The Only Mavericks Podcast

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya cover the questions — it felt like it was about five, but honestly we weren’t counting — we have for what remains of the Dallas Mavericks’ regular season and the postseason that will (almost certainly) follow. We covered: the rotation; Lively’s postseason impact; which defensive matchups make sense for potential postseason opponent; and a few other topics.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya and Mike Piellucci talk about the new-look Mavericks after last week's trades for P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, and what it cost to acquire them.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer about the Dallas Mavericks’ outlook heading into the NBA trade deadline and the league’s perception of the Nico Harrison-led front office. Check out Jake’s book, Built to Lose: How the NBA’s Tanking Era Changed the League Forever.

Tim Cato talks to  Mavs.com ’s Bobby Karalla about what Dallas’ healthy starting five might be able to achieve when they FINALLY get on the court together, maybe as soon as this weekend. Then, we debate whether Luka Doncic’s 73 point game actually was bad and sucked like SOME folks have said.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya and Mike Piellucci chat about the Mavericks’ defeat to the Boston Celtics, what it represents in the grander scheme of the team’s roster construction, and Luka’s emotions still sometimes affecting him. Then, we briefly chat about rumored trade targets — and there’s really none we like enough that we believe Dallas should send out its one available first-round pick.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Mavericks beating the Pelicans in the harder game thanks to Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. combining for 83 points, and then discuss some broader themes from that game & the 5-2 homestand at large.

Tim Cato and Mike Piellucci record live from the American Airlines Center to discuss the Mavericks’ best and worst case scenarios as the team continues missing Dereck Lively II (and Dante Exum), and then think about what Pascal Siakam might look like in Dallas, even if it still seems a bit too soon to get your hopes up.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Dallas Mavericks’ most important question for the second half of the season: Is their best lineup one that hasn’t even played together? If so, how far can it take them? Email us at  theonlymaverickspod@gmail.com !

Tim Cato, Mike Piellucci and Austin Ngaruiya are back to talk about the Mavericks’ Christmas win against the Phoenix Suns, where that Luka game ranks within his career performances, and chat about some players trending up and down. Email us at  theonlymaverickspod@gmail.com !

Tim Cato talks to Nick Angstadt from the Locked On Mavs podcast about the team’s current vibes, what the team’s starting lineup and rotation will look like once they finally get healthy, and whether this is Luka Doncic’s best start yet to a season. Email us at  theonlymaverickspod@gmail.com !

Tim Cato talks to old friend Dave DuFour from The Athletic and 77 Minutes about how good Luka Doncic has been, what defenses opponents are using against him, and what we might see next. Dave literally had to gameplan against Doncic this summer in the FIBA World Cup, so he would know. Then they talk about the team’s improving defense and other observations Dave has had.

Tim Cato and Mike Piellucci talk through the team’s biggest recent news: Mark Cuban’s decision to sell the team and what it means, practically, for the coming years. Then we answer more questions that we solicited from Reddit about who’s tradeable and what we think of Luka’s play style.

Tim Cato, Mike Piellucci, and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Mavs’ split in Los Angeles, how good Kyrie Irving has been, and why Dallas has become so reliant on Dereck Lively II.

Tim Cato, Mike Piellucci, and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the team’s obvious defensive problems from their two losses to Milwaukee and Sacramento, which players share the most culpability for the struggles, and what might make it better.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about what might have been Luka's worst game ever, and why the Mavs have been good enough, with a deeper roster than ever before, that it doesn't really matter.

Welcome to the first episode of The Only Mavericks Podcast hosted by The Athletic's Tim Cato, D Magazine's Mike Piellucci, and Austin Ngaruiya. We have many, many plans for what this podcast could be, but it’s past time we relaunched in a new feed. In this episode, which was recorded Tuesday evening prior to the team’s loss to Toronto, we go around and discuss some of our early season obse...