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Greetings from Los Angeles, where I took advantage of a Dallas Mavericks two-game trip to dive into the state of Mavs in the post–Nico Harrison era. Dallas has looked pretty good since Anthony Davis returned to the lineup last week. Cooper Flagg continues to look like the star most expected him to be, while the Mavericks could be a point guard away from turning things around. And it just so happens they have a pretty good one working his way back.
Pod alert: Rachel Nichols returns for a deep dive on the Clippers, who are struggling right now. Last weekend was a disastrous one for L.A., with back-to-back losses to injury-ravaged Memphis and Dallas. On Monday the Clips were run off the floor in Miami, dropping them to 5–16 on the season. Yikes.
We also discussed how seriously we should take the Lakers as title contenders, what’s behind this Hawks surge without Trae Young and why Cleveland has looked so average to start the season. Subscribe here, here and here.






