Thick Eyebrow + Irving + Flag! The Mavericks build a team around three top picks. What is the level of the West in the new season?

The countdown to the new season is 24 days. Looking back on last season, the Mavericks sent away Doncic, the cornerstone of the team building, and chose a brand new team building idea.

On February 2, 2025, the Mavericks, the Lakers and the Jazz completed a cosmic-level three-party transaction, which ignited the entire basketball circle.

Mavericks received: Davis, Christie, the first round of 2029, Lakers received: Doncic, Kleber, Markiff Morris, Jazz received: Schiffino, Clippers in 25th second round, Mavericks in 25th second round, Mavericks took the initiative to send Luca Doncic, the cornerstone of the "non-selling" team building for five consecutive years and the top five levels of the league, while the Lakers gave 10th All-Stars, 3rd block kings, and 4th first-team star inside star Anthony Davis - swapping core stars at the peak, which is extremely rare.

The Mavericks successfully entered the finals in 2024. The Eastern European group led the team has a bright future. Why did the Mavericks management destroy the Great Wall? All this started with shareholders’ blood exchange, and the team building idea also changed.

In November 2023, Cuban sold most of the shares worth about 3.5 billion to Miriam Adelson and the Adelson family. The new boss group is worried about Doncic's weight, health and injury risks, and Doncic is eligible to sign a 5-year, 345 million super maximum salary this summer. The new boss believes that Doncic may force the palace to strengthen the situation in the future, and is unwilling to bear the huge future salary and luxury taxes, so as to trade in advance to avoid passiveness.

The Mavericks still have a luxurious lineup of Lefly/Gafford + Dark Brow + Washington + Clay + Irving + Dinwiddie + Christie after the heavy trade. Their strength is not bad, but Irving suffered a torn ACL against the Kings on March 4, and was reimbursed in advance for the season - Doncic's first 26 wins and 23 losses in the trade finally only achieved 39 wins and 43 losses, ranking 10 in the West, defeating the Kings first in the playoffs and then losing to the Grizzlies, missing the playoffs.

The Mavericks experienced a turbulent season. The sending off Doncic and Irving's ligament tear is a double blow, but the thickness of the lineup is obvious to all, and everything is ready. Irving will return in full health in the future.

The Mavericks, who ranked tenth in the Western Conference and the 11th poor record, actually won the No. 1 pick with a 1.8% chance, which means that Flag, who locked in the No. 1 pick in the draft, will join Dallas. For the Mavericks management, it is completely acceptable to send Doncic away for Thick Eyebrow + Flag + Christie!

Flag was praised by scouts as "the strongest white forward in the 21st century", and the Mavericks got the answer to the forward line in the next ten years.

Flag is 203 cm tall, 100 kg, and has a wingspan of 213 cm. He is capable of switching defenses at 1-5 positions, with top-level lateral movement speed and cooperative sweeping ability. His absolute selling point is his own defensive characteristics, he has the potential to become the strongest non-inside defender in the NBA in the past decade, and has its own defensive system attributes. He is hailed by American scouts as a combination of KG and AK47.

Flag's offensive ability is also very good. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, and his three-point shooting percentage is 38.5% (1.4/3.6) - Due to his excellent physical fitness and explosive power, comprehensive skills and rich skills, he can not only hit the basket with the ball but also have three-point range to provide space value, and is better at cutting without the ball. As the core of Duke, the ball quotient is extremely high.

Flag's lower limit is the top 3D forward, and his ability to hold the ball and play singles will ultimately determine his upper limit. He has both offense and defense and is extremely plastic, which can be used as the first choice for rebuilding the team.

Irving + Dark Eyebrow + Flag are the three top picks in the same team. The Mavericks have top combat power in the interior, front line and point guard. It is obviously feasible to build a championship lineup around these three in the future.

Due to Irving's torn ACL in March this year, he will miss most of the games in the new season. The Mavericks signed D'Angelo Russell for 2 years and 13 million yuan as the temporary starting point guard.

Russell was traded by the Lakers last season to the Nets for electric fan + Milton, and returned to the Nets' debut and played as a substitute, contributing 22 points, 8 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks! He has since served as the starting point guard in 26 games, and averaged 12.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Although the upper limit of leading the team is not high, his dual-guard attributes that can break, shoot and pass are suitable for most tactical systems.

Russell has played 629 regular season games so far in his career, including 536 starting point guards, and his career average of 36.5% three-point shooting percentage (2.5/6.9) - his space value is very suitable for the Mavericks' inside group, and he has had experience in partnering with the Lakers. Russell + the Thunderbrow pick-and-roll will be the regular starting move of the Mavericks in the new season.

Before Irving's comeback, Russell was basically enough to start the first position. Gafford, Lefly, Davis, Flagg, and Washington's luxurious frontcourt combinations do not rely on Russell to score, but also need a qualified pick-and-roll ball holder to deal cards. Russell and Clay both have three-pointers to create space. The Mavericks' terrifying thickness is undoubtedly the basic guarantee of the new season.

Russell has an average annual average of 6.5 million. Before Irving's comeback, he was a very cost-effective No. 1 position that is very suitable for partnering with Thick Brows.

Mavericks retained most of the puzzle players who entered the finals in 2024, and created a competitive and very balanced lineup around the three No. 1 picks of Davis + Flag + Irving.

The Mavericks completed a contract renewal with Irving this summer. Irving jumped out of the player option of $43 million in the last year and signed a new three-year, $119 million renewal contract - an average annual average of 39.66 million, which is a very cost-effective one.

Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals before being injured last season, and his three-point shooting percentage reached 40.1% (2.9/7.2), playing top defender performance. According to normal circumstances, Irving can renew his contract with 50-60 million in the future, but his injury and age of 33 made Irving team choose to make concessions. The Mavericks are also full of sincerity and give a three-year guarantee contract that will be relatively stable in the future.

Irving was originally expected to make a comeback in January 2026, but due to better-than-expected recovery, he may choose to make a comeback early. Under today's medical conditions, ligament tear is no longer a devastating injury. When Irving returns, the Mavericks' competitiveness will naturally be full.

The Mavericks also renewed Gafford for 3 years and 60 million yuan, and 90 million yuan in four years and 90 million yuan in PJ-Washington. Both of them made great contributions to the 2024 playoff journey. Gafford has an average annual average of 20 million, while Washington has an average annual average of less than 25 million. They are both high-quality starting players in their respective positions and have strong adaptability to Thunder Eyebrow and Irving. They basically determine the core lineup framework of Gafford + Lefly + Thunder Eyebrow + Washington + Flag + Christie + Irving in the future.

The Mavericks also have their own dual-line plan in the new season. Russell served as the starting No. 1 position before Irving returned to ensure a smooth transition, and also cultivate the cornerstone of the future Flag. Referring to Flag's performance in the NCAA, his defensive, off-ball and projection attributes can be used as a player who is fighting directly to the team in the new season.

The Mavericks' terrifying lineup depth At the peak of Davis, they will be a competitive team in the West. Everything is ready, just waiting for Irving!