Category: Sports News

When I think of the Mavericks’ impactful players in their 2024 Finals run, one of the first names that comes to mind is Derrick Jones Jr. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, do the little things, make a big defensive impact, and be an athletic sparkplug. Mavericks rookie forward Tobi Lawal brings those same exact qualities, but he’s two inches taller at 6’8, and six years younger.

The Dallas Mavericks have plenty of new faces heading into the 2026-27 season, but few are more intriguing as developmental projects than Lawal. He was selected 48th overall in the draft this summer and enters this year on a two-way contract after two seasons at Virginia Tech.

Lawal’s college numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page. The senior averaged 12.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game, while shooting 54.2% from the field. He also recorded six double-doubles in just 23 games. What DOES jump off the page is his athleticism. Lawal’s 45.5-inch maximum vertical at the NBA Combine was one of the best marks in combine history. He is a legitimate above-the-rim athlete who can run the floor, attack the offensive glass, and finish plays that most players simply can’t. Hello again, Derrick Jones Jr.

For a Mavericks team emphasizing youth and development under new head coach Dusty May, Lawal is exactly the type of player worth keeping an eye on.

The big question

The big question for Lawal is whether he can turn his physical gifts into a consistent NBA skill set. This isn’t as easy as it sounds for athletic and bouncy NBA prospects. Jones Jr. has been on six teams entering his 11th season. Lawal will need to add some finesse to his art while developing other offensive skill sets. Today’s NBA is all about scoring.

There is no question about the athletic ability. The questions are about everything that comes with it. Lawal is still developing as a shooter and ball handler, and he has primarily been a play finisher rather than someone who creates offense for himself or others. He shot just 25% from three as a senior at Virginia Tech. His offensive game will need to expand if he’s going to become more than an energy big who plays in short stretches. Dallas has several other athletic forwards who will take minutes and have so far proven they can score consistently.

The good news is that he doesn’t need to become a star to have an NBA career. The athleticism, rebounding, and defensive versatility give him a foundation. The next step is figuring out how many different ways he can impact a game.

Best case scenario

The best-case scenario for Lawal is that he earns consistent legitimate NBA minutes before the season is over. It’s challenging for two-way players to get consistent minutes, particularly early in the season, unless the injury bug strikes. So Lawal will need to make the most of every second he’s on the floor.

But there’s big upside. Think of a player who can run the floor, set good screens, dive toward the rim, clean up misses, and make life miserable for opposing wings and forwards defensively. A best-case scenario for Lawal won’t be about stats; it will be about impact. Catch and finish some lobs, knock down an occasional outside jumper, grab rebounds, and defend like your role depends on it (because it does).

If the jumper develops enough to make defenses respect him outside the paint, Lawal’s game will reach a whole new level. He has already shown flashes of being more than just a dunker. He shot 76.3% from the free-throw line as a senior and has shown flashes of being a decent catch-and-shoot player.

If those pieces come together, Dallas could have a legitimate rotation-caliber forward on its hands rather than simply a two-way developmental player.

Worst case scenario

The worst-case scenario is that Lawal’s athleticism doesn’t translate consistently enough to overcome the weaknesses in his offensive game. NBA defenses are much faster and more disciplined than what he saw in college. Simply being able to jump higher and run faster won’t guarantee playing time in the NBA.

His shooting could keep him off the floor if defenders don’t have to respect him away from the basket, while his ball-handling skills in traffic limit his ability to attack closeouts or create offense. Dallas also has a crowded forward gang, with players like Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington, Santi Aldama, Morez Johnson Jr., and Zaccharie Risacher, all of whom will get meaningful minutes on a nightly basis.

That makes Lawal’s margin for error fairly small. If he can’t consistently defend without fouling, rebound at an NBA level, or provide enough offensive value, he could spend most of the season developing in the G League.

Season Goal

Lawal’s goal should be simple: become a serviceable NBA-level role player. This would be a good starting point. The athleticism is already there. He doesn’t need to prove that he can jump out of the gym. He needs to prove that he can use those physical gifts the right way. Defense and rebounding should be his tickets onto the floor. Doing the dirty work on offense, like running the floor, screening, and finishing around the rim, will make a major impact on the Mavericks’ offense, particularly one that Dusty May has said will have a fast pace.

And then comes the jumper. Lawal doesn’t need to suddenly become a 40% three-point shooter. If he can develop into a respectable catch-and-shoot threat, it would force defenders to make a decision when he is standing outside the paint. That small improvement could dramatically open up the rest of his game.

The Mavericks don’t need Lawal to do everything. They need him to become really good at a few things.

Overall

Lawal is one of the more interesting developmental players on the Mavericks’ roster because of his unique physical attributes. He’s 6’8, 215 pounds, with excellent length and explosiveness. The question is whether Dallas can help him turn all of that into a reliable NBA skill set.

For now, Lawal probably shouldn’t be expected to walk into the Mavericks’ rotation and play 20 minutes a night. His two-way contract gives him something much more valuable: time. If he can use that time to improve his shooting, tighten his handle, and become a more consistent defender, the Mavericks may have found a legitimate rotation piece with the 48th pick.

At his best, Lawal could become the kind of player coaches love to have on the floor: explosive, relentless, switchable, and constantly making things happen. Things that don’t jump out of the stat sheet but undoubtedly impact the game. Plus, at the end of the day, the kid has a 45.5-inch vertical. There aren’t many players on the Mavericks’ roster more capable of making something happen above the rim than him.

Through two preseason games, the 2026-2027 Celtics look like the 2020-2021 bull market. It didn’t matter what you bought — it was going to the moon. Bitcoin, Dogecoin, gold, Tesla, it didn’t matter; everyone thought they had found the infinite money glitch. That’s what the Boston Celtics feel like two preseason games in. Jayson Tatum, Baylor Scheierman, Dillon Mitchell…everyone is playing wonderful basketball. 

Now bear with me as I keep making barely sensical financial metaphors about this season’s Boston Celtics. 

The Bitcoin Bros:

Celtics fans know these names. The chaos wing contingent of Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh, and Dillon Mitchell are foundational to how this era of the Celtics wants to play basketball. Mash people on the offensive glass, move the ball, play with pace, and make life for opposing offenses a living hell. Celtics fans are like Bitcoin investors in the early 2010s: no one thinks internet gold is anything but a scam, or, in this case, the rest of the league is dubious that a tsunami of late-round draft picks is coming to terrorize the league. 

They showed last season that they can impact winning and over two preseason games, these chaos agents appear to have levelled up. It shouldn’t surprise anyone, given their work ethic, age and tenure in the league.

This is before we mention rookies Dillon Mitchell and Chris Cenac Jr. It’s hard to envision a path for Mitchell to earn playing time with the glut of aforementioned chaos agents of Baylor, Hugo and Walsh (and Ron Harper Jr.), but Mitchell is a special athlete. He combines his explosiveness with IQ and feel for the game that has been evident through two preseason games. Cenac’s ability to play the power forward of center position provide more pathways to playing time. I would expect the rangy big man to spend most of his rookie season with Maine, but it wouldn’t shock me to see Cenac flash a few times in the regular season. 

Blue Chippers:

Jayson Tatum is like Apple stock. It doesn’t seem like his stock can get any higher, but it does. I was already bullish on Tatum coming into this season and his 27 minutes of preseason action did not dissuade me. By Tatum’s own admission, he was around 80% when he returned mid-playoff push last year. He quickly reestablished himself as an All-NBA caliber player. With the rust already shaken off and a full offseason to build confidence in his body, I expect Tatum to regain his place on First Team All-NBA. In Tatum’s first preseason action, he was effortlessly dominant. An MVP award for Tatum is on the table. 

After last season, Derrick White’s ticker was in danger of falling out of the S&P 500. Despite one of the best shot-blocking regular seasons of all time for a guard, his dreadful playoff shooting has investors feeling uncomfortable. White’s preseason debut was rocky; early in the game, he clanked a few threes and turned the ball over a couple of times. The smooth-headed guard (I can say that because I am also smooth-headed), was able to rally as the game went on, impacting the game on both sides of the ball. It would really ease the concerns of fans to see him go on a hot shooting run to start this season. 

Backing Payton Pritchard’s NBA journey has felt like investing in a sleeper tech stock that sceptics wrote off as incapable of scaling. Only to watch it grow every year until it makes everyone who believed in it rich. While I’m not as bullish as some who think Payton Pritchard can become Jalen Brunson, I believe Pritchard will continue to develop into one of the league’s most potent weapons. Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard have been a lethal combination since entering the league. In over 4,000 minutes sharing the court together, Tatum and Pritchard have a net rating of +8.1. Pritchard is the perfect perimeter teammate for Tatum; he spaces the court out to the logo, and their screening actions are lethal, as the opponent who is tasked with guarding Pritchard typically has no prayer in guarding Tatum, so when they are in action together, it creates difficult choices for opposing defenses. In Pritchard’s limited preseason action, he looks ready to handle an even larger offensive burden. 

Precious Metals:

Apologies to Mike Conley and Paul George, but gold, silver, and all precious metals are clearly the NBA vets of the investment landscape. Gold is one of humanity’s oldest commodities. Reliable and necessary. NBA Champions require precious veterans. Al Horford, Alex Caruso, Andre Iguodala, the list is endless. Paul George and Mike Conley are here to steady the locker room and, in George’s case, perfectly complement Jayson Tatum. The theoretical fit of George, an elite shooter and defender who should seamlessly amplify Tatum’s scoring and playmaking, came to life instantly in their preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers. George’s willingness to buy into his new role as an ageing superstar will pay dividends this season. 

Reading too much into preseason can be dangerous. However, by my calculations, the 2026-2027 Boston Celtics are going to the moon. 

Why Jason Kidd won't count out Warriors as 2026-27 NBA championship contender originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Opinions about the potential of the 2026-27 Warriors tend to focus on their relatively fragile health, as the team will open the NBA season without as many as three impact players and, above all, their advanced age.

Superstar Stephen Curry is 38. Longtime sidekick Draymond Green is 36. Center Al Horford is 40. Jimmy Butler III is 37 and in the middle stage of recovery from ACL surgery. Gary Payton II will be 34 in December. Kristaps Porziņģis is 31 with a body about 10 years older.

The general belief is that Golden State’s season will be an exercise in futility.

Jason Kidd begs to differ. The Hall of Fame point guard and longtime NBA coach cites his own history with a Dallas Mavericks team thought to be too old to make a long postseason run yet won the 2011 NBA Finals.

“We were too old,” Kidd said, half joking, in an appearance on the “Dubs Talk” podcast.

The 2010-2011 Mavericks were led by Kidd, who turned 38 two months before the Finals. Sharpshooter Peja Stojaković turned 34 during the series, and Jason Terry turned 34 two months later.  Shawn Marion was 33, and the team’s best player, Dirk Nowitzki, turned 33 one week after the Finals. Seven Mavericks had at least 10 years of NBA experience. The trio of Nowitzki, Kidd and Terry, averaging 35 years of age, are the oldest core to win it all, taking a six-game series over a Miami squad featuring twenty-somethings LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

The Warriors hope to enter the 2027 NBA playoffs with a core trio – Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green – averaging almost 38 years of age.

“When you look at the Warriors, wisdom is key,” Kidd said. “Incredible coach, one of the best coaches in the league, in Steve Kerr. And then you look at what Steph does each summer. … Everybody talks about his stats and what he does, but his preparation is done in the summer, and what he does, and the time that he spends on getting ready for this for the season is like no other.”

Center Tyson Chandler, 28, was the only Dallas starter under 32. Golden State’s core likely would be supported mostly by four players: Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg (24), guard Brandin Podziemski (23), guard De’Anthony Melton (29) and, if he’s able, Kristaps Porziņģis (31).

That Dallas-Miami series is why Kidd won’t dismiss the Warriors, especially if they are relatively healthy at the end of the 82-game regular season.

“Yeah, because you don’t want to see Steph,” Kidd said. “We all wonder how we can slow him down. How can we do something that he hasn’t seen? He’s seen it all. He’s not afraid of the moment. He’s a unicorn, an incredible unicorn, but an incredible human being.”

Curry will be managing “runner’s knee,” a malady that caused him to miss most of the second half of last season. His presence is crucial for earning a postseason berth, much less the Warriors making a significant playoff run.

Golden State’s postseason viability will be tested early, as Porziņģis will miss at least the first couple weeks and preseason star Lendeborg will be adjusting to regular-season intensity.

The most optimistic projection for Butler has him returning shortly after the holidays. It’s unlikely that Moses Moody, a valuable wing who can come off the bench or occasionally start, will return before the NBA All-Star break.

“The Warriors are going to be a team that people might not talk about,” Kidd said, “but I think at the end of the day, they can crack the playoffs.”

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The rules surrounding NBA team building are loose.

You’re supposed to commit to a “timeline”. The average age of your roster is supposed to be comparable.

The rules may be loose, but that’s not to say they’re arbitrary. Many teams have tried the whole “two timelines” thing, and few have succeeded.

The idea is that, by some kind of osmosis process, the veterans will usher the young guys into title contention, as if Amen Thompson can somehow absorb Kevin Durant’s shot-making ability. There are examples of the approach working, but they all feature MVP-level young talents, like the Spurs drafting Tim Duncan with David Robinson on the roster, or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson.

So perhaps the conversation is circular. If Sengun were the Tim Duncan to Durant’s Robinson, the timeline issue becomes moot. Given the Rockets’ “lots of good young players, but none future MVP candidates” build, it’s fair to ask a question:

Could this team trade Durant?

Rockets should consider trading Durant if necessary

Rafael Stone has made a habit of trading two second-round picks for one second-round pick and Alpha Kaba so he can cut Kaba and generate a trade exception, or whatever, at the trade deadline.

It’s a good approach. Every year, Stone leaves Rockets fans disappointed because he didn’t make a blockbuster move, even though not making a blockbuster move is unequivocally better than making a bad move.

This year feels a bit different, doesn’t it? There’s some pressure after two consecutive first-round exits. The United States Ambassador to Italy is surely getting some ants in his pants. A major deadline deal feels more likely this year than it has in years past. If the Rockets aren’t, say, a top-3 seed by the deadline, it’s a looming possibility.

That’s going to mean one of two things. It’s going to mean reuniting Durant with Kyrie Irving, or pairing him with Karl-Anthony Towns, or some other superstar (side note: This summer was crazy, and all the best hypothetical trade targets got traded), or it’s going to mean trading Durant and resetting the timeline.

That feels like an awfully attractive proposition to me.

Imagine this: Duncan Robinson, John Collins, Kevin Huerter, and an unprotected future first for Durant. The Rockets’ young core will be fully substantiated by complementary players. They’ll have an elite movement shooter in Robinson, and a part-time stretch five to space the floor around Thompson in Collins. And, perhaps most importantly, the Rockets add an extra unprotected first to their war chest.

Let’s flashback. The year is 2020. The Rockets trade James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets to go play with Kevin Durant. They get no meaningful players (with apologies to Rodions Kurucs) in return. Instead, they get the most draft capital a team has ever received in an NBA trade.

Rafael Stone famously declares that his GM acumen should not be judged until 2030. Flash forward. It’s 2026 heading into 2027 in a few months. Stone’s self-imposed deadline is quickly approaching:

But he still has plenty of time.

My point? Why rush? The Rockets could flip Durant for role players and assets, draft as well as they can for a few more years, churn out the players that aren’t fitting, and see where they stand. There’s no win-now move that’s likely to put them in the title picture next year, so leaning further into the long game feels like the more sensible approach.

That might be pie you’re seeing in the sky. It’s at least equally likely that Tillman Fertitta won’t wait until 2030. Stone may be feeling the squeeze, and he may do the VanVleet, Capela and a pick for Irving thing just to maximize his odds of escaping the first round. Otherwise, three consecutive first-round exits could put his job in peril:

Those are the rules.