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The Big D Breakdown · By the numbers

By The Numbers: Dallas's -5.2 Problem And The Fixes In Place

Last season's rating, Flagg's rookie workload, one hot lineup and the payroll figure framing training camp.

-5.2Net Rating27th offense, 19th defense
21.0 pts, 6.7 reb, 4.5 astFlagg's Rookie Line70 games, 33.5 minutes
+2.2Best Lineup Net73 minutes, 14 games
$197.9MTeam Payrollunder $200.4M tax line
By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Tuesday, October 6

Dallas enters 2026-27 at 0-0, but last season's -5.2 rating, a $197.9 million payroll and one standout lineup already frame what camp has to fix. None of the four numbers below are proof of anything yet; they are the floor this group has to clear once the games count.

-5.2: Net Rating

The Offense Was The Problem

Dallas finished last season 26-56 with a -5.2 rating, 22nd in the league. The split exposes where it broke down: an offense that ranked 27th at 110.3 points per hundred possessions sat next to a defense that held at a respectable 19th with a 115.5 mark. Pace landed at 102.6, middle of the league, so this was not a fast team bleeding points in transition — it was a team that could not consistently generate good shots against a set defense. Fix the shot quality on that side of the ball and the rating moves on its own.

Flagg Carried A Starter's Load

Cooper Flagg played 33.5 minutes a night as a 19-year-old rookie across 70 games, scoring 21.0 points with 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists. That is a starter's workload, not a rookie trial run, and it is the clearest sign the roster is built around him already. It does not prove efficiency: his 29.5 percent mark from three means the volume outran the shot quality, the exact gap that separates a go-to scorer from a star. Max Christie, by contrast, shot 40.4 percent from three on 29.1 minutes a night — proof the roster has shooters who can space the floor for Flagg to attack.

One Lineup Already Works

The Washington-Gafford-Christie-Flagg group, with Williams at the fifth spot, posted a +2.2 rating over 73 minutes across 14 games, built on a 116.8 offense against a 114.6 defense. Over a sample that thin, +2.2 is a flicker, not a verdict, but it is the only lineup that scored and defended at the same time. That lineup question sits next to a $197.9 million payroll that stays under the $200.4 million tax line — spending room Dallas has not yet used, with camp still deciding which five-man group earns the next dollar.

What was the Mavericks' net rating last season?

Dallas finished 2025-26 at -5.2, 22nd in the league, with a 110.3 offensive rating and a 115.5 defensive rating.

How much is the Mavericks' payroll this season?

Dallas carries a $197.9 million payroll, below the $200.4 million luxury tax line, led by Kyrie Irving's $39.5 million salary.

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.

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