Five Things To Watch As Dallas Mavericks Open Las Vegas Summer League

Dusty May took over as Dallas’ head coach this offseason, and Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz have been building the front office around him. None of that shows up on tape until Thursday, when the Mavericks open Summer League play against the Golden State Warriors at 6 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

It’s the first extended look at how May wants the Mavericks to play, and the first game action for the rookie class that will help shape the roster around Cooper Flagg, led by No. 9 overall pick Morez Johnson Jr. How Johnson, Sergio De Larrea, and Tobi Lawal handle the jump offers an early read on how the new leadership group is building its program.

Morez Johnson Jr.’s Michigan Ties Give Him A Head Start

Johnson played for May at Michigan, helping the Wolverines win the NCAA title in April. His history influences his talk about his rookie transition.

“I think I’m NBA ready. I think I can impact the game,” Johnson said after the Mavericks’ first summer league practice at American Airlines Center.

Familiarity with May matters more for Johnson than a typical draft pick. Unlike most rookies who learn in Summer League, Johnson helps teach during practice, using his experience of 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds last season, and Big Ten All-Defensive honors.

“I think I do have an advantage compared to other guys that’s just getting here this week, because I’m very familiar with it, I know what it is and I know what (May) wants out of it,” Johnson said. “(I’m) just getting a feel for all my teammates, the people I’m playing with in the summer league and helping them learn the concepts that Dusty’s putting in and helping those guys and make it easy for them. I’m not overwhelmed at all. It’s pretty simple. (May) just wants us to make reads and react off each other.”

That’s not just rookie confidence. That familiarity also gives Johnson an opportunity to reinforce the concepts May is emphasizing while many of his teammates are still learning them, and his defensive motor gives him a path to minutes that doesn’t hinge on his jumper.

Sergio De Larrea Brings A Résumé Most Rookies Don’t Have

Johnson isn’t the only newcomer further along than his draft slot suggests. Sergio De Larrea was closing out a Spanish League championship series against FC Barcelona two weeks before his first Mavericks practice, averaging 9.7 points and 3.7 rebounds along the way.

“It was a great experience,” De Larrea said. “At the end we won the championship, so we’re very excited and very happy about that. The thing that we had was we were together and that was the reason we won the championship. It was a great achievement. Now it’s on to the next chapter here, and I have to be the same way, and have the same focus.”

His path involved two draft-night trades: from the Lakers at 25th overall to the Knicks, then to the Mavericks, who signed him last Friday to a standard rookie contract instead of stashing him overseas.

The bigger question with De Larrea isn’t whether he can handle pressure, but if his vision and feel that made him effective in Spain translate to longer, faster NBA defenders.

“Sergio’s got great energy,” Joe Boylan said. “When you see him, he’s got this infectious smile, a lot of positivity on the court, a really high IQ player, can handle it, can pass. He’s probably thrown five alley-oops in practice so far. He’s got a great chemistry with these guys we have.”

Boylan’s comments suggest De Larrea’s passing instincts translated immediately, highlighting a common obstacle for international guards adapting to NBA spacing and athleticism.

John Poulakidas Is Building The Case For A Bigger Role

Not all Las Vegas players seek a first look. John Poulakidas, who averaged 8.8 points and 2.3 rebounds over 13 games last season, aims to prove his performance wasn’t a fluke this summer.

“It’s a different league between the G League and the NBA as far as physicality and strength,” Poulakidas said. “So for me, (I stressed) putting on size, making sure I’m able to stay in front of guys and guard multiple positions. Offensively, I think this organization knows what it’s going to get out of me on the offensive end. For me, it’s just holding my head on the defensive side and showing I can guard multiple positions.”

His offseason emphasis on strength over his jumper indicates shooting isn’t the main issue. The real challenge to consistent minutes was surviving matchups physically, which is easier to fix than shooting touch.

“I don’t have a great reference point, but he looks like a grown man out there,” Boylan said. “I didn’t have any preconceived notions of what he could or couldn’t do. I try to take these players and look at them as blank canvases. … I’ve been pleasantly surprised with what he’s shown, not just as a shooter, but as a basketball player. He’s been really good.”

New staff evaluating him without last year’s baggage gives him a cleaner look, and it’s working in his favor so far.

Tobi Lawal’s Tools Fit What Dallas Wants To Develop

Where Poulakidas represents incremental development, Tobi Lawal represents upside the Mavericks are still figuring out how to use. Dallas took the Virginia Tech forward 48th overall, and his 45.5-inch vertical tied for the second-highest mark in combine history.

“Not only his athleticism, but his personality,” Boylan said. “He’s very vocal, he’s really supportive of his teammates (and) he’s a super hard worker. You get a player like that, especially somebody like me that loves development, it really makes you excited, because he’s going to exhaust every possible option to make himself a player. And that’s exactly the kind of guy you want to have in the gym.”

Lawal is a high-upside developmental bet in Dallas. His elite athletic traits are NBA-caliber, but his basketball experience is limited, having started the sport at age 16.

“I don’t know if there are many people in the league right now as it currently stands that can out-jump that dude,” Poulakidas said. “He’s a freak of nature for sure.”

The roster cost is minimal on a two-way contract, so Dallas is comfortable with Lawal outpacing his production for now. Lawal averaged 12.3 points and 8.5 rebounds last season at Virginia Tech and signed his two-way deal last Friday.

The Culture Dusty May Is Building In Dallas

Individually, these players are competing for opportunities. Collectively, they’re helping establish the culture and system May wants.

“There’s been a lot of us here pretty much the entire offseason in the weightroom, on the court with our new coaching staff, working hard and trying to build that cohesiveness,” Poulakidas said. “Obviously, it was a great opportunity for me at the end of the year and I’m just trying to build on it with showing how hard I’m willing to work.”

More than half of Dallas’ 13 summer players come from outside the United States, three from Spain and one each from Nigeria, England, Russia and Canada, several meeting for the first time this offseason. It’s the clearest on-court evidence yet of how international the roster has become under the new front office.

That cohesion followed a period when the organization’s direction was an open question.

“They get after it,” Poulakidas said. “Everyone’s been getting after it. It’s been kind of a breath of fresh air. Obviously, there was a little bit of uncertainty for a few weeks there, not knowing what direction the front office was going to go in. But I’m super-excited and super happy with their decision with coach May and the guys he’s brought in, because everybody’s been getting after it and it’s been a lot of fun to be on the court with everybody.”

Poulakidas describes a locker room initially uncertain who would lead before Ujiri, Schmitz, and May arrived, with a mostly new roster quickly finding a rhythm. This shows a staff prioritizing identity early over easing newcomers in.

Whether that identity holds once games start is uncertain. Thursday offers no definitive answers, but Johnson’s knowledge of May, De Larrea’s experience, Poulakidas’ growth, and Lawal’s potential give early insight into Dallas’ plans to build around Flagg.