Mavericks wing depth should feel like a luxury. Instead, heading toward Dusty May’s first training camp, it looks like a traffic jam around the most important player in the building. Cooper Flagg is coming off a Rookie of the Year season, Zaccharie Risacher has arrived as another former No. 1 pick, Naji Marshall just earned a contract extension, and Max Christie has played his way into a larger role. Klay Thompson and Caleb Martin still bring veteran value, while Tarik Biberović adds another 6-foot-7 shooter.
That is a lot of talent fighting for the same strip of hardwood.
The question is no longer whether Dallas has enough wings. It is whether May can turn overlapping skill sets into a rotation that makes Flagg harder to guard. When defenses load up on the 19-year-old, somebody must punish the rotation with a corner three. Also when a quick guard turns the corner, somebody must flatten the drive. When Dallas needs a second creator, three players cannot crowd the same job.
Camp has to sort that out fast.
The Finals team disappeared faster than anyone expected
Only two years ago, Dallas walked into the 2024 NBA Finals with Luka Dončić controlling nearly every possession that mattered. The franchise has since changed stars, coaches and direction at dizzying speed.
Dallas traded Dončić to the Lakers for a package headlined by Anthony Davis in February 2025. A month later, Kyrie Irving tore the ACL in his left knee and underwent reconstructive surgery. Irving missed the entire 2025-26 season, while Davis battled injuries and appeared in only 20 games that year before Dallas dealt him to Washington at the February 2026 deadline. The Mavericks finished 26-56 amid that instability, then parted ways with Jason Kidd in May.
Then Flagg gave the franchise a center of gravity.
He averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists as a rookie. Mavericks season data also shows he became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to lead his team in total points, rebounds, assists and steals. That season turned a messy transition year into something more valuable: a clear direction.
May now inherits it after leading Michigan to the 2026 national championship and jumping directly from college basketball to the NBA. His first major challenge is not finding more talent. It is deciding which wings actually make Flagg better.
Mavericks wing depth has size but not enough separation
Look at the measurements.
Flagg stands 6-foot-9. Risacher checks in at 6-foot-8. Marshall is 6-foot-6. Biberović is 6-foot-7. Christie gives Dallas another 6-foot-5 perimeter body, while P.J. Washington can slide between forward spots.
Dallas already has length across several positions, but what it needs are cleaner job descriptions.
A secondary handler cannot need the same touches as Flagg. A shooter cannot drift into the same driving lane Marshall wants to attack. A defensive specialist has to take the nastiest perimeter matchup so Dallas does not burn Flagg’s legs chasing small guards.
That is where Mavericks wing depth can become a weapon instead of a weekly argument over minutes. Forget the position labels for a second. Watch what happens when Flagg catches at the elbow, turns his shoulders and forces the weak-side defender to choose. Dallas needs wings who make the wrong choice hurt immediately.
Sorting the young core starts with Flagg
Everything should begin with Flagg.
Dallas does not need to turn every possession into a one-man show. It does need lineups that make double teams expensive, and Max Christie may offer the cleanest fit.
Christie played a team-high 77 games last season and averaged 12.3 points, according to Mavericks team data. More important, his game does not require Dallas to stop the offense and hand him the keys.
Picture Flagg driving left from the top. The low man drops toward the restricted area. Christie slides from the wing to the corner, sets his feet and gives Flagg a clean escape valve. That movement matters because Christie can also take difficult guard and wing assignments on the other end.
Defend, space, cut, make the next pass. That is a clean job description beside a young star.
Naji Marshall gives Dallas something different
He earned his new deal after averaging 15.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 74 games while shooting 51 percent. Dallas extended him on August 2.
His value lives in messy possessions. Marshall can muscle through a gap, keep his dribble alive after the first action dies and get to the paint without a perfect set. Dallas needs that, but it does not need Marshall spending long stretches as a substitute point guard because Irving remains on the road back from ACL reconstruction.
Irving missed all of last season after his March 2025 surgery. Marshall needs the ball in his hands, but he should not monopolize the offense. Let Flagg bend the first defender. Let Irving organize possessions when healthy. Then let Marshall attack a defense that is already moving.
That version of Mavericks wing depth makes much more sense, while Zaccharie Risacher creates the most interesting camp decision.
Dallas acquired the former No. 1 pick in July as part of the three-team deal that sent Lu Dort to Atlanta. He averaged 11.1 points and 3.7 rebounds last season while shooting about 36 percent from three.
Those numbers do not guarantee 30 minutes, but they do justify a real developmental window. Keep the early assignment simple: sprint the floor, defend with length, shoot the open three and cut behind defenders staring at Flagg.
If Risacher earns more, expand the role. If he does not, Dallas learns something before the games start counting.
Together, Christie, Marshall and Risacher give May three different ways to support Flagg. Christie can handle the low-maintenance work. Marshall can rescue broken possessions. Risacher can stretch the floor and grow into something larger.
That distinction matters because Dallas cannot develop all three properly while protecting every veteran’s previous workload. If Flagg owns the offense, Christie has earned dependable minutes, Marshall has a defined creation role and Risacher needs room to develop, somebody further down the wing pecking order has to give something up.
The developmental question quickly becomes a roster question.
Consolidating the veterans can give the rotation oxygen
Klay Thompson still carries real gravity. NBA tracking data shows he averaged 11.7 points last season and hit 38.3 percent of his threes on 7.6 attempts per game. Even at 36, defenders still react to his release.
Yet every Thompson minute competes with Christie, Risacher and Biberović. Caleb Martin runs into the same traffic. Marshall has already been paid, while Flagg owns the franchise’s future. Dallas cannot promise everybody a satisfying slice.
A veteran trade only makes sense if it brings back a skill May cannot find elsewhere. The clearest need would be a true point-of-attack defender: a low-usage, screen-fighting guard in the Alex Caruso mold, someone strong enough to absorb contact, quick enough to stay attached over picks and disciplined enough to chase the opponent’s best perimeter scorer without demanding touches.
That solves something real. Another scorer who wants the ball simply moves the traffic jam.
Mavericks wing depth improves when each rotation spot has a purpose. If Thompson stays, weaponize his shooting gravity. And if Martin remains, lean on his defense. If Biberović earns minutes, let him stretch second units.
Dallas does not need to erase its veterans. It needs to stop asking five wings to audition for the same job.
Shooting has to survive any cleanup
Dallas cannot treat consolidation as simple subtraction because moving the wrong veteran could turn a crowded rotation into a cramped offense overnight.
Thompson still bends coverage without touching the ball. Biberović arrives with a reputation as a high-level shooter, while Santi Aldama gives May another frontcourt player who can drag a defender away from the lane. Dallas acquired Aldama, Biberović’s rights and Marcus Sasser in July.
Those additions give the Mavericks flexibility, not permission to ignore spacing.
Flagg will see more loaded defenses in Year 2. Opponents now have a full season of film, and the easiest way to squeeze his drives is to ignore a shaky shooter and park another body near the elbows. May cannot let that happen.
Dallas must pair enough shooting with enough secondary playmaking to prevent late-clock desperation. The best five may not be the five biggest names. They will be the five players whose skills stop stepping on each other.
Mavericks wing depth needs a hierarchy before opening night
Training camp will answer three questions quickly.
Can Risacher seize a meaningful role? Can Christie handle tougher defensive assignments without losing his offensive value? And can Marshall create enough offense to help Flagg without pulling possessions away from him?
May should give those questions real minutes.
Flagg sits at the center. Christie and Marshall have earned trust. Risacher needs developmental runway. Irving, once fully back from ACL reconstruction, changes the ball-handling equation again. After that, the veterans and specialists have to fit around the core rather than block it.
That approach may require an uncomfortable trade. So be it.
The Mavericks have lived through enough upheaval since the 2024 Finals to know the difference between change and progress. Moving Dončić changed everything. Losing Irving for a season changed it again. Trading Davis formally pushed Dallas toward Flagg’s timeline. Hiring May completed the reset.
Now the basketball decisions can finally get smaller.
Mavericks wing depth does not need another headline name. It needs a rotation where Christie knows why he is in the corner, Marshall knows when to attack, Risacher knows what earns him another shift and the veterans know exactly what Dallas expects from them.
That is how a crowded wing room becomes useful.
When Flagg draws two defenders in October, the Mavericks should already know which four teammates make the defense regret it.
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FAQs
Why is Mavericks wing depth a concern before training camp?
Dallas has plenty of wing talent, but several players need similar minutes and responsibilities. Dusty May must give the rotation clearer roles.
Who fits best next to Cooper Flagg?
Max Christie offers a clean fit because he can defend, space the floor and play without dominating the ball. Naji Marshall adds secondary creation.
What role could Zaccharie Risacher have with the Mavericks?
Dallas can use Risacher as a long defender, cutter and floor spacer while giving the 21-year-old room to develop into a larger role.
Why did Kyrie Irving miss the 2025-26 season?
Irving spent the season recovering from ACL reconstruction after injuring his left knee in March 2025.
Could the Mavericks trade one of their veteran wings?
They could. The article argues that a trade makes sense if Dallas adds a distinct skill without sacrificing too much shooting or spacing.
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