D Magazine presents StrongSide

avonte Williams is back with the Dallas Cowboys on a three-year deal. The total outlay: $24 million, $16 million of which is guaranteed. It's far less money than Pie was planning on paying him and kind of proves Machine right that his market was nowhere close to the 10M a year range. I think the NBA heard us on tanking. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the league will put anti-tanking measu...

The NFL combine is underway. I know the NFL wants us to care about this a whole lot–it’s now a full week. And there will undoubtedly be useful information to come out of this. But how much substance is there relative to the sizzle? How much should we really care? Sebastian Walcott, the Rangers top prospect, needs elbow surgery. The good news is he’s not a pitcher–this should all be fine in a year....

File “Mark Cuban may or may not want to re-purchase the Mavericks” under things I did not expect to read this week. But according to Marc Stein, “an unidentified Dallas investor group is interested in partnering with Mark Cuban to buy the Mavericks back from Patrick Dumont.” Is this a real possibility and is it a good idea? Hey, did you know the Super Bowl was Sunday? Real thing that happened. Sup...

Well it finally happened, the Mavericks have closed the circle on the Luka Doncic trade by trading Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards. What we assumed to be a pure salary dump a few weeks ago actually turns out to be rather profitable. We give the Mavs front office their flowers and take a deep breath as we exit the most tumultuous year in the history of Dallas sports. We also take time to re...

If you caught our emergency pods on Friday, then you know our feelings about Christian Parker, the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator. Short version: we like it, and he’s going to take this defense out of the stone age. But you said something very interesting that I want to unpack more as we spin this thing forward. Machine said you know exactly what positions the Cowboys are going to draft with t...

If you have followed the Rangers’ offseason, you understand how reasonable this assumption was. Things began boldly enough, on Thanksgiving week, when the Texas swapped club stalwart Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo in a trade after my own heart. Past that, it was a lot of a little—tweaks here, touch-ups there. As Zach Crizer pointed out last month, none of these moves were bad, per se. Danny Janse...

The Cowboys held a legitimate search for their open defensive coordinator position and came to the conclusion that Eagles pass game coordinator Christian Parker was the best man for the job. Parker comes from the Vic Fangio coaching tree so what does that mean for the style of defense that the Cowboys could be rolling with this season?

On Saturday night, Luka Doncic returns to Dallas for a second time. I was still a Mavericks employee the first time he made it back. Now I'm not. What was that first return like, and how are the feelings different now versus a year ago?  The college football season is over and Indiana is your national champion. Their 2026 non-conference schedule includes the Mean Green, so get ready to learn N...

Last week, we chatted quite a bit about the Cowboys defensive coordinator search. I even went so far as to give a whole tiered list for what I’d like them to be looking at. Well, Dallas has been pretty busy since then. Here’s the list of names who have gotten interviews already: Jim Leonhard, Daronte Jones, Ephraim Banda, Aaron Whitecotton, Jonathan Gannon, and my guy Zach Orr. And it keeps growin...

The 2025-26 Cowboys season is in the books. Dallas finishes the season 7-9-1 and faces a pretty pivotal offseason with George Pickens heading into free agency, two first-round draft picks on hand, and presumably an opening at defensive coordinator. What moments will stick with you? What are the off-season priorities? Who is at the top of your defensive coordinator wish list? Anthony Davis is still...

I didn’t expect to be talking about a December game involving the Mavericks and the Utah Jazz, but then again, I also didn’t expect Cooper Flagg to set an NBA record for most points scored by an 18-year-old in a single game. He dropped 42 on Monday, along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and I think we can safely call this the first special Cooper Flagg game. The Dallas Cowboys, whose season is effe...

Tom Hicks, former owner of both the Stars and the Rangers, died over the weekend at the age of 79. Dude has a serious legacy around here. What comes to mind when you hear his name? The Cowboys lost a very big game we figured they’d win against the Lions. The playoff scenario is straightforward: Dallas needs to win out and Philly needs to drop two for the Cowboys to make the playoffs. But the disco...

The last time we spoke, the Cowboys were about to play the Eagles and we were… quasi-optimistic? Well, they won. And then they beat Patrick Mahomes on Thanksgiving to maybe, possibly end the Chiefs’ dynasty. And now they play the Lions tonight and if they win… I mean, it’s not hopeless. How you feeling heading into tonight, and why do they look so different? You know what else happened since we la...

The Cowboys delivered the perfect kind of Cowboy game against the Raiders on Monday night. There were emotions, fireworks, tears, and hope. Does the strong performance by George Pickens and the crew change anyone's expectations of them heading into a showdown with the Eagles? What will the legacy of Anthony Davis the Dallas Maverick be? Does Jamie Benn have anything left to give the Dallas Sta...

Mavs fans have won. It felt inevitable but also like it wasn't a possibility, the Mavs have fired GM Nico Harrison. This show is not a victory lap over his dismissal but more of an examination of how we never get back to here again. It's an admission of failure not only on the basketball court but also in the decision making and in allowing one man's power struggle to cripple a franchi...

The Cowboys decision to trade for Quinnen Williams was a decision to admit defeat on the drafting of Mazi Smith, the re-signing of Osa Odighizuwa, and the trade to acquire Kenny Clark. It also creates a contract crossroads in the next 18 months in which you've already committed to signing Quinnen Williams.

The Cowboys made a couple trades to solidify the defense that was recently depleted....from a trade. StrongSide discuss the hidden costs of acquiring Quinnen Williams and the sudden immediacy from Jerry Jones to push the envelop. The Mavs have started the season about as poorly as anybody could have imagined. At least the guy they traded away isn't setting the league on fire...oh wait. Is this the...

The Mavs and Stars are entangled in a messy legal battle over the future of the AAC. The result will most likely determine if any of the 4 major sports will exist in Dallas past the year 2031. The Mavs seem to have all of the leverage and the Stars seem to be willing to move on from this situation and dealing with the city. This will get much worse before it gets better.

The Mavs and Stars are engaged in a messy legal battle over the future of the AAC but it seems like the city has already picked sides. Where do they do from here? Will either team be calling Dallas home in the near future? Mark Aguirre will finally be getting his number retired this season after what feels like a lifetime of uncertainty. Paige Bueckers has a new head coach. Will the Wings find som...

It's here! The official launch of StrongSide! It'll be hard to beat Episode 1 but we're up for the task. Dirk Nowitzki joins us in-studio to discuss Cooper Flagg, broadcasting life, Outkast and so much more. We also discuss if the Cowboys are just gross enough to compete in a gross NFC East, what's going on with Trevon Diggs, and how to feel about the Mavs season tipping off. Subsc...