Controversial NBA personality makes Finals prediction for Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks could be NBA Finals contenders on one condition.

Feb 8, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) and guard Kyrie Irving (11) celebrates after Davis dunks the ball during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Opinions are all over the place about what the Dallas Mavericks could be this season. They have a lot of talent on paper, but the roster is oddly constructed, mostly stacked in the frontcourt and weak in the backcourt. That problem is only exacerbated by Kyrie Irving, who is still recovering from ACL surgery.

And yet, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes the Mavericks will win the NBA championship.

Stephen A. Smith appeared on the "7PM in Brooklyn" podcast with NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, where he made his pick for the Mavericks to win the championship, beating the OKC Thunder along the way.

"If Kyrie Irving comes back healthy, and Anthony Davis is healthy, I think Dallas should be the favorite to win it all," Smit started. "...Oklahoma [City] is the reigning defending champions, they pretty much had their way with most teams this year before the Finals before it was pushed to seven games. Not Dallas.

"The year before, they took Oklahoma City out, Kyrie and those boys is that kryptonite... Cooper Flagg can play. He's just a rookie, but he can play. And then, not only that, you got Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis, who doesn't have to play the five; I got news for you, [Dereck] Lively, [Daniel] Gafford and these brothers can play. And then you got P.J. Washington who can play. Jason Kidd can coach. I believe that the Dallas Mavericks, if healthy, will win the 'chip."

"The Dallas Mavericks, if healthy, will win the chip."

- Stephen A. Smith

(🎥 @7PMinBrooklyn )

pic.twitter.com/ZBVO28sQZ9

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 20, 2025

READ MORE: Mavericks hope has them high in NBA power rankings

Proving and Disproving Stephen A. Smith's Theory

To Stephen A.'s point abount the Mavs and Thunder, Dallas has had a strangehold over them the last few years. Even last year, when OKC ran through the regular season with an incredible 68-14 record, three of those losses were to the Mavs. The Western Conference Semifinals, Kyrie Irving mostly struggled in that series, but they still had Luka Doncic to create open shots for P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr., who both turned in great performances.

Doncic isn't here anymore, but he didn't play much against OKC last year for the Mavs either, and that worked just fine.

However, that doesn't automatically make the Mavericks title contenders, as there are still real concerns about this team, especially on the offensive side of the floor. The spacing is going to be bad until Cooper Flagg develops his three-point shot, Anthony Davis becomes a respectable shooter (not likely at this stage of his career), and people like P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall become lethal shooters.

Irving returning would help with some of that, but not all. And relying on Irving and Davis to stay healthy in 2025-26 is probably a mistake, as they've played in 65+ games once each over the last seven seasons.

READ MORE: Mavericks don't know what to do with Cooper Flagg, and that's okay

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