DALLAS — Expectations may not be very high for the Dallas Mavericks going into the 2026-27 season, but 2016 NBA champion Richard Jefferson isn’t totally writing them off when it comes to the Western Conference postseason picture.
Jefferson and his co-stars on the “Road Trippin’ Show” recently made some early predictions for each conference. While the crew didn’t show a ton of love to the Mavs, Jefferson did describe them as a team that could “pop up” in the West.
“Dallas, they could pop up,” he said. “… That was the first team I said when it was like, who is a team that’s outside that you could look at, could actually shift some things up. And again, we’re not saying Dallas is gonna be top six. We’re saying if Dallas was (No.) 8 in the play-in and won the first game and were the (No.) 7 seed, you wouldn’t be like, ‘Where did this come from?'”
Jefferson added that something as simple as a sprained ankle or tiebreaker can make a major difference in play-in shuffling, explaining that a team’s overall roster quality isn’t always the deciding factor.
His argument did ultimately seem to have some support among his co-stars.
“I think Dallas is the one team that has enough talent, high-level talent, that if they’re healthy, things are rolling, you could see them doing something,” he said.
Cooper Flagg And Kyrie Irving Have Yet To Play Together
Mavs stars Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving headline the high-end talent that Jefferson is referencing. This coming season will be their first time playing together, which is reason enough for there to be some excitement about how the team will look.
Irving missed all of last season while recovering from injury. While he was on the shelf, Flagg came into the league and immediately impressed, averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game en route to Rookie of the Year honors.
A leap from him in his second season would go a long way, and the return of Irving is also sure to bring some added life to the squad. In his last season on the floor, Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game and was named an All-Star.
Both players could be All-Stars this coming season, and they will look to involve their teammates, including some of the new faces that Dallas has brought in this summer, like big man Santi Aldama from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Dallas Mavericks’ Recent Postseason History
The Mavs missed the playoffs last season. The season before that, they fell in the play-in tournament. That all came after they made the NBA Finals in 2024.
With any luck, postseason basketball will return to Dallas sooner rather than later.
