Entering Year 3 under Coach Jason Kidd, the Dallas Mavericks find themselves at a crossroads.

In Coach Kidd’s first season, the Mavs exceeded expectations, winning 50 games and making a run to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 10 years, since Kidd was a player for the 2011 NBA Champions.

In year two under J-Kidd, the Mavs once again defied expectations, but in the negative, winning just 38 games and missing the playoffs entirely for just the fifth time since 2000.

So what year three holds might just be anyone’s guess. But as the Mavericks gathered to open 2023 Training Camp, one of the first teams to arrive for camp due to an impending trip across the globe, they brimmed with confidence, ready to put a lost 2022-23 season behind them and resume down the path that they begun to travel during that run to the Conference Finals two years ago.

“I think it’s a great situation when you look at the ability to create championship habits. That’s what we’re trying to do. Having the luxury of having Luka [Doncic] and [Kyrie Irving], you talk about two of the best in the league and then being able to have vets that can help the younger core…it’s a great balance. I think [General Manager Nico Harrison] has done an incredible job of being able to get athletic young pieces that fit around [Kyrie] and Luka.”

That journey toward championship habits begins with Dallas’ double-star backcourt, which the team secured by reaching a contract agreement with free agent Kyrie Irving over the summer.

Irving was acquired by the Mavericks in a midseason trade, but never quite gelled with Doncic after his arrival in Dallas as the Mavs posted a 9-18 record after the trade. But Coach Kidd doesn’t believe that is even remotely indicative of what the two are capable of together and is encouraged by the steps the duo has taken playing together since Irving re-signed.

“We like things to happen right away, but we will continue to grow that relationship, and there is a relationship. They had the summer and now they have preseason to bond,” he said. “I truly believe these are two of the best players in the world. They’re going to play at a high-level and they’re going to put us in a position to win.”

Coach Kidd believes the duo of Doncic and Irving gives Dallas one of the best offenses in the league, so he and his staff have turned their attention to the defensive end, where the Mavs admittedly struggled last season.

Dallas ranked in the bottom half of the league in points allowed per game and in the bottom third in defensive rating while being routinely out-rebounded and allowing far too many second chance points and fast break opportunities. The Mavericks have implemented major personnel and schematic changes aiming to fix what ailed them on the defensive end.

“On defense, there will be a lot of things that we’ve changed to adapt to today’s game,” Coach Kidd said. “Hopefully these changes will put us in a better situation defensively. Being able to rebound the ball is something that we’ve struggled with. Some of these adjustments will put us in a better situation being able to rebound the ball. Offensively I think we’re on a historic pace with Kai and Luka on the floor. That’s one of the best offenses in the league. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue for us, scoring points. It’s about getting stops and being consistent.”

Dallas’ dynamic backcourt duo is complemented by a veteran roster including many newcomers. High on that list is Grant Williams, acquired from the Boston Celtics in a three-team trade this summer. Over four seasons in Boston, the 24-year-old established himself as a thorn in the side of opponents on the defensive end, and one of the league’s Top 20 three-point shooters last season, a throwback three-and-d player the Mavs had sought.

Additionally Dallas acquired big man Richaun Holmes from Sacramento and signed free agents Seth Curry, Derrick Jones Jr. and Dante Exum. They join returning players Tim Hardaway Jr., Dwight Powell, Markieff Morris, Maxi Kleber, Josh Green and Jaden Hardy to make up the bulk of the Mavs’ roster.

“We have a lot of new guys,” Coach Kidd said. “Talking to those guys at the meeting yesterday, it was kind of eye-opening how many new guys we have. But when we look at our leadership, we look at the first two in [Kyrie] and Luka, and then in Grant Williams, Timmy and Seth, we have vets, Derrick Jones Jr., guys who have played in this league. So we’re going to lean on those guys early and often.”

The Mavericks also have a pair of first round rookies to integrate.

No. 12 overall pick Derrick Lively II has drawn early comparisons to former J-Kidd teammate and Mavs defensive anchor Tyson Chandler — including from Chandler himself, who has been working with Lively during Mavs camp. No. 24 overall pick Olivier Maxence Prosper is a talented and rangy wing player who starred at Marquette.

Coach Kidd even revealed in his first press conference of the season that at least one of those two rookies is in line to be a starter for the Mavs this season.

“We’re going to lean heavily on our two rookies, with their energy, their excitement and their ability to play defense.” he said. “D-Live and those O-Max, we;re going to ask those guys to be leaders too, even though they’re rookies. They’ve done everything that we’ve asked and they’ve [put in the work]. They’ve worked extremely hard. One of them probably will be a starter with us. But I want to see how they react playing with Kyrie, Luka and Grant. So far, so good.”

Integrating all of those new faces into the Mavericks rotation might be the biggest challenge Coach Kidd faces this season, and it’s made exponentially difficult by the fact that the Mavs are about to embark on a 12-day trip across the globe to play two games in Abu Dhabi and one in Madrid. With that in mind, the Mavericks have opened Training Camp participating in two-a-day practices that have for the most part become a relic of the past.

But due to their schedule the Mavericks got permission from the league to utilize the unique structure and Coach Kidd believes those practices, even though Dallas will only get two days worth of them, will be a vital part of his team’s evolution and growth going into the season.

“This is just a different preseason and training camp. So that’s why we have the two-a-days,” he said. “Our schedule is a little different than just a normal preseason. We’re gone for 12 days. So we’re going to try to get in as much as we can before we leave.”

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The Mavericks depart for Abu Dhabi on Sunday, October 1, with games scheduled on Thursday, October 5th and Saturday, October 7th. They then head to Spain to play Luka’s former team Real Madrid in a friendly on Tuesday, October 10th before returning home. They will then have just one more preseason tune-up, October 20th vs. Detroit, before beginning the season on October 25th in San Antonio.

Coach Kidd is looking forward to the chance to see his entire roster in action and to experiment with different combinations before deciding on a rotation.

“We’ve got to play everybody. That would be so disrespectful not to give those guys an opportunity not to play in Abu Dhabi,” he said. “We’re going to play everybody and we’re going to want to see different combinations. We’ll start with those two rooks playing with the big group and then we’ll make some adjustments.”