Mavericks still lack an obvious key ingredient to make a real NBA Finals run

Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Dallas Mavericks are missing elite continuity, and this may be what prevents them from making an NBA Finals push during Cooper Flagg’s rookie year.

The Finals in Flagg’s rookie year always seemed like a long shot, as Kyrie Irving is set to miss part of the year with a torn ACL, and relying upon an 18-year-old rookie wing to help push Dallas over the top may have been a loftier goal than Mavericks fans realized. Still, Nico Harrison wants to win a title as soon as possible, and Dallas is in win-now mode following one of the most disappointing seasons in team history.

The Mavericks traded for Anthony Davis because they believed that he would give them a better shot at winning the NBA Finals than Luka Doncic did, and they should be treated as such. Their roster is constructed to win right now, but the fact of the matter is that this team has barely played together, and it’s going to hurt them in the long run.

The overlooked hurdle blocking the Mavs' rise

The teams that hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy are typically composed of a group of guys who have been playing together for years, and their on-court chemistry from playing together for so long helps lead them to the big stage. It’s not easy to win 16 games following a long regular season, but the togetherness of these teams helps hold them together and beat out the rest of the league to win four series.

In Dallas, their best three players haven’t played a single game together (Davis, Irving, and Flagg), and they won’t get to play together until Irving returns. His recovery is going well, which is great news for the Mavericks, but it’s going to take some time for this new big three to get rolling. His return date is also uncertain, and it seems probable that it won't be until some point in 2026.

On top of not getting to begin the year alongside Flagg, Irving has also only played three quarters with Davis, and that on-court partnership may take some time as well. Both Davis and Irving are brilliant players who buy into their role, which could help them make this thing work quicker than expected, but there isn’t continuity there either. The Mavericks' new superstar duo is starting from the ground up, and they won't even have a full season to play together before the postseason hits.

For the rest of the roster, Jaden Hardy is the longest-tenured Maverick outside of Dwight Powell, and he has only played three seasons in Dallas. This Mavericks team has not played much together at all, and only seven players remain from their 2024 NBA Finals roster.

Of those seven players that were on the Finals roster, only three of them played more than 15 minutes per game in that series against the Boston Celtics. They haven’t gotten to battle as much adversity together as they need to ahead of next season, and this may be what separates them from being a great team.

Dallas can still shock some people and become a top team in the West, but it’s not going to be a cakewalk to make their fourth NBA Finals appearance in team history. The Mavericks must grow together fast if they want to fulfill Harrison’s goal of winning a title over the next few years, and getting one more year together under their belts will be huge for them moving forward.

To fans' despair, the 2025-26 season could quietly be a gap year, as they lag behind other top teams in the league when it comes to continuity and true chemistry. The roster is filled with guys who love to play with one another, as P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford helped give Dallas the boost they needed to make the Finals in the first place back in 2024, but the fact of the matter is that this is only their second full season on the Mavericks.