SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide

Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Dallas Mavericks Team Preview

By Mike Passador Published August 30, 2026 2 min read

How’d We Get Here?

The Mavs closed the book on their brief, ill-fated Anthony Davis era in a move that basically resulted in dumping the injured star to Washington for salary relief. Dallas was able to turn the page and commit to a full rebuild around phenom Cooper Flagg rather than trying to shoehorn him into an on-the-fly retool with Davis and the also-injured Kyrie Irving. The Mavs’ roster construction has been off ever since they traded Luka Doncic, but they enter the season with a ton of question marks given the overall imbalance on the depth chart. The most critical moves of the summer came off the court as Dallas hired Masai Ujiri as their new Team President and Alternate Governor, Mike Schmitz as the new GM and Michigan’s Dusty May as the new head coach. It’s a complete overhaul from the last regime and an entirely new look in the front office should be good for everyone involved. The Mavs have an executive with a track record and a clear vision and a new coach who could grow into the role alongside Flagg, with the hope being that Dallas has made the right off-court hires to provide long-term stability and synergy between coach and management. They made mostly fringe moves this summer in terms of addressing the roster, shedding non-core parts while buying low on recent No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher and bringing in a useful rotation player in Santi Aldama. The rotation is impossible to project right now and more moves figure to be on the way, but the Mavs can at least come up for air after the previous regime torched a Finals squad with a series of unforced errors.

For a full recap of last season to set the table, check out our Dallas Mavericks Season Wrap!

The Dallas Mavericks Season Wrap

Offseason Moves

Arrivals: Santi Aldama, Zaccharie Risacher, Marcus Sasser, Tarik Biberovic, Jett Howard (2W)
Rookie Arrivals: Morez Johnson Jr. (No. 9), Sergio de Larrea (No. 25), Tobi Lawal (No. 48), Vsevolod Ishchenko (No. 56)
Departures: Khris Middleton, Klay Thompson, Marvin Bagley III, Ryan Nembhard, Brandon Williams, Dwight Powell, AJ Johnson, Tyler Smith
Retained: Naji Marshall, Moussa Cisse

Depth Chart and Minutes Per Game

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About the Author

SportsEthos Contributor

Mike Passador

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Mike graduated from Boston University's Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.

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