including a 28-point outburst in the Wings’ 98-89 upset win over the Phoenix Mercury, which was sandwiched between two 15-point outings.

James proved she can make a difference for the Wings in that span. The team can’t afford to let that kind of potential and production wilt on the bench any longer.

News flash: Dallas isn’t making the playoffs. The name of the game is building for the future, especially when the starting lineup brings zero juice in winnable games. James needs to be featured more prominently. She needs to, at very least, be the first guard off the Wings’ bench.

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

DiJonai Carrington #21 of the Dallas Wings handles the ball as Sydney Colson #51 of the Indiana Fever defends during the second half at American Airlines Center on August 1, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.

There is no reason Carrington should be getting more minutes than James on this team. After winning the W’s 2024 Most Improved Player Award, Carrington has been underwhelming, then injured, then underwhelming again this season. Are the Wings playing the more established Ogunbowale and Carrington heavier minutes in hopes of drumming up potential value in the market with the WNBA trade deadline next Thursday? Who’s to say?

“Yea, they sure do,” Koclanes admitted, when asked whether trade rumors swirling affect the locker room vibe this time of year.

James didn’t play in the third quarter on Friday after coming in and making two plays right off the bat in the second. She started the fourth and immediately pulled down a defensive rebound and then pulled up for a 3-pointer near the top of the key with nine minutes to play to keep the Wings within shouting distance, down 70-60 at the time. To that point, James had played seven minutes and netted seven points. She finished with nine points in 16 minutes and hasn’t played more than 20 minutes in any of the Wings’ last seven games.

It should be noted, however, that nine of those 16 minutes on Friday came in the fourth quarter. Those nine minutes came at the expense of Ogunbowale, who didn’t play at all down the stretch and scored just eight points on 1-of-6 shooting for the game. It was the eighth game this year in which Ogunbowale, who scored 22.2 points a year ago, was held to single digits. Koclanes, who was uncharacteristically animated and showed some frustration in Friday’s postgame press conference, said Ogunbowale’s absence wasn’t due to any kind of injury.

“She’s fine,” Koclanes said. “That group got it rolling there, so we went with them. That young group — I like their fight, their tenacity, their grit that they were applying in the fourth quarter, so we went with them.”

It’s becoming more and more clear to everyone involved. The offensive efficiency and defensive tenacity this team is begging for is seated at the end of Koclanes’ bench. The rest of Friday’s starting lineup certainly didn’t bring any. Bueckers finished with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting in 34 minutes, while the rest of the Wings’ starters shot 8-of-26 for 25 points in the loss to Indiana.

The future is now for this team. It’s time for the Wings to get on with it.

How High is O-Max’s Ceiling?

2025-08-02T07:00:00-05:00

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

And can he get the necessary minutes to develop?

As he enters his third season in the NBA, Dallas Mavericks forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper (or O-Max, as he’s lovingly referred) is beginning to fill a place of respect and esteem in my heart which has been a void since the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith over two years ago. The more I’ve thought about it, the quicker the comparisons between the two begin to offer themselves for consideration.

While Finney-Smith’s minutes played average hit the 20 minute mark right off the bat in his rookie season, O-Max has so far averaged only 10 during his first two seasons in the league. This is obviously a factor that could be detrimental to his development, but it’s certainly not something that can be blamed on his abilities or level of effort. It just happens to be the case that O-Max joined a Mavericks team that was lengths and bounds more talented - and much deeper - than the squad Doe-Doe joined in 2016.

Be that as it may, I still believe that O-Max has a very comparable ceiling to the one Finney-Smith created for himself. While comparing them side by side, it should obviously be pointed out that Doe is 10 years older than O-Max, so we’re looking at where DFS was when he first entered the league, and comparing that with where O-Max currently is to see what factual basis there might be that could stoke the expectation for similar player development and success.

They’re very similar from a size standpoint. O-max may be a little sturdier, but the athleticism, strength and high-motor are unique to both. As such, Dorian has proved to be a work-horse in the minutes played category for over a decade now, offering elite defense as a means to securing starting roles on all the teams he’s suited up for. While O-Max may have a ways to go, this is where the strongest similarities are visible.

O-Max has shown clear flashes of what he could eventually become, from a defensive standpoint, and if he’s ever provided with the on-court time to develop, he could well reach that next level that Doe eventually did. Unfortunately, he faces the challenge of being on a very deep Mav’s unit, one boasting an undeniably strong front court that has him buried behind AD and PJ Washington for third spot on the PF rotation (unless situations call for AD to slide to the 5). This solid depth, at any rate, will continue to make it hard for him to break into the rotation as a key piece, if only because there aren’t enough minutes to go around. But it became clear last season the Coach Kidd likes this kid. His minutes came a little more frequently, and he was able to start cashing in on them, making the most of his on-court time and beginning to carve a reputation for himself as an extremely hard worker with a growing skillset and ceiling.

While his percentage from behind the arch suffered a bit last year, there’s no reason to believe he can’t work his butt off to eventually make it a strong-suit, just like every other 3&D wing is expected to do these days. Doe improved on his at a pretty steady clip for the first several years of his career, making himself a strong enough shooter to avoid being a liability on the offensive end.

Not only does O-Max have this potential, he also showcases the ability to get to the basket. This is where developmental time will be crucial to his success, though, because while he has the raw ingredients: length, speed, athleticism and the beginnings of confidence, those are often undermined by his balance issues and clumsiness. It’s almost as if he moves too quickly for his own good at times. But those things can definitely be ironed out. (Remember when Josh Green first entered the league? My friend used to call him a giraffe on roller skates). It can be frustrating to see him flailing around at times, but you have to focus on the fact that he’s a very young guy, and he’s still learning to live inside his own frame. And if he does achieve a greater rhythm and fluidity to his game, I think he can become something similar to the high-level role-player Finney-Smith became.

The important thing is that O-Max shows the right instincts. His timing improved greatly during his second season campaign. He was almost always in the mix for rebound attempts, and he put himself into position to fight for the ball wherever he could. His defensive acumen began to display itself more prominently, which added a great deal of value to his potential as a trade asset (I don’t want him to leave Dallas; just stating the obvious).

Time will tell if he’s able to build on the momentum he began to establish last season. I think he has the pieces in place to put it all together and turn himself into something special. All it takes is an injury (knock on wood) and the depth chart can change drastically. Here’s hoping he can improve without anyone getting hurt.

Frustration boils over as Wings fall 88-78 to Caitlin Clark-less Fever at AAC

2025-08-01T22:10:00-05:00

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

The game, moved to AAC for the second time in hopes of a Paige Bueckers-Caitlin Clark Matchup, was a sellout as Indiana swept the “Nights in Dallas” series.

Friday’s Dallas Wings-Indiana Fever game was the second game this season originally planned for Arlington’s College Park Center before the WNBA moved both to the American Airlines Center in hopes of capitalizing on a matchup between two of the league’s young stars — Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark.

In both games, Clark didn’t play, Bueckers did and shined, but the Wings fell short: an unfortunate case of deja vu for the 8-21 Dallas Wings. Friday’s 88-78 loss was the team’s eighth loss in 10 games. After starting the season 1-11, Dallas had won five of seven to build momentum heading into July, but this recent stretch has the team in 11th place, seven games back of the 8th and final playoff spot.

Friday’s game came with an extra level of frustration directed at the officiating crew. Bueckers was sent to the floor multiple times in the game with no foul calls, one of which resulted in her only turnover in a brilliant 22-point, 4-assist, 2-steal night. She said postgame the team didn’t match the Fever’s physicality until the fourth quarter.

“We’re just building reps and we’re a very young team,” Bueckers said. “This is a new experience for a lot of us playing together, growing together.”

The team is indeed one of the youngest in the WNBA and Bueckers highlighted the importance of gaining quality reps in close games as an opportunity to grow. Her head coach offered similar sentiments.

“You have to win games,” Wings head coach Chris Koclanes said. “We have to sit in this and it’s not going to feel good, but you learn and you have a positive mindset and you don’t let one game try to affect the rest.”

But that positive mindset may be cracking. Players were visibly frustrated at times throughout Friday’s game, not just at officiating, but at the scoreboard. Dallas shot just 2-15 from behind the arc, and one of those makes was a last-second three-pointer by Li Yueru after the game was long decided.

In the 38 or so competitive minutes of the game, Dallas shot just 14 three-pointers. Indiana, by comparison, shot 28 and made 12 of them. Bueckers said she wanted to hunt more threes in transition moving forward, but Indiana did a good job limiting their three-point opportunities.

In addition to the 30-point differential from behind the arc, Indiana outrebounded Dallas 44-30, including 14 offensive rebounds compared to Dallas’ 4. Yueru, Dallas’ 6’7” center, played just eight minutes as Dallas got killed on the boards. Koclanes said he liked what Haley Jones was bringing and wanted to get the team’s tempo up. Indiana had 14 fast break points to Dallas’ 10.

Aziaha James, another young bright spot for the Wings, played just 16 minutes Friday. Her minutes have fluctuated from 38 in early July down to just seven in Wednesday’s 88-85 loss to the Atlanta Dream.

“We had 10 available tonight, when Maddy comes back, we’ll have 11. If you divide 200 by 11, no one’s going to be happy,” Koclanes said postgame. “That’s what I’m trying to say, but that’s on me each night. You want to try and establish rhythm and normality with your subbing and rotations and you go into every game thinking that’s going to be the case and then the game unfolds...and things change.”

Another interesting minutes situation Friday was Arike Ogunbowale’s playing time. The franchise’s cornerstone for the better part of a decade played 26 of the game’s first 30 minutes before playing zero fourth quarter minutes.

When asked about the decision to play the 4th without Ogunbowale, Koclanes stood by his decision and said the group on the floor had momentum and he wanted to see what that group could do. However, in an answer to another question about rebounding, that resolve started to crack as Koclanes appeared to take a shot at his guards’ defense. He said his team is getting beat at the point of attack and that is affecting the team’s rebounding position.

“Our guards are getting beat off the bounce, [so] our posts have to rotate to protect the rim. Now their posts are rolling three down to rebound,” Koclanes said. “It takes everybody being in there when we throw two people at the point of attack because our guards can’t guard one-on-one so we’ve got to send two people behind the ball.”

Round it all up and it’s a disappointing loss in a season filled with them. Koclanes and the team have preached about staying the course and gaining experience with a young group, but Friday’s game showed the harsh reality of professional sports: team chemistry and growth don’t feel as good as wins.

Kon Kneuppel models his game after Klay Thompson, who he calls the best off-ball mover ever

2025-08-01T07:00:00-05:00

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Don’t think Klay Thompson can’t guard anymore, Klay Thompson says to Kon Kneuppel, who wants to model his game after Thompson on both sides of the floor.

At first glance, Kon Kneuppel and Klay Thompson do look similar. Both large shooting guards at 6-5, who are known for their elite shooting and defense.

They are different generations, of course, one hasn’t even proven yet that he can play in the NBA, but his Summer League MVP award gives us a good idea of his ceiling.

The other is one of the best shooters the league has ever seen, a talented and effective off-ball mover and has four titles, a five-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA Third Team honoree, and once named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.

The younger one, Kneuppel, who was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the number four pick this year, has previously talked about Klay Thompson’s influence on his game, and if you watch him play, you can see similarities.

Like playing off two feet, which helps balance and strength, and it creates more ways to score and create space. Thompson is very good at that - and here is Kneuppel, doing the same. He keeps balanced and under control, finishing on two feet:

Kon Knueppel has been open about Klay Thompson's influence on his game, and this whole play is a good example of that mold. Footwork to reverse pivot into space and maintain balance for a middie, stays in the play after shot and waits for a second chance, mechanics consistent. pic.twitter.com/mGmxiYmXbt
— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) June 4, 2025

And as an elite shooter himself, Kneuppel points out one of the things Thompson is able to do on a very high level that most players are not.

“He’s so efficient with his movements,” Kneuppel told Kevin O’Connor. “He’s shooting the ball the same, even though his feet aren’t facing the right way, his shoulders are.”

Here’s a good example:

Check the beautiful in-air turn as Klay, a righty, goes to his right on the catch and shoot. While it’s harder to make shots in this direction because the shooting hip and elbow aren’t naturally aligned, the in-air turn is crucial to get the proper alignment pic.twitter.com/ApWHyDPcKw
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) February 23, 2024

And then there’s the two-way part. Kneuppel can’t stop gushing about Thompson’s defense, which he’d like to replicate:

“Just the way he used to defend when he was younger, before the injuries,” Kneuppel elaborates.

Kneuppel’s talk of wanting to model his game after Klay Thompson was noticed by the Dallas Mavericks vet, who made a video for the rookie.

“It makes me feel kinda old,” Thompson said in the video, as Kneuppel watches with a smile, “but also appreciative of great young athletes like yourself.”

“And I heard you aspire to be a two-way player and that’s something I prided myself on for a long time. I can still guard now! Don’t think my days of guarding are long gone,” Thompson responded to all the talk of how he used to guard.

“I can still get out there and switch on a point guard or four-man if I have to.”

Kneuppel had a message for Klay Thompson, as well:

“Tell him he’s the best off-ball mover. Ever. That he’s better than Steph. In my opinion,” Kneuppel said with a smile.

And he continued the praise, though still in the past tense: “People don’t realize how good of a defender he was.”

Thompson, who made NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2019, was an impressive two-way player before his injuries. Just watch this from 2020:

Klay Thompson is the best defensive guard in the nba pic.twitter.com/qCHIkUDxIL
— Antonin (@antonin_org) October 3, 2020

But as the elite and experienced shooter that Thompson is, he points out the one key skill it takes to be a consistently good shooter:

“Never lose that confidence that got you here. Especially when shooting the basketball.”

Find more Beyond Basketball pieces here.

Throwback Thursday: Dirk’s debut in February 1999

2025-07-31T07:00:00-05:00

This day in Mavericks’ history, Dirk Nowitzki played his first NBA game

February 5, 1999 is one of the most important days in the history of the Dallas Mavericks franchise, and arguably the NBA as a whole. It marked Dirk Nowitzki’s first NBA game in what would become a legendary 21 season career. Nowitzki officially began his NBA journey at the NBA Draft seven months prior, on June 24, 1998. Though very few could have predicted what a defining Draft that would be for the franchise, the foundation for the new millennium Dallas Mavericks was indeed being set that night.

Draft night deals

Nowitzki was selected ninth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks, three picks after the Mavericks chose Robert “Tractor” Traylor with the number 6 pick. Shortly after the Bucks chose Pat Garrity with pick 19, the two teams made a trade. The Mavericks received both Nowitzki and Garrity from the Bucks in exchange for Traylor. The wheeling and dealing wouldn’t stop there, however. Garrity, along with Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells and the Mavericks’ 1999 First Round Pick would be shipped to the Phoenix Suns for Steve Nash.

At the time, no one (except maybe Don Nelson) could have predicted that the Mavericks had just acquired two future league MVPs and an NBA Finals MVP in Nash and Nowitzki. In fact, what has somehow come to be known in current times as an epic trade fail on the part of the Bucks, was in reality anything but. The Bucks were very interested in Traylor’s services, as they needed a big man down low to fill a hole in their roster. The Mavericks meanwhile, with Don Nelson at the coaching helm (with his son Donnie having also joined the team in January of 1998), had their eyes on Nowitzki prior to Draft night. So much so, that Don Nelson is on record having claimed they literally hid Nowitzki in Donnie’s basement so he would not work out for other teams in the weeks leading up to the draft!

Keep in mind, this was a much different era in the NBA. European players were much less prolific on NBA rosters than they are today (but the Nelson’s would see to it that those tides would be shifting). The Nelson’s were onto something, and they were keen on keeping a tight lid on Nowitzki. Despite how the narrative has changed over the past quarter century, the reality is that Nowitzki to the Mavs was not due to a Bucks failure of judgment. The Bucks had no interest in Nowitzki because they had no idea who he was. In reality, the Mavericks choreographed one of the most franchise-defining nights in team history. The Mavericks easily could have, and would have, drafted Nowitzki number 6 if they hadn’t pre-arranged the Draft night swap which ultimately set them up to also acquire Nash. Through a series of moves, they massively overhauled their roster. Still, nobody really believed in the greatness to come.

Don Nelson: Genius or insane?

The trade for Nowitzki was generally criticized as typical Don Nelson quackery. It puzzled most pundits that the Mavericks would skip over Paul Pierce, a future Hall of Famer and Champion in his own right, to select an unheard-of Nowitzki. Making matters worse, Don Nelson’s recent track record was not viewed all that favorably at the time. He was relatively fresh off a stint as the New York Knicks head coach, which lasted all but nine months. According to Nelson in an interview on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, he suggested the Knicks trade franchise stalwart Patrick Ewing in order to acquire Shaquille O’Neal. What seems like the obvious choice decades later, was anything but at the time. According to Nelson, his idea was not met with much enthusiasm and when word of this got back to Ewing himself, it was the beginning of the end of Nelson’s Knicks tenure. As we know now, Nelson wasn’t quite as crazy as everyone thought back then. Still, the start of the journey for the new look Mavericks wasn’t exactly pretty.

The start of a legendary career

The 1998-1999 NBA Season didn’t begin until February 5, 1999 due to a lockout that ended less than a month prior. While the NBA headlines were dominated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement up until that point, Dirk Nowitzki was in Germany refining his game, hoping he could overcome his own self-doubts to in fact make the jump to the NBA. By the time February, 1999 rolled around, he was back in the states preparing to start his NBA journey on the actual hardwood.

The Mavericks opened the season in Seattle against the Supersonics (the team now known as the Oklahoma City Thunder), with Nowitzki in the starting lineup alongside Steve Nash, Michael Finley, AC Green and Shawn Bradley. In what would prove to be a close game decided in over-time, Nowitzki did not fare well in his sixteen minutes of play. Shooting 0-for-5 from the field, including a missed three-point attempt, Nowitzki logged two points after going perfect from the stripe. He also dished four assists and committed a single personal foul. His two counterparts on what would eventually become Dallas’ Big 3 didn’t look much better. Combined, the trio shot an abysmal 7-for-35 (20%) from the floor in the loss.

The Mavericks did experience a reversal of fortune two nights later in Golden State, where they defeated the Warriors in double overtime. Nowitzki went 6-for-10 from the floor, including 2-for-4 on threes, notching his first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Mavericks ended the season with a 19-31 record in the lockout-shortened campaign, but in the coming years, neither the franchise nor the league at large would ever be the same. The Mavericks would become one of most dominant teams of the 2000s, logging the second most regular season wins from 1999-2000 through 2008-2009 with 548 (San Antonio; 576) over that ten-year span, good for a 66.8% winning percentage. Nowitzki of course proved to be a primary catalyst of a league-wide paradigm shift that saw power forwards hoisting three-point attempts, which ultimately paved the way for the so called “positionless” game played today.

Nowitzki ended his career as a 14-time NBA All-Star, 12-time All NBA selection, 2007 MVP, 2011 Finals MVP, 2011 NBA Champion and 2023 inductee into the Hall of Fame. He also managed to drop 31,560 career points. We may not have known it back on that February night, but a new world order was being ushered in for the Dallas Mavericks at the turn of the century, led by a young man from Germany that would go from unknown to NBA legend.

Mavericks announce preseason games against Lakers and Thunder, plus training camp destination

2025-07-30T10:10:54-05:00

Candice Ward-Imagn Images

The Mavericks have an important preseason leading up to the regular season with Cooper Flagg

The Dallas Mavericks have announced their preseason schedule, as well as a destination for this fall’s training camp, ahead of the 2025-26 regular season. The four October games begin October 6 with the Mavericks playing host to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. But rather than playing at the American Airlines Center the game will be played in Fort Worth at Dickies Arena.

The Dallas Mavericks announced their 2025 preseason schedule today, which tips off against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. CT at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. pic.twitter.com/DdmxThGHhj
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) July 30, 2025

Of the four games, which are split between home and road, the other notable matchup is the final one against the Los Angeles Lakers, which will be played in Las Vegas on October 15.

Before games begin, the team announced they will host their training camp in Vancouver, Canada, on the campus of Simon Fraser University. The closed sessions will take place September 30 to October 4. Choosing a destination away from home is a follow up from last season, when the Mavericks held camp in Las Vegas.

While the Mavericks have made few on-paper changes to last season’s roster, both camp and the four exhibition games will be vital for a group who spent the back half of last season banged up and never at full strength after the middle of February. Even by camp the team won’t be fully healthy — at minimum they will be without starting point guard Kyrie Irving. And while reports indicate that both Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II should be fully recovered from their offseason surgeries, the possibility always remains that they will be recovering.

All this plus the addition of rookie Cooper Flagg, who impressed in his two summer league appearances in Las Vegas, but could possibly be taking on playmaking responsibilities the moment of his Mavericks debut. Getting Flagg run with the core of the Dallas roster ahead of games that matter may make this the most important preseason in some time.

LeBron is not coming to Dallas

2025-07-30T07:00:00-05:00

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Please stop with this annoying trade speculation

Just like every summer, there’s currently a bevy of articles being posted with NBA trade rumors and speculation. But the last few seasons, it’s not just limited to rumor-mill type stuff anymore. As of this year, in fact, if you haven’t noticed, a growing majority of it has turned into just absolute trash clickbait. Maybe most of it, actually. That doesn’t stop fans from clicking, though. Sometimes it doesn’t stop me from clicking, even though I want to set fire to the internet after I read whatever garbage trade idea someone just cooked up to grab attention.

A lot of you are probably well aware of this, but it’s downright theatrical when you look at some of the more refined purveyors of BS content creation now at our fingertips. One website, The Wrightway Sports Network LLC (TWSN), routinely posts NBA articles online with headlines that indicate that a major trade has just been made, typically involving a well-known superstar or two.

“Breaking News”, it starts, so and so has just been traded to the… I dunno, Sacramento Kings, in exchange for these other guys. But when you click within the link to gather details, in search of context, one of the first things you’ll read is:

“This is a prediction, not a report.”

Ohhh… Haha. Well, then why the hell did you make it appear to be a report in the headline, friend? Oh, right. Your content is clickbait trash.

When I ran a Google search on the TWSN website to try and learn more about who they are, I noticed that the very first thing that pops up (after their website) is a Reddit post called “WTF is TWSN Sports? They seem delusional.”

Well, their website insists that their “commitment to quality journalism ensures that you are informed and engaged with all the action that unfolds on the court”.

Ugh…

But this is the kind of crap that is flooding the online news cycle almost constantly right now, now that we’ve reached the deep, suffocating desert of the NBA offseason. I think a lot of people out there consider it to be “fresh” material to ruminate on. (God forbid the world continue spinning for even 5 minutes without new wastes of time). Some MMB readers are even tired of reading unflattering things about Nico Harrison (apparently, that was only was a fad for some). (Not me).

Here’s an example of a highly unlikely trade scenario, and one that you’re sure to be aware of. One of the newest ideas concerns none other than the Maverick’s headache-in-chief himself (and the rest of the Mav’s brass, collectively, for those in the peanut seats who like to nitpick) trading for Los Angeles Lakers superstar… LeBron James.

With all of the media on Bron’s next steps after he opted into his player option, many fans want to see something crazy happen. They almost expect something crazy to happen. We’re kind of being conditioned to crave it, like everything else. And I get it. LeBron has never been anything but super accommodating in stoking speculation about where he’s going to take his talents next. He obviously enjoys the attention. And readers want something juicy. This time of year can be tedious for basketball fans.

But this particular trade scenario is perhaps the most maddening of all of them that are currently out there. Several sites have posted similar angles on this stupid LeBron to Dallas trade idea and are trying to convince people of the likelihood that the Dallas Mavericks, just months after trading Doncic to LA, would consider sending major rotational pieces P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, Naji Marshall, and another role player AND some draft capital for soon-to-be 41 year old LeBron James so that he, Kyrie, and AD can make some Top Gun 3 reunion tour together in Dallas. (Wouldn’t that just place the finishing touches on clearing out all the remaining integrity from the Nowitski era?)

The organizational leadership may be guilty of making questionable moves, but those are in the past. There’s absolutely no way they’d derail the functionality of the team they’ve just taken absurd risks to construct.

Right?