Jason Kidd Reveals Mavs’ Preseason Plans

The Dallas Mavericks play only three preseason games before their regular season opener.

The Dallas Mavericks begin their 2022 NBA preseason schedule with a Wednesday matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a neutral site game at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Not all of the Mavs' roster will be traveling to Tulsa to participate in their preseason opener against the Thunder. Davis Bertans (right knee effusion) and JaVale McGee (left ankle sprain) are among the injured players. Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Maxi Kleber are not injured but not traveling.

For the Mavs, their preseason opener will be the first of just three games played before the regular season is underway. Most teams play four or five preseason games, so why is Dallas only participating in three?

After Tuesday's practice, Kidd told reporters that a potential scrimmage with an Australian team fell through last minute, which left the Mavs with only three preseason games. 

"[An exhibition game] fell through, so that's kind of why we ended up with three," Kidd said. "There was going to be four, and I think it was an exhibition against an Australian team, but that didn't quite work out."

Kidd clarified that each of the 30 NBA teams determine their own preseason schedule without the involvement of the league office. It requires scheduling the venue and facilitating a mutually agreeable accommodation for the game with another team.

"Do I get say in it? When the three came up, I wasn't mad about only playing three. You can say you want to play four or five, but that's up to being able to schedule that out with the arena and then your opponent. ... 

"I think this is the fewest I've ever been apart of. We'll just see. I don't it makes or breaks the season. It's doing something different to say that we've gone there and see: Was it good or was it something we should revisit?"

In terms of valuing the preseason, Kidd sees advantages to playing exhibition games prior to getting the regular season going. It can give players a chance to establish a rhythm while the coaches can try things out to see what they have.

"They are important in so many ways," Kidd said. "Different lineups, different situations, someone not playing, seeing how someone handles that. Younger guys, see how they handle maybe starting, being the first sub. There's a lot of things as a coach that I think you're looking at. Players too I think look at rhythm, trying to get a rhythm."

Kidd explained that by playing only three preseason games, the Mavs will be able to gather data to evaluate better how many exhibitions they should schedule in the future.

"I wanted to see less preseason games just to have the data to see how we handle it," Kidd said." A lot of teams are playing four, five, or six. I went on the other side to see if we can play three. We'll have an internal scrimmage on Wednesday over at the arena.

"We kind of have the core back, so we'll so that handles less minutes in practice and preseason game for these younger guys. I'm also looking for the guys that played heavy minutes, they won't have to participate in too many preseason games.

"We'll just see how it goes. It may be something that we never do again, or if the players say they like it, it's something we'll do again."

Next on the Mavericks' preseason schedule will be their first matchup against Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic. It will be the only preseason game played at American Airlines Center and will take place on Friday, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m. CT. To wrap up the 2022-23 preseason, the Mavericks will face the Utah Jazz on Friday, Oct. 14, at 8:00 p.m. CT at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

The Mavericks' preseason opener will be streamed on the team's official website while their two final preseason games will be televised on Bally Sports Southwest. For radio listeners, each of the games will be broadcast on 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL) with a Spanish broadcast on Univision 99.1 FM (KFZO).

To open the 2022-23 regular season, the Mavericks will take on the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 9 p.m. CT on ESPN. 

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You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.

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