Mavericks get a Double-Dose of GREAT News...

The Dallas Mavericks has got a double dose of great news as we have multiple huge updates from Dusty May with the final preseason game this Friday. The Mavericks are looking to shore up who is going to start on opening night versus the Rockets next Wednesday, and we have some injury updates on a multitude of different players as after a very interesting offseason, we are now closer than ever before to seeing this team on the court in a meaningful game, literally less than a week away. We're excited. Hope you are excited, but let's not waste any time and get straight into this video. Before that, though, make sure you hit that subscribe button and get the latest and greatest on the Dallas Mavericks every single day of the year. And let's start with the injury update to Mores Johnson Jr. Now, if you don't know, he has been sidelined for majority of the preseason and even training camp area with a knee injury. And it seems like he's finally getting back to where we can see him on the court this Friday. In fact, Dusty May gave us an update that he is potentially on the active roster, ready to play, good to go on Friday. He had some right shin splints. That was the official injury diagnosis at one point. It was the knee, then it was the calf, then it became the shin. He missed the New Orleans game, and now his next checkpoint is going to be Friday. He's making good progress, and that's a huge thing for the Dallas Mavericks. He is a guy who you really want to see out there. He was your top pick, your lottery pick in this most recent draft, and you want to be able to get some game action in before you go to the regular season against the Rockets coming up next Wednesday. In terms of an injury roundup, some of these are a little bit delayed, but Cooper Flagg didn't play yesterday because of rest. Kyrie Irving didn't play yesterday because of rest. Jett Howard was dealing with an illness. And then Daniel Gafford was receiving a maintenance day on Wednesday, so he did not play. But we also got an injury update on Moussa Cisse as well. So lots of different things going on, and we're going to get to all that here. And just before that, a word from our sponsor, Anson. You know what ruins a great outfit fast? An old beat-up belt that doesn't fit right. Most guys are still wearing belts with stretched out holes that either pinch your waist or sag or even throw off your whole look. And that's why I'm excited to have Anson Belt and Buckle as the sponsor of today's video. Instead of holes, Anson uses a micro-adjustable track system with quarter-inch increments so your belt fits perfectly every single time. And once you experience that kind of fit and comfort, trust me, you'll never want to go back to wearing a regular belt again. Now, I've been wearing mine nonstop, and honestly, it's the best belt I've ever owned. 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Thank you to Anson for sponsoring today's show, but let's talk about the next steps for Moritz Johnson Jr. and what it will take for him to get out on the court on Friday. First of all, medical clearance is kind of the usual stipulation in this. Again, it's still in question mark whether that's going to be fully cleared. And then a bigger thing is, even if he plays on Friday, will he be able to play a massive amount of minutes? because that's something that is definitely going to be watched for. You look at the small forward position, and there's a bunch of different things that you could definitely do. I think in some ways you probably would want to see a little bit more of Moritz Johnson Jr. alongside P.J. Washington just to see what you've got, but you also have Terembrovic. Sandy Aldama could play in that power forward slot. He can also play in the center position. So you have no lack of forwards, but I definitely want Moritz to get his shot, especially when he was your guy, the pick out of the number one here. your first pick in the draft and of course the guy who used your lottery selection on um i still think that it's going to be PJ spot starting but it is something to definitely watch for as we move forward into the season and we know that PJ and Cooper we worked fine together last year but it maybe wasn't the most best fit so if Moritz can step into a big role there's a chance where you could see PJ moved at the NBA trade deadline but the other good news that we got was Marcus Sasser It looks like he is also going to debut this Friday in what is the final preseason game for the Dallas Mavericks as we go to the updates on him. He has had a left abductor issue. He did not play last night versus the Pelicans. The Friday debut reportedly expected. The only thing they're waiting for is medical clearance. And Sasser is a guy who was acquired this offseason in a trade. And I think a lot of people have some hopes for him. I don't want to say the expectation is that he will come out here and perform. But I want to say that it's something that you can definitely look for and feel pretty confident and feel that you can see him in a big light. And in some ways, he could perform to a higher level. Last year, 5.2 points per game, one rebound per game, two assists. The true shooting percentage was OK. The big thing, though, the plus minus minutes were in the top 14 percent and the three point percentage was in the top 12 percent. If he can figure out a way to shoot efficiently, not just from three, but more or less from the field as a whole, then you're going to be in a much better spot. And he could surprise a lot of people this season, but it's still going to be a work in progress for Marcus Sasser. If you look at his shooting percentages, they weren't great through the first 33 games of the regular season, or rather, they weren't great through the last five games of the regular season last year. But the first 33, it was better, 40%. So that really kind of shot down his total field goal percentage. which it's going to be a huge thing to watch for the Mavericks. He started to lose minutes, obviously, with the Pistons, and it just wasn't the right fit. That's why I'm thinking kind of like Zachary Richer has looked good since moving over here to Dallas. Maybe it can kind of be a similar situation for Marcus Sasser. And especially for how many, like, reports and rumors we heard about Sasser, you'd kind of, I'm not going to say be shocked if they don't give him, you know, a lot of minutes and decent chances, but you also have Sergio Loria, who's been playing very, very solid. Now, in regards to injury updates that aren't exactly good, We do have something on Santi Aldama as he is still recovering from his knee injury. If we look at the latest updates on him, he is still continuing his knee surgery recovery. Again, missed yesterday's contest and is not expected to play in Friday's game per the reports. Aldama, again, a guy acquired by trade this offseason and a guy who I think has a very effective role in either the small or other power forward position or even the center role as well, given his height and his ability. but top 9% last year in rebounds and then also pretty solid with blocks as well and defensive rebounds one of the best like you can look at him and understand that he could play in both positions either in that power forward position or in the center position but right now we don't exactly know you know when he's going to be able to get out there on the court he definitely got better as the season went along last year in fact his last five games in 2025-2026 he shot 55 plus percent from the field which is insane um and still playing 27 minutes doing that is great so in terms of the big men on this team uh you still are kind of looking to some interesting places and a part of that exited last night's game with an ankle sprain so now you're looking even more into that uh depth chart area for the uh center and for the power forward for that like now here's what we know on Cisse's exit it was a left ankle sprain against the pelicans he finished with 8.6 rebounds three blocks and he did not return after the injury and it does seem like he will miss the final game of the preseason for the Dallas Mavericks coming up versus you know this Friday so I think that that's something that is unfortunate because Moussa is actually one of the most underrated players defensively in getting rebounds in the NBA again had six in the preseason game but 11.4 rebounds in his last couple games obviously got to play a lot more minutes so that was something as well and um kind of interesting to look at the with and without splits uh with with Christie kind of an interesting thing to kind of put up here but it is certainly something and the mavericks are you know waiting for that center position to be in a good spot i mean you think about what you have in this you know i guess center position you've like what you've seen from Daniel Gafford he'll probably be the starter for the first couple of games then you've got I think in a lot of ways, probably Santi Aldama at the two, as long as Derek Lively's not fully healthy, then of course, Moussa Diop alongside Santi Aldama as well. Now yesterday, the Mavericks did fall into the Pelicans in what was their second-to-last preseason game of the year, 101-97. Nothing really crazy to report back in that game, John Polakaitis was actually the guy who scored the most with 16 points. Seven rebounds for PJ was really, really good to see, and again, Sergio leading the way with the assist. Richa Shea, I think, could have had some better minutes. Only six points in 23 minutes. He was minus nine throughout it. So definitely some improving that you could see from that. But what I did like to see was Toby Lawal. Again, two-way player. He was tied for the points lead with John Polakaitis, 16 points. And he just looks so agile out there on the court. I almost feel like he's going to get a lot more play time in the NBA when he has those 40 whatever games that he can play, 41 games. So definitely be looking for that. And then one final thought on this. get Caleb Martin off my basketball team. Please trade him, cut him, do something. He should not be a basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks anymore. There's literally no use of him being here. No, no, no use. But a lot of people stood out to me. Lawal again scored 16, Deloria 10 and 6. So four away from there. And then again, Richa Shea. First time we saw it, but we knew he was going to have struggles. We knew he was going to have some interesting things and he does struggle in that game. Want to look at Deloria real quick because he's a guy who, again, we're focusing on, especially with Sasser's injury. Ten points, four rebounds, six assists, plus two. Two for two from the charity stripe, two for three from behind the arc, and three for six from the field. Thirty minutes, too. I played a significant amount of minutes, so really, really excited. Like I said, final preseason game coming up this Friday for the Dallas Mavericks against the Hawks. It will be in American Airlines Center, so you can go check it out in there if you want. I think I'm going to go to the game, actually, funny enough. And then Rockets in Houston to open up the season on Wednesday, Pacers on Friday, and then a back-to-back will get us our first home game as we face off against the Western Conference champions, the San Antonio Spurs, Saturday the 24th. So lots of game time action coming up. And one final question for you for today's show. Biggest concern for the Mavericks moving forward with all the injuries we discussed, is it the big men health, is it the backcourt readiness, or is it the offensive execution? A for big men health, B for backcourt, C for offensive execution. What do you think is the biggest concern? We appreciate you watching, and we'll see you next time here on the show. Peace out.