DALLAS — The 2022-2023 season for the Dallas Mavericks is set to get started and, as always, there is no shortage of questions or expectations.
Last year's Mavs surprisingly went all the way to the Western Conference Finals before being humbled by the Golden State Warriors, who were the eventual champions.
On Monday, the organization held its annual Media Day.
"It's like the first day of school," said head coach Jason Kidd. "We do have a different team than last year."
And different can be good and bad.
Let's start with the loss of talented guard Jalen Brunson to the Knicks. Almost every player who came up to the podium on Monday had something to say about the loss of the "JB."
"We want the best for him. We're gonna miss because he's a great player but he's a friend of us," said forward Maxi Kleber.
But the other big topic was the addition of two new centers in Christian Wood and Javale McGee. Both have very different big-man skillsets and are expected to bolster the defense and help a team desperate for rebounding.
"We're trying to win the championships, that's the only goal we have," said Luka Doncic.
Luka is coming off the EuroBasketball tournament where he played for his native Slovenia. Doncic and Kidd said his minutes will be managed early on, but Doncic said he will play in the preseason.
Speaking of playing, Kidd appeared to have his starting lineup set with Christian Wood being the first to come off the bench.
"This is my first time hearing about it," Wood laughed in response to the question about coming of the bench. "I'm motivated either way off the bench or starting."
It's a whole new season, and it's a new group with some strong holdovers -- but the success won't be determined today.
"It's not how you start, it's how you end and we ended pretty good. It was a good run," said Doncic
After going to the Western Conference Finals, managing fan expectations is not something they can control. But Kidd said two concepts he will be preaching this training camp and throughout the season are accountability and chemistry.
"In terms of mentality. Green means go. Go make plays," said Spencer Dinwiddie.