The Big D Breakdown: Grading Mavericks Rumors Against The…

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Thursday, October 1

Five reports from the past three weeks touch the Mavericks' front office, coaching staff and injury list, each still carrying its own source and confidence score. Dallas enters camp at $197.9 million in payroll, over the cap and under the $200.4 million tax line, which shapes what any of them could actually become.

Powell-Irving Notes Still Open

Marc Stein's Sept. 28 column grouped Powell, Irving and Duren into one notes piece, the open-ended format Stein uses for league chatter without a single confirmed claim attached. The one hard fact underneath it already closed before the column ran: a Sept. 20 report on Dwight Powell's expected signing carries a 44 confidence score and confirmed status, and he is back on Dallas' roster after rejoining Sept. 25. Irving carries the top salary on the books at $39.5 million, the number that would dominate any deal attached to his name, though nothing in Stein's column assigns him a specific move.

Lively, Finley Reports Match Date

Two Sept. 24 reports arrived at matching confidence levels: one said Dereck Lively II was not cleared for training camp and could miss the start of the season, logged at 44 confidence, the other said Michael Finley stepped into a different front-office role, logged at 45 confidence. Both remain open, with no confirmed update on either since. The clock on both is the same: Dallas opens the regular season Oct. 21 at Houston, and training camp has already started without a confirmed resolution on either front.

Green's Report Is The Thinnest

The Sept. 16 report that Willie Green joined Dusty May's staff after coaching the Pelicans sits at 35 confidence and open status, the lowest score of the group. Seth Lundy's Sept. 26 camp deal needed no report to become real: camp-level deals fit easily under a payroll already at $197.9 million against a $200.4 million tax line, the kind of room Dallas does not have for anything bigger. Dallas' pick cupboard is already thin beyond this year — most Mavericks first-rounders through 2030 are swapped or protected — which raises the price of trying to add talent at the trade deadline instead of through camp deals like Lundy's.

Is Dereck Lively II cleared for Mavericks training camp?

Not as of the Sept. 24 report, which said he was not cleared and could miss the start of the season; the report is still open and unconfirmed.

Did the Mavericks confirm signing Dwight Powell?

Yes, the Sept. 20 report on his signing carries confirmed status, and he is back on Dallas' roster after rejoining Sept. 25.

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.