LISTEN: Mavs Training Camp Preview; Luka & Kyrie Redemption Tour?

With about a week remaining until the Dallas Mavericks begin training camp, the Mavs Step Back Podcast previews what kind of season that can be expected from Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the rest of Dallas' revamped roster.

Dalton Trigg | Sep 19, 2023

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Dallas Mavericks

After having a long, eventful offseason, the Dallas Mavericks are preparing to ramp things up again with training camp just a little over one week away.

The Mavs missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season, and many people are skeptical of how good Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving can be together going forward — at least from a win/loss column perspective.

Sure, Doncic and Irving’s offensive numbers will be off the charts, but will the Dallas’ roster retooling around the star duo be enough to form a contending defense to go along with it? Are the Mavs actually being underrated at this point?

Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks — Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

On today’s episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, my DallasBasketball.com colleague Grant Afseth joins the show to talk about how Doncic and Irving could be poised for a redemption tour during the 2023-24 NBA season. The Mavs didn’t live up to most expectations after trading for Irving last season, but there are several nuances that must be considered when evaluating the team’s failures, and Irving certainly was not one of the issues.

Also in this episode, we talk about Afseth’s experience covering the FIBA World Cup up close and in person for DallasBasketball.com. During those talks, the discussion then slips into Team USA’s shortcomings and the biggest reasons for them. Somewhere down the line, could Mavs rookie Dereck Lively II, who is being mentored by gold-medalist Tyson Chandler, end up being Team USA’s ideal defensive anchor?

All of that and more, including a more detailed look at Lively and Olivier-Maxence Prosper heading into Mavs training camp, is discussed in the full episode below. As always, thanks for tuning in, and be sure to hit that subscribe button on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Published Sep 19, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.