The summer is nearing its end, and so is the NBA offseason. In a month, preseason basketball will be upon us, with several franchises looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2024-2025 campaign.
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The Dallas Mavericks, who were in the headlines a lot last year but for all the wrong reasons, are on a mission of redemption. Midseason, they traded away their franchise player, Luka Doncic, to the Lakers. Then, they lost Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving to injuries.
AD did come back, but it wasn’t enough. The Mavs got bounced in the Play-In a year after making it to the NBA Finals. However, this offseason has been better for them.
Davis is looking healthier, and the team selected Cooper Flagg as the No. 1 pick in the draft. Can Dallas be a serious threat in the West? Charles Barkley thinks so.
“That Dallas Maverick team, they might be the second-best team in the West if they could ever get healthy,” claimed Chuck during a call-in interview with The BetMGM Network. “Obviously, Kyrie is going to come back mid-season, but if AD can get healthy, and that boy Cooper Flagg, he’s the real deal.”
However, let us not forget that Barkley always has some wild takes that seem outdated. This one is no different.
The Mavs are a good team and have a tremendous prospect in Flagg. But to claim that they could be No. 2 in the West even without Kyrie, who needs another 6-9 months to recover fully from his ACL tear, is laughable.
The Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets, Clippers, and the Timberwolves have all grown stronger since last postseason. Houston has Kevin Durant. The Clippers got back Chris Paul. The Lakers added some defensive help with Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart. And the Nuggets? Well, they still have Nikola Jokic.
The Mavs are finishing in the 6th or 7th seed at best. And that’s if they survive a Play-In against the Golden State Warriors. It is not that Dallas will not be able to deliver in the West at all. It’s just that their path to the playoffs would be so much easier if they were in the East.
It’s just funny to hear Barkley of all people stand up for the Mavericks after he tormented them last year. Shortly after the team traded Luka, Dallas had raised ticket prices.
“The person who announced this week that y’all [are] raising ticket prices got to be the dumbest person in history. You [have] got to read the room, guys. It’s not the time,” Chuck declared on the NBA on TNT at the time. Credit to Chuck on that one, though. He cooked the Mavs, and they deserved it.
Dallas has a strong fanbase, so they’ll be looking for something to cheer for this season. Chuck is hopefully seeing into the future.
The problem is that even if Barkley is right, and the Mavs finish No. 2 in the West, they are unlikely to get by the OKC Thunder. The defending champs are currently favored to win it all again next year. Honestly, who’s going to stop them?
