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Now that the Dallas Mavericks’ roster is 99% set with a little more than a month before the start of the 2026-27 season, one thing that has been on my mind is who is going to be in the rotation on day one. While there are some familiar faces, a third of the roster is brand new.
Returning Players: Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg, PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, Caleb Martin, Max Christie, Dereck Lively II, Naji Marshall, Moussa Cisse
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New Players: Tarik Biberovic, Sergio De Larrea, Morez Johnson Jr., Santi Aldama, Marcus Sasser, Zaccharie Risacher
Six new faces may not seem like much turnover, but when you consider that Lively and Irving were non-factors last year and Cisse was on a two-way contract, over half of the playable roster is new this season.
On top of that, the Mavericks have a brand new front office and coaching staff. I don’t know much about Dusty May yet. I do know that he is considered an analytics darling and has shown a willingness to adapt his game plan to the roster in front of him, something that was evident in his rotations at FAU and Michigan.
Looking at the limitations of this roster, shot creation and playmaking, while improved from last year, still stand out as the biggest weaknesses. Is May going to prioritize those areas? Or will he lean into the size and shooting the Mavericks have added throughout the offseason?
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Unfortunately, we don’t have those answers yet. But I’m going to do my best to look at this roster through the eyes of Dusty May and rationalize what I think he might do.
So, who is going to play?
Looking at last year’s data for Mavericks players who appeared in at least 50 games, here is how the minutes were distributed:
Cooper Flagg: 70 GP, 33.5 MPG
P.J. Washington: 56 GP, 31 MPG
Naji Marshall: 74 GP, 29.5 MPG
Max Christie: 77 GP, 29.1 MPG
Brandon Williams: 66 GP, 22.2 MPG
Daniel Gafford: 55 GP, 21.7 MPG
Klay Thompson: 69 GP, 21.7 MPG
Ryan Nembhard: 60 GP, 19.5 MPG
Caleb Martin: 58 GP, 14.8 MPG
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Dwight Powell: 63 GP, 12.3 MPG
This isn’t a perfect representation of the rotation, especially when you get to the final few players, but it gives us a starting point…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/plays-projecting-mavericks-rotation-start-120100022.html
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Publish date : 2026-09-10 12:01:00
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