Have the Dallas Mavericks Actually Improved This Offseason?

It's been an offseason of major change for the Dallas Mavericks. They have a new team president (Masai Ujiri), a new general manager (Mike Schmitz), a new head coach (Dusty May), and plenty of new players.

Player-wise, Marvin Bagley III and Khris Middleton have signed elsewhere, they traded AJ Johnson to the Memphis Grizzlies, traded Ryan Nembhard to the Atlanta Hawks, and Brandon Williams and Dwight Powell remain unsigned.

That allowed them to trade for Santi Aldama, Tarik Biberovic, and Marcus Sasser, and draft Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio De Larrea in the first round.

The question is, though, did the Mavericks actually improve?

They have gone a long way toward solving one of their biggest needs: three-point shooting. Biberovic was one of the best shooters in the world in the EuroLeague for the last few years, Aldama has been above 35% for each of the last two seasons, and Sasser has shown the ability to be a high-level shooter in limited minutes. De Larrea was a great shooter in EuroLeague, too, but he struggled to shoot in the Summer League.

Sasser and De Larrea will also help with the Mavs' ball-handling issues from a season ago.

However, they could use one more playmaker, and there is one need that went entirely unaddressed: point-of-attack defense.

Jun 29, 2026; Dallas, TX, USA; New Dallas Mavericks’ head coach Dusty May answers questions from the media during an introductory press conference at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Mavs have a lot of players who can defend wings, including Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington, Naji Marshall, Morez Johnson Jr., and Zaccharie Risacher. Who's defending guards?

Max Christie is a serviceable defender, but not quick or strong enough to defend players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Tyrese Maxey. Kyrie Irving has shown the willingness to play defense, but he's older and coming off an ACL injury. Sasser played in a strong defensive system in college, but we've yet to really see that in the NBA.

Point-of-attack defense remains a huge issue. Caleb Martin could be that guy, but he is also a bad basketball player. They can't rely on him for anything.

Dusty May is also a complete unknown as an NBA coach. We know he was extremely successful in college, winning a national championship at Michigan and taking Florida Atlantic to a Final Four, but college is a lot different than the NBA. He showed he can adapt offenses to different rosters and different needs, but again, it's an entirely different game.

Nov 14, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving looks on during the second half against the LA Clippers in an NBA Cup game at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Biggest Improvement Isn't Even an Addition, But Rather a Return

The big thing that will help the Dallas Mavericks win more games next season will be the return of Kyrie Irving, who will be 18 months removed from tearing his ACL by the time the regular season starts.

Even if he's 80% of what he used to be, that's a lot better than what the Mavericks were rolling out at point guard last year, but Irving seems pretty confident that he'll be able to fully bounce back.

Irving will provide a massive boost to the playmaking and shotmaking of this team, and he's one of the clutchest players in the NBA. No one played in more games last year than the Mavericks, so Irving should be able to swing some of those games.

The Mavericks probably aren't good enough to make a playoff push, but they have a lot of quality NBA players, and they should at least be in the Play-In race.

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