A reported Dwight Powell signing gave way to a confirmed departure, exactly the outcome Dallas' own beat had been hedging on. Elsewhere, the frontcourt's ceiling still runs through Dereck Lively II's recovering foot, while trade buzz around Kyrie Irving remains unconfirmed by anything in the transaction log.
Powell's Exit, Not Entrance
Hoops Rumors' Rory Maher wrote on September 20 that the Mavericks were expected to sign Dwight Powell. A day later, the transaction log shows the opposite: Powell left Dallas, full stop, with no destination listed. That lines up with The Smoking Cuban's Noah Weber, who called the reunion talk something to take with a grain of salt and flagged an obvious roadblock before separately arguing Kyrie Irving would make the exit easier to stomach. The beat hedged; the roster move backs the skeptics.
Lively Underpins The Frontcourt
The Smoking Cuban's Noah Weber pinned Dallas' shot at a dominant frontcourt trio on Dereck Lively II's health, and colleague Austin McGee separately called Lively the roster's most overlooked breakout candidate. The center is out with a right foot and leg issue, with a return target of October 1, the same clock P.J. Washington's group and Santi Aldama are both watching. Until Lively is back on the floor, that frontcourt ceiling stays a projection, not a rotation.
Kyrie Talk Outruns The Facts
The Smoking Cuban's Noah Weber argued Dallas should explore trading Kyrie Irving to avoid a Jalen Brunson 2.0 disaster, and Hoops Rumors' Eli Cohen filed Irving alongside Wiseman, Vincent and Leonard in a Stein's Latest column on the wider trade market. Nothing in the transactions or rumor log confirms a Mavericks trade call on Irving, who remains the roster's highest-paid player at $39.5 million and is nursing a left knee. Separately, Mavs Moneyball's Michael Harris reported on Cooper Flagg's personal trainer detailing offseason work, and The Smoking Cuban's Will Miller tied a Rob Fodor hire to Flagg's three-point shot, which sat at 29.5 percent as a rookie last season, a hire this record does not independently confirm.
Is Dwight Powell signing with the Mavericks?
No. The transaction log shows Powell left Dallas on September 21, a day after Hoops Rumors reported a signing was expected.
Is Dereck Lively II healthy for camp?
Not yet. Lively is out with a right foot and leg issue and carries an October 1 return target.
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