DALLAS — The 2024-25 campaign begins Thursday evening for the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks with a nationally televised audience set to feast their eyes on an in-state rivalry matchup between Dallas and the San Antonio Spurs.
The Mavericks will embark on a quest to return to the NBA Finals after deftly maneuvering through the league’s toughest conference before running face first into a fated Boston Celtics team that took the NBA Finals in five games.
Meanwhile, after being named the unanimous Rookie of the Year and finishing as the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, the encore season for 7-foot-4-inch French sensation Victor Wembanyama begins against the team that Wembanyama made his NBA debut against last October. Only this time, the season opener will be at the American Airlines Center where Dallas will raise a Conference championship banner.
The Spurs closed out Wembanyama’s rookie season finishing next to last in the Western Conference, while the Mavericks were three wins away from winning it all. Dallas clearly outclassed their neighbors from down south as the Mavs went 4-0 against their division mates last season on their way to winning the NBA’s Southwest Division.
Now, a year later, the excitement of seeing two of the league’s young pillars faceoff in their season openers for a second consecutive season is more than enough to be a marquee matchup, but beyond Luka versus Wemby, the Spurs now boast a vastly improved team who should no longer be an easy win for Dallas.
The league is better when the matchup between the Spurs and Mavs are competitive, and the duel between Luka and Wemby will fuel the rivalry once again for years to come. After bullying the Spurs in Wembanyama’s first season, Doncic and gang will be trying to stifle his ascent for at least another year.
Doncic’s seventh season debut will indeed arrive on opening night after skipping the preseason in favor of rest, and his rim attack will immediately be challenged by Wembanyama’s block party.
Will big offseason addition and third scoring threat Klay Thompson come out shooting to pressure the defense off Doncic and Kyrie Irving? Post-injury Thompson has averaged 9.6 three-attempts per game since 2021, was a near 22-point scorer as recently as 2023, and will have the green light to snipe at will.
All-World guard duo Irving and Doncic may look to feed their new running mate Thompson and establish the four-time champ early as they test the SA defense. Opening night will be a great barometer to see if Doncic’s assists are elevated with more threats on offense.
One matchup to watch on defense for Dallas will be the two-headed tandem of Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford at center assigned to fight off the Wemby effect. Wembanyama has at least four inches on both with a wingspan that has already made him an All-Defensive team member and 2024-25 block leader favorite. In addition to his defensive prowess, Wemby was San Antonio’s leading scorer at age 19 last season in a shallower rotation and is likely due for a step forward on that end of the court as well.
In preparation for Wembanyama’s sophomore campaign, the Spurs upgraded their roster around their franchise star over the summer, first by selecting UConn standout Stephon Castle No. 4 overall as their point guard of the future, then by acquiring Chris Paul to ward the offense until Castle takes over.
The Spurs were in dire need of a floor general, ranking 28th in turnovers for 2023-2024. They could have done worse than bringing in Paul for his age 39 season, as the likely future Hall of Famer still averaged 9.2 assists per game in his 19th year in the league last season in his lone year with the Golden State Warriors.
Paul is running out of teams to hitch onto in an attempt to earn his first title, but joins a young core looking to improve on a 60-loss season. NBA Champion and former Maverick Harrison Barnes is also returning to the Lone Star State as well, now donning the silver & black after a run in Sacramento.
The added veterans and Castle will pair with Wembanyama, shooting guard Devin Vassell, former top ten pick Jeremy Sochan, and swingman Keldon Johnson as they look to leave the conference cellar.
All of the new parts may bode well for the Spurs by season’s end, as they aim to get back in playoff contention during Wembanyama’s second season, but Dallas would be more than happy to continue being a roadblock for Gregg Popovich’s squad as their expectations remain loftier.
Do you think the Mavericks will start the season with a win over San Antonio? Share your predictions with Irvin on X (formerly Twitter) @Twittirv.
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