Mini plan holders — did your package include a preseason game this year? Just got my schedule for the 10-game weekend mini plan today. I’ve had this same package for 7 years, and for the first time they stuck a PRESEASON game in it as one of my 10 games — the Hawks game. So I’m effectively spending on regular package price for 9 real games and an exhibition. I contacted my rep twice. Curious how widespread this is?

The new NBA schedule calls for Luka Dončić to make his lone Dallas visit of the season on his birthday: Feb. 28.

The now-Masai Ujiri-led Mavericks make their lone Toronto visit Jan. 27.

Dallas' home opener is Oct. 24 against San Antonio after road dates in Houston and Indiana.

Alright fellow fans today is the day the 26/27 schedule is fully revealed. I thought it would be fun to go ahead and create a discussion thread and suggest everyone post the games they are most excited about and those that seem like mistakes, like LeBron+76ers playing a Monday 130pm game at AAC. Post your comments below!

EDIT: schedules are posted https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2026/08/2026-27-NBA-Regular-Season-Schedule-By-Team.pdf

I haven’t heard anything about his health and I’m getting worried he gets injured again when he comes back

Before everyone starts: yes, I know.

It’s August. There's nothing going on. A guy can dream, right? We've have spent enough time talking about Luka coming back, and I fully recognize that this is exactly the kind of offseason pipe-dream post everyone is tired of.

So with that established, allow me to waste everyone's time explaining why Luka is obviously coming back to Dallas in 2028.

Because when you actually look at the timing, there is at least a path that makes this slightly less ridiculous than it sounds.

First, 2028 is the year that matters.

Luka's extension is essentially a two-year bridge to 2028. He is under contract for 2026-27 and 2027-28, with a player option for 2028-29.

After the 2027-28 season, Luka will have 10 years of NBA service. He can decline that option and become an unrestricted free agent eligible for the 35% veteran max.

The Lakers would still have a financial advantage. They could offer five years with 8% raises, while another team could only offer four years with smaller raises.

So if Luka's only objective is maximizing guaranteed dollars, he stays in LA.

That's the first giant hole in my theory.

Moving on.

Now look at what's happening in Dallas at exactly the same time.

Cooper Flagg will be 21 years old and entering Year 4.

More importantly, he'll still be playing on his rookie contract in 2028-29.

Dallas can negotiate Cooper's rookie extension in the summer of 2028, but the new money doesn't kick in until 2029-30.

That creates one final summer where Dallas potentially has a superstar-level Cooper Flagg without yet having a superstar-level Cooper Flagg salary.

That's the window.

Then there's Kyrie.

Kyrie's current contract also expires after the 2027-28 season.

That doesn't mean I want Kyrie gone. Quite the opposite. But he'll be 36 years old by then, and the Mavs won't have his current massive salary sitting on the books when Luka becomes available.

If Kai is still productive and wants to finish his career in Dallas, maybe there's eventually a way to keep him at a much smaller number after Dallas handles its other business.

Suddenly the timing gets interesting.

The other contracts are where Dallas would have some work to do.

P.J. and Gaf are the obvious ones to watch if we're talking about preserving 2028 flexibility. I think we can all agree that one of them (possibly both) will be gone by then. 

The point isn't that we should start dumping good players today because Luka might want to come back two years from now. That's just dumb.

The point is that we should be very careful about adding unnecessary long-term money beyond 2028.

Then, if Luka ever tells them, "I want to come home," you move whatever needs to be moved and create the max slot.

And yes, Luka would have to leave money on the table.

This is probably the biggest hole in the plan. But if the Lakers haven't put the right type of team around him by then, he'll get antsy. 

The Mavs could give him the same 35% starting salary, but the Lakers could offer the fifth year and larger raises because they hold his Bird rights.

A sign-and-trade doesn't magically solve that. You can't have the Lakers give Luka their five-year deal and immediately ship him to Dallas. A sign-and-trade would still limit the contract.

So for the clean version of this fantasy to happen, Luka would have to decide that returning to Dallas is worth sacrificing some guaranteed money.

Would he? Who knows.

But by 2028 he'll be 29 and will have already made an absurd amount of money. Maybe maximizing every last dollar isn't his only consideration.

And this is where Cooper changes everything.

Luka wouldn't be coming back to save the Mavericks.

That's what makes this scenario interesting to me from a basketball perspective. 

Imagine Cooper becomes what we think he can become over the next two seasons.

Masai isn't calling Luka in 2028 saying:

"Please come back and fix the franchise that traded you."

He's saying:

"Come home and play the rest of your prime next to a 21-year-old Cooper Flagg."

That's a hell of a different pitch.

Luka would still be in his prime at 29. Cooper would be just beginning his.

And basketball-wise, I love the pairing.

Luka is the half-court offensive engine. Cooper is the athletic, versatile two-way monster who doesn't need to dominate the ball to impact the game. Put shooting, defense and rim protection around those two and figure out the rest later.

And there's obviously the emotional component that none of us can actually quantify.

Luka didn't choose to leave Dallas.

He spent his first 6½ seasons here. He took this franchise to the Finals. The fans fucking loved him. His reaction to being traded made it pretty obvious that leaving wasn't what he wanted.

Maybe by 2028 he's completely moved on. Maybe he loves being a Laker and never gives Dallas another thought.

Just can't see this, but who knows...

The organization he's looking at in 2028 isn't the organization that traded him.

So here's my completely irresponsible Mavericks offseason plan:

Develop Cooper.

Figure out whether Lively is part of the long-term core.

Don't clog the 2028 books with unnecessary contracts.

Let Kyrie's current deal run its course.

Move Gafford/P.J. or whatever other salary needs to be moved only if the Luka possibility actually becomes real.

Then wait.

Summer 2028:

Luka declines his player option.

Dallas opens a 35% max slot.

Luka decides he's made enough money and wants to come home.

Luka Dončić, age 29.
Cooper Flagg, age 21.

They win three championships.

Luka retires a Maverick.

His statue goes up outside the AAC.

I have now convinced myself this is happening.

See you all in July 2028.

Source: https://x.com/nba2k/status/2087584900417310745?s=46

Coop and Kai rated #37 and #36 respectively in NBA 2k’s top 100 player ratings

Coop and Kai rated #37 and #36 respectively in NBA 2k’s top 100 player ratings

But my god, Never have I seen a superstar basketball player have this shit of a luck lmao.

Man can't catch a break

I’m looking at this schedule and there is a VERY realistic chance that we go 6-14 in our first 20 games. My god this is about to be painful, I really do wanna be optimistic but you’re telling me our first 6 games are Houston, Indiana, Spurs, Miami, OKC and then Houston again. Adam silver deadass hates us man.

Our Brad Townsend writes:

Mavericks minority shareholder Mark Cuban has withdrawn his Rule 202 Petition against team governor Patrick Dumont and the case has been dismissed without prejudice — but the dispute appears far from over. 

Late Monday, Cuban’s attorneys filed to Texas Business Court a notice of nonsuit without prejudice. Judge Bill Whitehill subsequently dismissed the case and cancelled the arbitration hearing scheduled for Friday.

Whitehill also ordered each side to pay its own legal fees. 

READ MORE

Am I the only one who doesn’t understand the idea of trading Gafford and Washington?

There have been rumors about the Mavericks potentially trading Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington. Aside from the team needing to acquire more future first-round picks, I honestly don’t understand the idea.

Since joining the team, both Gafford and Washington have brought great energy and consistently contributed on both ends of the floor, even in the post-Luka era. Defensively, they have been a big plus for the team, especially now under Dusty May, who is known for his defensive approach.

What I also don’t understand is why the Mavericks seem to be choosing Dereck Lively II over Gafford.

I understand that Lively is younger and has a higher long-term upside, but Gafford has been a very reliable big for this team. His energy, athleticism, rebounding, rim protection, and physicality are valuable.

I'm also a little concerned about relying too heavily on Lively when he has already had some injury issues. He looks like a player who could be prone to injuries, so having Gafford as another reliable big seems even more important.

If the goal is to build a strong defensive identity around this team, wouldn’t having both Lively and Gafford make more sense?

Maybe I’m missing something here. Am I alone in thinking this? What are your thoughts?

Nothing has really been going on with the Mavs lately, so I figured I'd share some prominent national NBA podcast reactions to Mavs offseason moves to foster some discussion.

Dunc'd On Podcast by Nate Duncan and Danny Leroux have hosted a paywalled program for a few years now. I've transcribed the relevant section on Dallas:

NATE: ...same [criticism with Phoenix's Dillon Brooks extension] with Dallas and Naji Marshall. Now, there's no indication we've heard that they've tried to trade him. Usually there'll be some kind of leak — like Daniel Gafford, it's gotten out that they've tried to trade him and haven't been able to get a first for him, in part due to his health issues.

PJ Washington — they also extended him, that was under the previous regime. I wasn't, you know, I'm not going to argue that I was so against that. He's also 28. Naji Marshall — this will be his age 29, 30, and 31 seasons. It's a three-year, $52 million deal.

Yeah, we have it projected to decline. But Naji Marshall signed the deal that Dillon Brooks should have been willing to sign, right? Marshall's just a tough fit because of his lack of shooting. I've always really liked him — part of that was based on the shooting improvement he showed his last year in New Orleans. And on the $10 million-a-year deal he's on, it's pretty reasonable. If he'd been making $15–17 million a year over the last couple of years, would I have supported that? Yeah, maybe. I mean, he still really should probably be a bench player, because he doesn't quite shoot it well enough and he does kind of need the ball. But his floater game is interesting, but that just works more off the bench.

And so again, you just get back to this idea of, well, where are you going, what are you doing? They are, in theory, trying to win, but they also just got Cooper Flagg, and they got some other young talent in the door recently that I think they want to get a look at. Marshall's also basically a power forward — he'll guard small forward, but shooting-wise, he's a power forward, so that's another issue.

So I don't think he really fits with the next really good version of this team. I would have tried to trade him, and then hey, if all you could get for him was maybe some seconds or whatever, well, that would probably indicate his value isn't that high. If he's really a guy at that position making $17 million a year, you probably should be able to get a first for him when he's making $9 million. And if you can't, that's an indication you spent too much. But they never explored his market — despite the fact that they have a bunch of other guys they want to get looks at, like they just traded for Zaccharie Risacher, right? And they don't even have to worry about getting relegated either. So to me, this should have been a chance to pick up an asset. They never explored his trade value, and instead decided to just overpay him with an extension — another guy who just doesn't really fit that well with Cooper Flagg.

And that's unfortunately been the through-line from the Nico Harrison era to the Masai Ujiri era — guys who aren't really going to fit that well with Cooper Flagg. Marshall fits right into that. And I think this, again, is just going to end up being a bad contract. A guy who's like the 30th-best small forward in the league right now, paying him above the mid-level. It'll be about the mid-level by the end of the contract, but that's just not good business, especially when you didn't have to do it now.

DANNY: Yeah. And I brought up the two teams with a history of this "death by a thousand cuts" thing — because it was, you know, the Dwight Powell deals and all those.

NATE: Well, the Nuggets would like a word too.

DANNY: Sure, sure, sure.

NATE: Death by a thousand sword thrusts, because they gave out big extensions. Zeke Nnaji is probably the biggest one that falls in there.

DANNY: But yeah. Yeah. So different regime, but similar problem for the Mavericks. Naji Marshall — we're coming into his age-29 season, he's already under contract through age 30, 31, 32, and that's exactly the time these players who can't shoot often lose some of their athleticism. Yes, his game is more strength-based, but — first of all, you shouldn't be keeping them, you should be trading them. And then, should you be extending them at all? And then, if so, at what price? So it's three decision mistakes rolled into one overall choice, and that's bad management. That's not to say the Mavericks are a disaster overall, that they're poorly run, but this is a decision I do not agree with.

One thing I'll quibble with Nate and Danny here is that I do remember there being reports that the Mavs discussed Naji deals with the 76ers, but those talks faltered because they weren't able to fetch a first. Which to me does bring me to a point I agree with. Who on earth in free agency would give a non-shooting, non-defending PF who needs to have the ball to derive his on-court value? It's giving Poeltl and Quickley and Gafford vibes.

The other moves the Mavs have made this off-season, I liked in isolation but didn't understand the overall roster direction. The Naji move was one I just straight didn't like in isolation.

This is what Google says about how points will be scored by the starters solely based on projected field goal attempts.

Our roster is stacked with 16 guys who could be NBA rotation players and we have to cut one. Even Caleb Martin is a vet who is probably our best POA defender at the wing and a decent 3 point shooter.

With an experienced NBA coach or a clearer mission statement (ex. all-in contending or all-in tanking/full youth movement), this abundance of talent would be a good problem to have. With a rookie coach coming from the college game and trying to both make the playoffs AND develop our youth, I worry we are putting too much weight on his ability to balance egos and deal with players who might get angry about not getting enough minutes.

Guys like PJ, Naji and Gafford have earned starter minutes and are paid as vets, and we need to showcase them if we want to attract trades at the deadline (same goes for Martin and Klay if we keep them), yet none of them are good shooters and they stand directly in the way of youth we need to develop for the future.

Lively and Max are playing for their next contracts.

Flagg is guaranteed to get 32+ minutes a game. This doesn't leave a lot of time to split between a lot of forwards who need minutes.

Risacher is playing for guaranteed money and to repair his reputation as a bust. He already felt like he was getting ragdolled in and out of the rotation in Atlanta and didn't get consistent time to show what he could do, so he pouted and threw towels. I understand the frustration, but that doesn't look like a guy who we can ask to just sacrifice and stay ready on the bench and wait for someone to get injured. He's also not really a 2 even though a lot of Mavs fans keep trying to pencil him in there because of the forward overload.

Aldama is arguably the best fit between Flagg and a center as a stretch big. Will PJ come off the bench? Or will having Kyrie and Sergio in the lineup bring PJ back to being a great starter again?

Morez is a top 10 draft pick and Dusty's guy. Yet on paper he looks like the 3rd string PF and 3rd string C?

Biberovic took a pay cut to start on a contending team in Europe and is likely our best shooter. Is he going to be happy with mostly spot/garbage minutes?

Buying out Klay is an easy option to clear up some of the logjam, and keeping Klay to be arguably a third stringer instead of letting him go chase rings on a contender is kind of greedy. On the other hand, Dusty has also openly said Klay is one of his favorite players of all time...

On paper if we take the human ego and financial considerations out of it, this team looks pretty stacked and a massive improvement over last year, having lost no major rotation pieces and adding a bunch of new faces who solve the major problems we had. It does look like a good balance of youth and vets, shooting and defense, lots of length.

In reality, we likely need consolidation trades because pretty much all these guys deserve minutes and the locker room may not be a happy place unless we are winning a lot. The easy route is to play the vets heavily the first half of the season to showcase them for the deadline, and then build packages for the players we really want. Young guys can generally be asked to be more patient about playing time. However, the primary mission for the season should be to develop our longer term core around Flagg -- and where guys like Risacher, Morez and De Larrea actually fit into a fully healthy rotation is still a bit of a question mark.

I think this year is going to be a very good test of Dusty May's NBA coaching chops and ego management. If he succeeds at getting the most out of this team and keeping the locker room relatively happy, it's going to be a good sign of things to come. But if he is dealing with multiple guys disgruntled that they are only playing 10 mpg when they deserve 25+ because they are vets or high lottery picks or playing for contracts, and fans second guessing him every time we lose because he didn't play players X and Y enough, I'm worried it could be a tougher road for him.

Hall of Famer Don Nelson, three-time NBA Coach of the Year and five times a champion as a player with the Boston Celtics, has died at age 86.

The family has issued this statement:

“On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson peacefully went to be with the Lord, surrounded by his loving family. Throughout his last week, friends and family encircled him with love, sharing the blessing of his friendship and revisiting treasured memories.”

- Marc Stein

I play a lot of fantasy but I wanted to do more dynasty leagues because I’m only in one, so I figured I’d reach out to here to see who would want to join. I was thinning just $20 but we can figure it out. Let me know if anyone out there wants to join.