The Only Mavericks Podcast

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya and Mike Piellucci dive into everything we've seen through the team's first two days of free agency, including Klay Thompson, how it shows the difference of this front office compared to the past regime, the strange (but not bad) Derrick Jones Jr. for Naji Marshall swap, Quentin Grimes optimism and caution, and everything else Dallas has done and could still do.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya and Mike Piellucci talk about the best moments and lessons learned from the Mavericks' Finals run that ended earlier this week.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about what's real from Game 4 and what might not be in Game 5: the rim protection, Dereck Lively II's reemergence, Kyrie Irving, the rotation, and Luka Doncic.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya, and Mike Piellucci talk about the Mavericks' 0-2 hole in the NBA Finals, what's led to them being here, and what things need to change — things that absolutely can — for Dallas to get back into this series.

Tim Cato talks to Locked On Mavs' Nick Angstadt about the Mavericks' Game 1 defeat in the NBA Finals, where we think the offense was much more of a problem than the defense. We discuss why Boston took away the lob dunk so effectively without conceding corner 3s and what rotation changes or other tweaks might be coming to change that in Game 2. We both ended up in a more optimistic place about Dallas' chances than we were immediately after Game 1. Want Tim's instant reactions? I'm recording after every game on The Athletic NBA Show feed with our Boston Celtics beat writers Jay King and Jared Weiss.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya and Dave DuFour tell you how the NBA Finals is about to go down. We break down both sides of the court, the Kristaps Porzingis questions, how the rotation might change, Theoretical Maxi Kleber and his potential importance, and what paths we see for Dallas to win this whole thing.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Mavericks' five-game series win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, what we learned, when we realized this team could be a finals contender, and how this journey has felt. We'll be back early next week with a full Finals preview.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya are rejoined by Mike Piellucci to talk about Dallas' Game 3, which truly felt like a win of destiny as the team overcame the absence of Dereck Lively II to win a game they had to win. They also talk about what it'll take to win Game 4.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk with The Onion's Ben Collins about Luka Doncic's stepback game-winner vs. Rudy Gobert and whether this series is over.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Mavericks winning Game 1, how they did it with just six made 3s, how historic it is, and why the Timberwolves should feel sick. They also talk about what could improve from Minnesota that Dallas must be aware of going forward.

Tim and Austin talk with Dave DuFour about what we expect to see from the Mavericks' offense against Minnesota, Dallas' defense vs. the Anthony Edwards-led attack, how both teams may end up using very shortened rotations as the series wears on, and how much fun Luka vs. Ant should be.

We (Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya) talk how Dallas beat the Thunder in six games to advance to the Western Conference Finals and what this series win taught us about this team and its future, which is awfully bright right now. Then we briefly touch on the upcoming matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Stay tuned for a full preview episode of that series coming Tuesday.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya record live from the American Airlines Center after a miserable defeat in Game 4. They discuss why it happened, what they've thought of the series so far, and what comes next.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Mavericks' semifinals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, covering Maxi Kleber's injury and how the rotations adjust, what advantage Dallas will see from its big men vs. a smaller Thunder rotation, and which players we're watching most closely to see how they look in this series.

Tim Cato talks with Locked On Mavercks' Nick Angstadt about the Mavericks' agonizing Game 4 loss and where the series goes from here. This is the first part of an hour-long discussion, with the other half posted on the Locked On Mavericks feed.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya break it all down: the missed opportunity in Game 1, the brilliant Game 2 win, Luka Doncic's defense and his mostly superb but slightly weird offensive execution so far, both him and the entire team's brilliant defending, the role players we think can be trusted for the series, where they work best (and why), and what our expectations are, optimistically and pessimitically, for the rest of what looks to be an all-time classic between two incredibly good basketball teams.

Tim Cato and new dad Mike Piellucci talk to The Athletic's Law Murray, who covers the L.A. Clippers, about the upcoming first round series and what to expect from it.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya look back at the Dallas Mavericks' regular season with The Athletic's Dave DuFour, sharing some of our favorite moments and which aspects of the year really snuck up on us. Then, we each share three big questions we have for the team's upcoming first-round series vs. the L.A. Clippers. We'll be back later this week with a full preview.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk to their old friend from The Athletic, Dave DuFour, about the surging Mavericks, what criteria really should matter for the MVP voting, and whether Luka Doncic can usurp Nikola Jokic. We agree they're the best two players in basketball this season, and that one of them deserves it. Will it, and should it, be Doncic?

With Dallas cruising toward a top-six seed, Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya rank which postseason opponents are most favorable and then draft rotation players by playoff importance.

Tim Cato talks to Mavs.com's Bobby Karalla about the Mavericks' new offense, its deliberate paint-pounding approach, how the center position might be the team's third-best “player”, the way that the team's Tuesday win against Sacramento showcased another way for the team to play, and what's needed for this defense to be good.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about whatever THAT impossible shot was from Kyrie Irving that gave Dallas its best win of the 2023-24 season, and more about what this win represents for the Mavericks' season.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya look forward to the Mavericks' next three games, ones where we can potentially learn a lot about whether Dallas has improved defending the corner 3 and five-out lineups, what the postseason rotation might look like, and what Dante Exum's effect on the team really is.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya, and Mike Piellucci talk deep on the team's most polarizing player, Tim Hardaway Jr., who is hurting Dallas. There's more nuance than the discourse has given him to the player he's been in Dallas and the actual mechanics of taking him out of the rotation if this continues. Then we talk about Jason Kidd, and whether he's the right person to solve this.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya, and Mike Piellucci link up to chat about what we expect from the Dallas Mavericks for the rest of the season — and what we expect from Tim Hardaway Jr., his role going forward, and whether Jaden Hardy makes more sense in the rotation over him.

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 observations.