Realistic Best and Worst Case Scenarios for the Dallas Mavericks This Season

Let's be realistic about the Dallas Mavericks as we head into the 2026-27 season...

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 NBA season is about a month away from starting, and the Dallas Mavericks are getting ready for training camp.

Excitement has been brewing for the Mavericks, as everyone is looking forward to seeing Cooper Flagg in his second season and how he fits with Kyrie Irving, who will be returning from ACL surgery.

It's also an entirely new era in Dallas. There's new management, led by team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz, and a new head coach, Dusty May.

It feels nice to have a front office that feels like it knows what it's doing after Nico Harrison's unmitigated disaster. But what will that turn into this season?

Here is a look at the best-case and worst-case scenarios for the Mavericks for the 2026-27 season.

Dec 20, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg reacts during warm ups against the Philadelphia 76ers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Best-Case Scenario for 2026-27 Mavericks

The best-case scenario would have a few different things happen.

If Cooper Flagg takes a jump with his three-point shooting, Kyrie Irving comes back and looks like he did pre-injury, Dereck Lively II stays healthy, and Morez Johnson Jr. develops enough offensively to be playable, you could talk me into this team sneaking into the playoffs as the 6th seed.

The San Antonio Spurs and OKC Thunder are clearly the top two in the conference, with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Houston Rockets pretty consistenly names as the favorites to avoid the Play-In Tournament.

However, all it takes is one injury to Nikola Jokic or Luka Doncic for those teams to fall into the Play-In Tournament. Obviously, we hope everyone can stay healthy, but that's never a guarantee.

The group of teams expected to be fighting for the Play-In includes the Mavs, Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and maybe the LA Clippers. Dallas has the best duo of those teams with Flagg and Irving. They absolutely could be the one to rise outof the ashes and make the playoffs.

Mar 18, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) reacts during the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Worst-Case Scenario

The worst-case scenario isn't that far off from what we saw last year, as Irving, Lively, Daniel Gafford, and P.J. Washington all struggle with injuries again. Or we could see Irving traded near the deadline if the team isn't performing well.

Irving is the catalyst for the whole season. If he only ends up playing 20-30 games somehow, the Mavericks simply don't have another experienced guard behind him to make it work. They could always do the Cooper Flagg point guard experiment again, but he's best as a secondary ball-handler.

If they're banged up again, they could finish around 13th in the West. I'd be surprised if they're worse than the Sacramento Kings, and then one of the Pelicans or Grizzlies will still really struggle.

Realistically, the Mavericks should find themselves fighting for a Play-In spot near the end of the season. It's a deep roster with a fun top two in Irving and Flagg.

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