When Cooper Flagg grabs a defensive rebound this October, Dallas does not want him looking toward the sideline for instructions. The Mavericks want him gone. Three dribbles. Head up. Defenders backpedaling. Sneakers squealing as everybody races toward the other rim.
Pace control will define what happens next.
Dallas spent last season running as fast as almost anybody and going almost nowhere. The Mavericks played at a 101.7 pace, fourth in the NBA, yet finished 26-56 with the league’s 27th-ranked offensive rating at 111.2. Speed produced more possessions. It did not produce enough good ones.
There were reasons for the collapse. Kyrie Irving missed the entire season while recovering from ACL reconstruction, leaving a young team without its best late-clock organizer. Flagg carried an enormous creation burden as a teenager. Meanwhile, the franchise itself went through a reset. Jason Kidd departed in May, Mike Schmitz took over as general manager, and Dallas hired Dusty May in June.
May inherited a roster built to run.
His harder job is teaching it when not to.
Last year’s pace hid the real problem
Dallas did not need a stopwatch to diagnose last season.
The Mavericks averaged 114.1 points per game, 23rd in the NBA, despite playing at one of the league’s fastest tempos. Their 116.5 defensive rating also ranked only 20th. Put those numbers together and the problem looks less like pace and more like possession quality.
They could get down the floor.
Too often, they arrived without an advantage.
Playing fast has to mean more than taking a difficult shot five seconds earlier. A good early possession might force a slow-footed center to pick up Flagg 25 feet from the rim. Another could free Santi Aldama as the trailing shooter while Dereck Lively II drags a rim protector toward the basket.
However, a rushed drive into three bodies accomplishes nothing.
The distinction gets harsher when legs grow heavy. By the fourth quarter, sprinting repeatedly without creating clean looks becomes expensive. Players stand after misses. Closeouts shorten. Transition defense suffers.
Pace control gives those sprints a purpose.
May’s college record suggests he understands the difference between speed and reckless speed. His final Florida Atlantic team played at 68.3 adjusted possessions per 40 minutes, 133rd nationally. He accelerated after arriving at Michigan.
The Wolverines finished 54th in adjusted tempo during his first season. One year later, they climbed to 71.0 possessions per 40 minutes and 22nd nationally during their 2025-26 championship run.
That progression matters more than a slogan.
May did not arrive at every stop demanding the same speed regardless of personnel. He pushed harder once he had a roster capable of surviving that pace. Dallas now gives him Flagg, Irving, length on the wings and multiple big men who can move.
Cooper Flagg can turn rebounds into instant pressure
Flagg already showed why the idea makes sense.
The reigning Rookie of the Year averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals across 70 games. He also led Dallas in total points, rebounds, assists and steals, joining Michael Jordan as the only rookies to accomplish that four-category sweep.
Those rebounds matter here.
A traditional forward secures the ball and searches for a guard. Flagg can simply leave.
Suddenly, a defensive possession becomes an offensive attack before Dallas makes a pass. A retreating center might have to stop Flagg above the foul line. The weak-side defender then faces a miserable choice: pinch toward the ball or stay glued to a shooter.
That first burst comes naturally.
The second decision will determine whether Flagg becomes a true offensive organizer.
Flagg must learn the value of the brake
Suppose Flagg takes the rebound, pushes through the middle and finds three defenders waiting inside the arc.
Last season, youth sometimes encouraged the obvious move: keep attacking.
This year, the better choice might involve stopping.
Pull the ball out. Hit Irving. Let Lively arrive for a screen. Force the defense, already scrambled from retreating, to guard another action without getting a chance to breathe.
Those split-second choices will reveal whether Dallas plays fast or merely rushes.
May plans to use Flagg across the floor rather than locking him into one role. That freedom should create possessions where Flagg handles, screens, cuts and attacks mismatches instead of functioning as a conventional wing.
Because of this, pace control cannot sit entirely with the point guard.
Flagg must own some of it himself.
Better defense can unlock the speed May wants
Before Dallas worries about running, it has to earn the chance.
Nothing fuels transition like a clean defensive rebound. Turnovers work even better. Missed free throws, deflections and long rebounds can crack open the floor before an opponent sets its shell.
Last season’s 116.5 defensive rating did not give Dallas enough control.
Now consider the length May can throw onto the court.
Flagg stands 6-foot-9. Zaccharie Risacher gives Dallas another long wing. P.J. Washington can defend multiple positions. Lively supplies vertical size behind them when healthy.
That size can create the stops May’s offense needs.
Dallas does not have to gamble for steals. A hard contest followed by a Flagg rebound can work just as well. Once the ball reaches his hands, the other four players should already understand their jobs.
Aldama trails.
Lively sprints down the middle.
Risacher flies toward the corner.
Flagg drives directly at the first defender willing to stop the ball.
Now Dallas has three threats pulling the defense in different directions.
Pace control begins with those details, not with the shot clock.
Kyrie Irving changes everything after the first rush
Eventually, the easy lane closes.
That is where Kyrie Irving becomes essential.
Irving underwent ACL reconstruction in March 2025 and missed the entire 2025-26 season. Dallas formally shut down his comeback attempt in February so he could continue rehabilitating for 2026-27. The organization now views his return as one of its biggest upgrades for the coming season.
At 34, Dallas should not ask Irving to win track meets for 82 games.
It should ask him to control them.
With Irving back, the Mavericks finally have a steady hand for possessions that survive the opening burst. He can receive the ball after Flagg’s first attack, call Lively into a screen and make a defense work for another 15 seconds.
That role could preserve Irving, too.
Instead of pounding the ball up the floor every trip, he can allow Flagg or Naji Marshall to initiate early offense. Irving then attacks a defense that has already shifted.
Just beyond the arc, one late switch might leave a center stranded against him.
That is a far better target than asking Irving to create every advantage from scratch.
May has already shown how far he will push tempo
The clearest clue about Dallas’ new offense may come from a November conversation May had while coaching Michigan.
Turnovers had become a concern. The easy response would have been to slow everything down.
May resisted it.
He pointed out that Michigan had played games with roughly 85 and 87 possessions, arguing that higher possession totals naturally changed how raw turnover numbers should be judged. His Wolverines wanted to play faster than the year before, not hide from mistakes by draining the clock.
That philosophy fits Dallas almost perfectly.
May wants speed, but his Michigan teams did not simply race toward the first available shot. The 2025-26 Wolverines paired their 71.0 adjusted tempo with elite efficiency and a national championship.
They finished fourth in adjusted offensive efficiency and first defensively in KenPom’s final numbers.
That combination should interest Mavericks fans far more than a top-five pace target.
Anybody can manufacture possessions.
Good teams manufacture pressure.
May wants defenders making decisions before they feel comfortable. Sometimes that means a Flagg rebound turning into a layup six seconds later. Other times, it means entering the offense early enough to run two or three actions before the shot clock becomes an enemy.
Dallas president Masai Ujiri highlighted size, pace, speed and toughness when describing the way May’s college teams played. Those traits helped drive the decision to bring him from Michigan to the NBA.
Now May has to reproduce that formula against bigger bodies, longer schedules and defenses that scout every tendency.
The philosophy is clear.
The next question is whether his lineups can actually support it.
Playing fast requires more than quick guards and willing runners. Dallas needs enough shooting to clear Flagg’s driving lanes, enough ball handling to keep possessions moving after the first attack, and enough mobility from its big men to avoid turning transition into a traffic jam.
That puts May’s rotation choices at the center of the entire experiment.
The lineup around Flagg and Irving has to breathe
A transition attack can die before it really begins when three players arrive at the same patch of floor.
Flagg may beat his man across half court, but a packed lane erases that advantage before he reaches the foul line. May’s college teams could push tempo because their spacing gave each possession somewhere to go.
Dallas must create the same freedom around Flagg and Irving.
Imagine Irving with Max Christie, Flagg, Washington and Lively. Four players can handle, pass or attack a closeout while Lively dives toward the rim.
Another group could replace Lively with Aldama when Dallas wants five players pulling defenders away from the paint.
The revamped roster gives May options. Dallas can use Irving as the primary organizer or place another ball handler beside him while Flagg attacks from the wing.
On the other hand, size can still clog the floor.
Put two reluctant shooters beside Lively and Flagg will see extra bodies waiting at the nail. Surround him with enough shooting, and those same help defenders suddenly face a much longer trip.
Fans will notice the difference immediately.
One alignment gives Flagg an open runway.
The other leaves him shoulder-first into traffic.
That is pace control at the lineup level.
Lively’s sprint can matter without a touch
Traditional big men usually sprint straight to the rim in transition, but catching the ball is not always the goal.
Lively can create offense without touching it.
If he beats his defender down the floor, the opposing low man must decide whether to protect the rim. One step toward Lively can open the corner. Another might clear a driving lane for Flagg.
Aldama creates a different problem.
Instead of diving immediately, the seven-footer can trail toward the three-point line. Now the opposing center has to choose between protecting the paint and respecting a shooter behind the play.
Those choices create space.
Dallas needs both versions.
When the Mavericks rush, five players can end up chasing the same advantage. When they control their pace, each runner pulls a defender somewhere useful.
Opponents will test Dallas once the easy points disappear
October gives young teams room to run.
April squeezes everything.
Scouting reports become sharper. Opponents know which hand a player wants. Coaches call the same action three straight times when they find a weak link.
Dallas will face those tests quickly if it starts winning.
Teams can drag Lively into repeated high pick-and-rolls, forcing him to defend in space before he can protect the rim. Others may load an extra defender toward Flagg as soon as he attacks the middle.
Some opponents will trap Flagg near half court after made baskets and force somebody else to initiate.
After misses, teams may send extra bodies toward the offensive glass just to prevent Dallas from releasing early.
The Mavericks cannot answer every adjustment by playing faster.
Sometimes May will need Irving and Flagg to hunt a switch for 15 seconds. Other possessions might require Flagg to screen for Irving, then roll into a smaller defender before the double-team arrives.
Despite the pressure, Dallas still has to preserve its attacking mentality.
Slow does not have to mean stagnant.
A controlled half-court possession can feature hard cuts, bruising screens and defenders chasing bodies through two or three actions. Lively may sprint the length of the court without touching the ball and still create the opening that wins the possession.
The sweat does not disappear when transition does.
Pace control simply changes where Dallas applies the pressure.
Dusty May’s biggest challenge sits between fast and frantic
May enters the NBA with considerable authority after going 64-13 across two seasons at Michigan and winning the 2026 national championship.
He also enters a franchise that changed dramatically within months.
Kidd is gone. Schmitz now runs the front office under Ujiri. Flagg has become the centerpiece. Irving returns as the veteran counterweight.
May cannot waste that combination by treating pace as a race.
Fast teams can exhaust opponents.
Frantic teams exhaust themselves.
Dallas should want Flagg ripping down rebounds and attacking before centers turn around. It should want Risacher filling a wing and Lively pounding toward the rim. Irving should receive the ball while defenders still point at each other and search for matchups.
However, the possession cannot die when that first attack fails.
The second phase will define May’s offense.
One pass into Irving can reset the floor. A quick Flagg screen can force a switch. Aldama can pull a big away from the paint. Lively can screen again before his defender gets comfortable.
No wasted dribbles.
No five-second panic attack.
Just another problem for the defense.
The Mavericks must know when to hit the gas
The loudest Dallas possessions next season will probably come in transition.
Flagg will grab a rebound, explode through an opening and bring the crowd to its feet before the defense understands what happened.
The most important possessions may look quieter.
Perhaps Flagg crosses half court, sees the lane disappear and pulls the ball back. Irving takes over. Lively arrives dripping sweat after another rim run. Two defenders communicate a switch while Washington slides toward the corner.
Then Dallas attacks again.
That sequence represents the next step.
Pace control should let the Mavericks play at several speeds without losing aggression. Flagg supplies the force. Irving supplies patience. May has to connect them with spacing, defense and enough passing to keep the ball alive after the first opening disappears.
His college numbers offer a useful blueprint.
May took Michigan from 54th nationally in adjusted tempo in Year 1 to 22nd at 71.0 possessions per 40 minutes in Year 2. More importantly, the Wolverines did not sacrifice control to get there.
They became national champions.
That is the challenge waiting in Dallas.
Last year’s 101.7 pace looked impressive until the 26-56 record appeared beside it.
This season, the number itself matters far less.
Dallas could play slightly slower and become dramatically more dangerous. It could remain among the NBA’s fastest teams if those possessions produce cleaner shots, fewer desperate drives and better floor balance.
The Mavericks have already proved they can run.
Now May has to teach them something harder.
They need to know exactly when to stop.
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FAQs
Why is pace control important for the Mavericks in 2026-27?
Dallas already played fast last season. Better pace control could help the Mavericks turn that speed into cleaner shots and more efficient possessions.
How fast did the Mavericks play in 2025-26?
Dallas posted a 101.7 pace, fourth-fastest in the NBA. The Mavericks still finished 26-56 with a 111.2 offensive rating.
What role will Cooper Flagg have in the Mavericks’ offense?
Flagg can grab rebounds and immediately push the ball himself. Dallas also needs him to recognize when to slow down and start another action.
How can Kyrie Irving help Dallas control the pace?
Irving gives Dallas an experienced organizer after the initial fast break disappears. His ball handling can create quality offense against a set defense.
How fast did Dusty May’s Michigan team play?
Michigan reached 71.0 adjusted possessions per 40 minutes, ranking 22nd nationally in 2025-26. The Wolverines paired that tempo with a national championship.
Tracking stats and settling debates. If there is a scoreboard, I am watching it.
