Jason Kidd

Dallas Prepares To Welcome Back Luka Doncic

April 9th, 2025 at 6:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA’s most eagerly anticipated homecoming in several years is about to take place as Luka Doncic gets ready for his first game in Dallas since the shocking trade that sent him to the Lakers in early February.

The Mavericks are planning a tribute video highlighting Doncic’s accomplishments during his six and a half years with the team, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Team sources tell MacMahon that the Mavs contacted several companies that Doncic endorses to set up sponsorship deals for the game, but those fell apart when Doncic’s camp refused to provide its support, pointing out that he’s now a Laker.

The teams have gone in sharply different directions since news of the deal first leaked on the weekend before the trade deadline. The addition of Doncic, who’s averaging 27.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game since changing teams, helped L.A. rise into third place in the West at 48-31, while Dallas is holding on to the final play-in spot at 38-41.

“I know it’s been two months or something, but still adapting a little bit,” Doncic said recently. “It was a big change. But it’s getting better.”

The trade also created a lot of ill will among Mavericks fans, and team sources told MacMahon it will probably result in a nine-figure loss in revenue over the next few years. He adds that the franchise is projected to lose “dozens of millions” this season because of smaller crowds, a sharp drop in merchandise sales, and sponsors who decided to end their relationship due to the intense public reaction to the deal.

There’s more on Doncic’s return to Dallas:

Doncic and his support staff were “stunned” when they learned about the trade and angered by leaks from Mavericks management that he didn’t work hard enough to stay in shape, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. Doncic snapped back at the accusations, which he believes are an attack on his character. “They have no idea,” Doncic said. “… I didn’t end up here by mistake. You know? I worked my ass off to be here. So it’s kinda, I would say disrespectful, just sad that people say that.” Woike adds that people close to the Lakers had been impressed by Doncic’s work ethic since he joined the team, noting that he always attends optional workouts and he was able to get back into shape fairly quickly after missing 22 games with a strained calf.
After the Mavericks lost in the NBA Finals, general manager Nico Harrison challenged all the players to come back “10% to 15% better,” NBA insider Marc Stein states in a Substack column (subscription required). The message was believed to be aimed at Doncic, and Stein describes Harrison as “seething” when his star player was knocked out of action by the calf strain on Christmas Day. The front office was also upset that Doncic isolated himself after each of his injuries this season and insisted that all rehab work would be conducted by his personal “body team.”
Former owner Mark Cuban and franchise legend Dirk Nowitzki, who served as a special advisor to Cuban, both lost their influence when the franchise was sold to Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont in November 2023, Stein adds. With two of his top supporters gone, rifts eventually developed between Doncic and management over several issues.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd put the trade in historic context during a session with reporters before tonight’s game, tweets Christian Clark of The Athletic. “This is a business. Trades happen. This won’t be the last trade,” Kidd said. “Some are comparing it to Babe Ruth, which is kind of cool. But when you look at the business of sports, change happens. When change happens, it’s the ones who carry on and keep moving forward. Those are the special people.”
Doncic embraced Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and assistant coach God Shammgod when he came out for pregame warm-ups (Twitter video link from Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News).

Anthony, Howard Headline 2025 Hall Of Fame Class

April 5th, 2025 at 11:41am CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard headline the 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The organization has confirmed the news.

The full list of inductees is as follows:

Carmelo Anthony – 10-time All-Star, six All-NBA teams, three Olympic gold medals with Team USA, NCAA championship with Syracuse, member of the 75th Anniversary team.
Dwight Howard – Eight-time All-Star, eight All-NBA teams, three Defensive Player of the Year awards, five rebounding titles, NBA champion, Olympic gold medal.
Sue Bird – 13-time WNBA All-Star, eight-time All-WNBA, four-time WNBA champion, five Olympic gold medals.
Maya Moore – Seven-time All-WNBA, six-time WNBA All-Star, four-time WNBA champion, 2013 Finals MVP, 2014 MVP.
Sylvia Fowles – Eight-time All-WNBA, eight-time WNBA All-Star, four-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, two-time WNBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, 2017 MVP.
Danny Crawford – Officiated over 2,000 regular season games and 30 NBA Finals.
Billy Donovan – Currently head coach of the Bulls, Donovan will be inducted for his accomplishments at the college level, including winning back-to-back national championships with Florida in 2006 and ’07.
Micky Arison – The longtime Heat owner was inducted as a contributor. Miami has won three NBA titles and made the NBA Finals seven times during his tenure.
2008 U.S. Olympic Men’s Team – Known as the “Redeem Team,” the Americans went 8-0 en route to a gold medal in Beijing after finishing with a surprising bronze in 2004.

As Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press notes, Anthony and Howard will essentially be inducted twice in the same year, as both were members of Team USA in 2008. Dwyane Wade, Jason Kidd, Chris Bosh and Kobe Bryant, all of whom were already in the Hall of Fame, were also members of that team, as were LeBron James and Chris Paul — both of whom are still active NBA players.

The 17 finalists for the 2025 class were announced in February.

Jason Kidd: Kyrie Irving’s Injury Was ‘Freak Accident’

March 5th, 2025 at 11:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kyrie Irving had been taking on a larger workload since Luka Doncic was injured on Christmas Day and ultimately traded, so there was speculation that the increased stress on his body contributed to the season-ending ACL tear he suffered Monday night. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd strongly disagreed with that theory during a session with reporters prior to Wednesday’s game at Milwaukee, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.

“The load didn’t have anything to do with the injury,” Kidd said. “We’re talking about one play. It’s a freak accident. That’s how it should be reported, but we’re not reporting it right. We’re reporting on conspiracy theories.

“We want our stars to play as many minutes [as possible],” Kidd continued. “This isn’t supposed to be a ‘rest’ league. Kai is our leader. Kai was playing [high] minutes. He also was playing at a high level, maybe some of the best basketball that he’s played in his career. And it’s all right to play 40 minutes. We can’t talk from both sides and say that our stars don’t play enough minutes or guys don’t play enough.”

The “freak accident” that Kidd referenced came in the first quarter of Monday’s game against Sacramento when Irving tried to split defenders DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas. He landed awkwardly on his left leg before falling to the ground and grabbing his knee. He was fouled on the play and managed to make two free throws before being helped to the locker room.

With only eight healthy players on the roster, Dallas lost by 30 points to the Bucks after falling by 24 points against the Kings. The Mavericks are now 32-31, and their hold on the West’s final play-in spot looks increasingly shaky.

Kidd added that Irving embraced the idea of taking on extra minutes in light of the injuries.

“He’s well conditioned and he invited that,” Kidd said. “He wanted that. Are we reporting that? No, we’re not reporting that. We’re reporting that we’re running someone into the ground. That’s not true. That’s his job, it’s to play. He loves to play. It’s all right to play 40 minutes at the age of 32 in a month’s span. This isn’t the whole season.”

Irving certainly seemed capable of handling the increased minutes, averaging 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 50 games this season. He made his ninth All-Star appearance last month and has rehabilitated his image after a series of controversial incidents in Brooklyn.

That was among the points Bucks coach Doc Rivers made in his pregame press conference, Curtis adds in a separate story.

“Kyrie’s a massive loss,” Rivers said. “I feel awful about that. He’s done a lot for Dallas, the team. He has really changed the perception of him. He’s always been one of the more likable guys in the league. Always the first to talk to the other players. Just watching [the injury] was sad, watching him shoot free throws. … Just a tough blow.”

Mavericks Notes: Kidd, Doncic, Nowitzki, Washington, Thompson

February 24th, 2025 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks guard Jason Kidd can relate to how his former star point guard Luka Doncic feels. Kidd was an All-Star entering his prime when Dallas dealt him to Phoenix in 1996.

“It shocks you because you don’t know about that side of the business,” Kidd told Christian Clark of The Athletic. “But you have to grow up fast. It is a business.”

Doncic never saw the trade to the Lakers coming, thinking he’d be signing a super-max extension after the season with Dallas.

“You believe you are going to be with the franchise forever,” Kidd said. “But the business of basketball sometimes gets in the way. Teams change. I’ve been involved in quite a few sales of the team. Any time there is a sale, there could be change. It just happens.”

We have more on the Mavericks:

Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki was on vacation when news broke of the Doncic trade. Nowitzki didn’t see it coming either, he revealed on a Sportsradio 96.7 FM interview relayed by the Dallas Morning News. “I felt a little disappointed and sad for him. He obviously didn’t see this coming, so he invited me to come out to his first game in LA, and I felt like I had to support him,” Nowitzki said. “I felt like, I played with him in my last season, we’ve gotten close, I’ve tried to mentor him, I’ve tried to help him as much as I can the last few years and he’s a good kid. I felt like I had to go out there and support him in this new chapter, because I think and it was reported he was obviously pretty down and disappointed in how it went down. So I wanted to be there for him, I wanted to be there for his family and show support. But you guys saw my face, it was weird. It was surreal to see him play for the Lakers. I’ll never be a Laker fan, but I’ll always be a Luka fan.”
An ankle sprain limited P.J. Washington to one February game prior to the All-Star break. He came back strong on Friday with 24 points and seven rebounds against New Orleans. “He’s a budding star for our team, and he’s showcasing that,” Kyrie Irving said of Washington, per Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal. “His numbers have showcased that. So I think it’s about time we started furthering that conversation about P.J. Washington consistently doing these things and being a great asset for our team as one of our leaders and making money plays.” Washington added 17 points against Golden State on Sunday.
Klay Thompson’s technical foul on Sunday has been rescinded upon league office review, NBA Official tweets. Thompson was held to 11 points in the 24-point loss to Golden State.

Mavericks Notes: Irving, Kidd, Davis, Simmons

February 14th, 2025 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Faced with a fan backlash following last week’s Luka Doncic trade and dealing with a series of injuries that have decimated their frontcourt, the Mavericks could have gone into a tailspin heading into the All-Star break.

Instead, Dallas has won four of its past five games, including a shorthanded home victory over Miami on Thursday that saw the club run out a starting five of Spencer Dinwiddie, Dante Exum, Max Christie, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and Kessler Edwards. All five players scored in double figures, as Exum led the way with 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting.

“No one is pouting. Everyone is playing,” head coach Jason Kidd said after Thursday’s win, per Christian Clark of The Athletic. “Big win before the break. Now we can rest, regroup and get ready for the second half.”

Kyrie Irving had to sit out Thursday’s game – the second of a back-to-back set – due to a right shoulder injury, but he has been playing through a back issue and is averaging a team-high 36.6 minutes per game on the season. His resiliency and leadership has trickled down to the rest of the roster, Clark writes.

“He sets a standard,” Edwards said. “If he sees any of us slacking, he holds us to that. He also has a great personality. It’s light in the locker room around him, so it’s great.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

The Mavericks and Kidd won’t be fined for the head coach’s decision to skip Monday’s post-game press conference, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, who notes (via Twitter) that the league typically responds to first-time violations of that rule with a warning rather than handing out a fine.
The Mavericks haven’t issued a formal update on Anthony Davis‘ projected recovery timetable from an adductor strain since he was injured in his first game with his new team on Saturday. As Stein writes in a story for his Substack, the lack of a publicly shared timeline is thought to be by design, with the hope being that Davis can take a non-surgical treatment path to recovery. As he reported earlier this week, Stein says there’s optimism that surgery can be avoided, but cautions that it hasn’t been entirely ruled out at this point.
Within that same Substack story, Stein reports that the Mavericks would have had interest in entering the bidding for Ben Simmons on the buyout market, but their hard-cap restrictions prevented them from emerging as a serious suitor. The prorated veteran’s minimum deal that Simmons got from the Clippers carries a cap hit of approximately $756K, whereas Dallas is only operating about $171K below its first-apron hard cap.

Luka Doncic Discusses ‘Special’ Lakers Debut

February 11th, 2025 at 7:59am CST by Luke Adams

Playing for the first time since suffering a left calf strain on Christmas Day, Luka Doncic made his Lakers debut on Monday, helping to guide the team to a comfortable 132-113 victory over Utah. It wasn’t the best game of Doncic’s career – he had just 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting in 24 minutes – but he told reporters after the victory that it was a “special” one, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

“The way they received me, everybody, it was amazing to see,” Doncic said. “I was a little bit nervous before. I don’t remember the last time I was nervous before the game. But once I stepped on the court, it was fun. And just being out there again felt amazing.”

As Buha and Dave McMenamin of ESPN write, the Lakers went out of their way to make their newest addition comfortable in his debut. Every fan in attendance received a Doncic t-shirt jersey, the Lakers played Serbian music during pregame warmups (a staple during Doncic’s days in Dallas), and he was the last Lakers starter introduced, temporarily taking the spot typically reserved for LeBron James.

In a pregame huddle captured on ESPN’s broadcast, James told Doncic, “Luka, be your f—ing self. Don’t fit in, fit the f— out. Be yourself.” Doncic said it felt “amazing” to hear that and added that the speech gave him “chills.”

“I didn’t play in a long time, first of all,” Doncic said. “It’s a new team. New everything. But like the way they helped me, teammates, (general manager) Rob (Pelinka), (owner) Jeanie (Buss), it was just a lot of support for me. You could see when I came to the arena, I saw all the Luka jerseys. It was just a surreal feeling.”

The Lakers’ victory, their sixth in a row and 10th in 11 games, moved them into fourth place in the Western Conference standings.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, the Mavericks lost for the 15th time in their last 23 games and are now clinging to a play-in spot, just one game ahead of the 11th-seeded Suns. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN details, multiple Mavericks fans – upset about the trade that sent Doncic to Los Angeles in a package headlined by Anthony Davis – were ejected in the second half of a one-point overtime loss to Sacramento and team governor Patrick Dumont was loudly booed by fans.

At one point in the game, former Mavs majority owner and current minority stakeholder Mark Cuban yelled at two fans to “shut the f— up and sit the f— down,” MacMahon reports. Cuban told ESPN the fans were chanting “fire Nico” (ie. general manager Nico Harrison) while the Mavs were shooting free throws and again during a critical late-game possession. They were later ejected.

Head coach Jason Kidd didn’t speak to reporters after Dallas’ loss, a violation of NBA rules.

“I mean, yeah. I saw,” Doncic said on Monday when asked about the reaction in Dallas to the trade that ended his Mavs tenure. “Obviously, I saw the fans. Obviously, I really appreciate it. I’ve been there seven years — almost seven years — and it was amazing to experience those fans — the love for me. I’ll always appreciate that. But now I think we should focus on the next step. And the way Lakers fans received me here was amazing.”

Mavs’ GM Harrison: Avoided “Tumultuous Summer” By Dealing Doncic

February 2nd, 2025 at 5:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd addressed the media prior to Dallas’ game at Cleveland on Sunday afternoon after the Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis three-team blockbuster was made official.

Harrison said that he never discussed a contract extension with Doncic or his representatives. There had been speculation that Doncic may have informed Dallas’ front office that he wouldn’t remain with the organization long-term.

Doncic was eligible to sign a five-year, $345MM super-max extension this summer, and league sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon that Doncic anticipated agreeing to that deal. However, Harrison wasn’t sure about making that type of commitment and Doncic could have opted out of his current deal after next season.

Harrison decided on a preemptive strike rather than dealing with a potentially touchy situation.

“There’s some unique things about his contract that we had to pay attention to,” Harrison said. “There’s other teams that were loading up that he was going to be able to decide, make his own decision at some point of whether he wants to be here or not. Whether we want to super-max him or not, or whether he wants to opt out. So, I think we had to take all that into consideration, and I feel like we got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous summer.”

Harrison has been heavily criticized since the deal came to light late on Saturday night, not only because he gave up a 25-year-old superstar but also because he only picked up one first-round pick in the trade. He’s willing to accept the consequences if it doesn’t produce a championship for the Mavericks.

“Well, let’s be clear: I’m the one making the decision and [Kidd]’s supportive of it, so it’s me,” he said. “I don’t do anything that’s scary. I think everything that we do, we put a lot of work into it, we study it and we re-study it and we go back. I understand the magnitude of it. So, the easiest thing for me to do is do nothing, and everyone would praise me for doing nothing. But we really believe in it — and time will tell if I’m right.”

While he didn’t directly criticize Doncic, Harrison referenced “culture” as a big part of his reasoning for acquiring Davis. Harrison initiated talks with Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka over coffee when the Lakers played the Mavs on Jan. 7, and those discussions progressed over the following weeks, according to MacMahon.

“It’s important to know that Kidd and I are aligned and we talk about archetypes and we talk about the culture we want to create,” Harrison said, per Joe Vardon and Christian Clark of The Athletic. “There are levels to it, and there are people that fit the culture, and there are people that come in and add to the culture. Those are two distinct things and I believe the people that are coming in are adding to the culture.”

Kidd, who was an assistant with the Lakers when they won the championship in 2020, echoed those comments.

“When you look at the vision of the team and what Nico wants to do, I truly support that, and truly believe that the players that we are getting are the ones who can help us achieve that, and that’s to win a championship,” he said.

The team, for now, will be built around Davis and Kyrie Irving.

“I think (Irving is) shocked, but understand he’s been in this league and has seen different things, so understanding we have to push forward,” Kidd said, per Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). “He probably saw things differently and I’m speaking from my point of view. At some point, you guys will ask him the questions and I know he’ll give you guys the answers that you’re looking for.”

Doncic posted a statement on social media, thanking the Dallas fans and community and expressing that he never expected to leave the organization. “I thought I’d spend my career here and I wanted so badly to bring you a championship,” he wrote. The full statement can be accessed here.

Mavericks Say Luka Doncic Will Be Reevaluated In One Month

December 28th, 2024 at 10:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Luka Doncic will be reevaluated in a month for a left calf strain he suffered during a Christmas Day game, the Mavericks announced in a press release, confirming a series of Friday reports.

Although there was no contact on the play, Doncic appeared to suffer the injury on a drive to the basket in the second quarter while being defended by Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels. Doncic underwent an MRI on Thursday and consulted with doctors to determine the best course for his recovery.

The left leg continues to be a problem area for Doncic, who has strained his left calf three times in recent years. He also missed the entire preseason with a left calf contusion and recently returned from a left heel contusion.

The Mavericks were impressive Friday night in their first game since Doncic’s injury, leading nearly the entire way in a 98-89 win over Phoenix.

“An injury is an injury,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s had a couple of them this year and we’ve played without him. Next man up mentality. That’s what we’re facing right now. Not just with Luka, but with Dereck Lively out. The depth of our team is being tested and those guys in the locker room are up for the test.”

Naji Marshall took Doncic’s place in the starting lineup on Friday, but he won’t be an option for a while. He was suspended for four games for an on-court altercation with Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic that continued in the locker room area.

The Mavericks have 16 games on their schedule over the next month, including tonight’s contest at Portland. Kidd plans to be careful about not overtaxing his starters to make up for Doncic’s absence.

“The big picture is always in focus,” he said. “Running (Kyrie Irving) up over 40 minutes, that puts us in a different situation. We have to lean on our leader here to help us, but that doesn’t mean running his minutes up to 40, 42 minutes as the final way to win. We believe we have other guys that can eat minutes and play at a high level. We’ll have that opportunity with Luka out.”

In a related matter, Kidd told reporters before tonight’s game that Doncic is “doing fine” after his house was broken into on Friday, per Christian Clark of The Athletic. Approximately $30K worth of jewelry was taken from the residence, but nobody was home at the time of the incident. It’s at least the sixth home invasion involving a professional athlete since September, Clark adds.

Texas Notes: Kidd, Mavs, Vassell, Wembanyama

November 10th, 2024 at 12:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Jason Kidd ripped the Mavericks‘ effort following Friday’s last-second loss to Phoenix, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required), who says it was the most frustrated he has seen Kidd in his four seasons as Dallas’ head coach.

“For whatever reason, we get off to a slow start,” Kidd said. “It’s got to be addressed. We’ve talked about it. There’s got to be action. There’s got to be some energy. Somebody’s got to come with some f—ing energy. We’re f—ing flat.”

In addition to another slow start, Kidd was also critical of the bench’s performance.

“The fatigue of running Luka (Doncic) and Kai (Kyrie Irving) 40-something minutes because our bench stinks right now,” Kidd said. “As deep as we are, we’ve got to get someone to f—ing participate off the bench. Somebody has to join the party to help Kai and Luka and that’s just not happening right now.

“I played the whole f—ing team tonight. We couldn’t find anybody, so we had to leave (Doncic and Irving) to carry the load and that’s unfair for those two this early in the season.”

Here are a few more notes from the Lone Star State:

The Mavericks will likely be shorthanded again on Sunday in Denver. Star guard Doncic is questionable with a left groin strain, while a trio of big men — P.J. Washington (right knee sprain), Dereck Lively (right shoulder sprain) and Maxi Kleber (right hamstring strain) — are all doubtful, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. Doncic has yet to miss a game in 2024/25.
Spurs wing Devin Vassell caught fire in his season debut on Saturday, recording 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting in 22 minutes, notes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscriber link). However, the Spurs lost a tight game vs. the Jazz, who entered the game with just one win. “It was good for me to be back out there,” said Vassell, who was on a minutes restriction in his return from offseason foot surgery. “Good for me to be playing with some of these guys. But ultimately I wanted to get that win, so I’m kind of upset about that right now.”
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama had a big night in Saturday’s one-point loss, finishing with 24 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. The reigning Rookie of the Year, who has opened the season in a shooting slump from long distance, also set a career high with six made three-pointers. Wembanyama became just the second player in NBA history to record six threes and seven blocks in a game, joining Brook Lopez, who accomplished the feat in 2017, according to Wright.

Southwest Notes: Zion, Pelicans, Kidd, Klay, Grizzlies

October 25th, 2024 at 9:36pm CST by Luke Adams

After missing the Pelicans‘ regular season opener on Wednesday, Zion Williamson was cleared to make his season debut on Friday in Portland, writes Anne M. Peterson of The Associated Press. Head coach Willie Green, who said it was “huge” to get Williamson back, told reporters that the star forward will be on a minutes restriction, though he didn’t share a specific target.

“It won’t be full throttle, but we’ll see how he feels once he gets on the floor,” Green said.

Williamson took Dejounte Murray‘s place in the Pelicans’ starting five after the team’s new starting point guard went down with a broken bone in his hand on Wednesday.

As Christian Clark of NOLA.com points out (via Twitter), after months of speculation about what New Orleans’ new starting lineup would look like, the Murray injury resulted in the team’s starters on Friday looking nearly identical to last season’s group, with Daniel Theis taking departed center Jonas Valanciunas‘s place. Since Murray it expected to be sidelined until at least late November – and likely into December – it will be a while before Green get a chance to get a look at his preferred starting five.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Many people within the Mavericks organization believe head coach Jason Kidd is “uniquely suited” to maximize the contributions of star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon writes. In an in-depth feature story, MacMahon explores how Kidd has gotten the most out of Doncic and Irving and how the Mavs coach will handle the new challenge of incorporating future Hall of Famer Klay Thompson this season.
Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link) takes a closer look at Thompson’s early days with the Mavericks, detailing the steps the veteran sharpshooter has taken to fit in and get acclimated to his new NBA home. “When you’re on such a talented team, you don’t have to be a hero,” Thompson said of adjusting to his Mavs role. “That’s what attracted me to come here. I think these guys can help me get the best out of myself. And have fun. When you’re playing with a smile on your face, basketball is the best.” As we detailed earlier today, Klay had 22 points in 26 minutes in his Mavs debut.
The Grizzlies are missing multiple rotation players due to injuries and begin their season with six games in nine days, so head coach Taylor Jenkins plans to rely on his depth to get through that stretch and avoid leaning on any of his starters too heavily in the early going, writes Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. That approach includes using reserves like rookie Jaylen Wells, who admitted he was surprised to be one of the first players off the bench in Wednesday’s season opener. “I was not expecting that,” Wells told reporters. “I’m not even going to lie. I think they (yelled for) Scotty (Pippen Jr.). And I thought they only said, ‘Scotty!’ And then they said my name a second time. And I definitely wasn’t expecting that.”

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