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Brian Dameris on Mavs expectations
Brian Dameris, from The Ticket and Bally Sports, talks Luka, Kyrie and the Mavs chances heading in to 2023.
DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks held their first practice of the season on Wednesday.
Head coach Jason Kidd and the rest of the Mavs are looking to bounce back after a disappointing 38-44 season where they missed the play-in tournament and finished 11th in the Western Conference.
The team is now completely different from what they looked like at this point last year. Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and Reggie Bullock, key cogs in the Mavs Western Conference finals run two years ago, are now gone.
Kyrie Irving joins Luka Doncic for a full season and this time the expectations will be higher.
DALLAS, TX - MARCH 2: Kyrie Irving #2 and teammate Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks celebrate against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second half at American Airlines Center on March 2, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. The Mavericks won 133-126. NOTE TO U …
Doncic did not really have an offseason, going overseas to play for the Slovenian national team in the FIBA World Cup.
Luka, whose had a nagging thigh injury that started back in March, said Wednesday it is getting better and that he shouldn't be limited at all during training cap.
Doncic is just 24 years old and is entering his 6th season in the NBA.
The goal for the franchise is to win now, which is why they traded for Irving last February.
Both suffered injuries in the second half of the season, but they only went 5-11 in the 16 games they played together.
Head coach Jason Kidd still thinks the pair can be successful.
"As much as we like things to happen right away, but you know, we will continue to grow that relationship. There is a relationship, and so they've had this summer, and now they have the preseason to bond," said Kidd.
The Mavericks traded for F Grant Williams, signed G Seth Curry and drafted defensive-minded players Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Derek Lively in the first round.
Kidd believes upgrades to roster will help the pair thrive this season.
"It is not that they don't coexist, it is the group around them. I think sometimes we are misinformed, if you have the right pieces around them they're going to coexist," he said. "When you talk about two of the best players in the world they're going to play at a high level, and they're going to put us in a position to win."
Doncic says he and Kyrie have to set an example for the rest of their teammates.
Prosper and Lively are likely to have big roles this team.
The Mavs hope they can give them a boost on the defensive end, where they gave up 114 points per game last season, which was sixth worst in the West.
Kidd says the rookies hard worked extremely hard, coming to Dallas in August to help get NBA-ready.
"They've done everything we've asked them. They've worked," Kidd said. "You look at [Lively] and the things he's done since August, he's taken a big jump. A big, big jump for us here late. Being able to play with Luka in the pickup games, there's some excitement between those two."
The additions to the team will make things interesting for the starting lineup.
Kidd says he's not afraid to slot a rookie into his starting 5.
"One of them probably will be a starter, but we'll see. I want to see how they react to playing with Kai and Luka and Grant," the head coach said. "So far, so good."
The Mavericks will have a different look to preseason this year.
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They will travel to Abu Dhabi to play a pair of games against the Timberwolves on Oct.5 and 7.
Then, they will face off against Doncic's former club, Real Madrid, in Spain on Oct. 10.