July 1, 2025 • 6 mins
In this high-energy, hoops-heavy segment of The Ben and Skin Show, Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray—dives deep into the Dallas Mavericks’ offseason moves, roster depth, and the burning question on every fan’s mind: Is this team finally ready to contend?D’Angelo Russell’s Arrival: The crew breaks down the Mavs’ latest signing and what it means for playmaking depth. Plus, could Cooper Flagg be this generation’s LeBron? Skin lays out a compelling case for why the Mavs might run their offense through the 18-year-old from day one.From Kyrie to Lively to AD, the team tackles the elephant in the room—can this roster stay healthy long enough to matter?This episode is a must-listen for Mavs fans and NBA junkies alike. It’s a perfect blend of sharp analysis, insider insight, and the kind of off-the-rails banter that only Ben, Skin, KT, and Krystina can deliver. Whether you’re hyped about Cooper Flagg or skeptical about Kyrie’s durability, this episode will have you yelling at your radio—in the best way.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ben and Skin Show ninety some point one The Eagle.
This segment is brought to you by a Twisted Root
burger company. Me and Ben do love us some Twisted Root.
In fact, the founding father of Twisted Roots, an old
friend to Buddy, an old buddy of Ben's rather, and
they've built that thing into an institution.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
They spent the last six months going back and tweaking
the menu, and the results are fantastic and our favorite
part of all of it. They still have all the
irreverent burger names and the characters they do and all
the cool things they do at all the Twisted Roots,
but they've also added to build your own burger element
and it is fantastic. Several locations around the Metroplex, and
if you go into any of them and mention the
Ben and Skin Show, you're gonna get a ten percent discount.
(00:41):
Ten percent discount just by saying you listen to the
Ben and Skin Show. How great is that? But right
now it's time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Now it's around the sports KT tweets as all the
sports Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Okay, so the Mavericks did make the signing with D'Angelo
Russell and it kind of feels like their roster is
for the most part fool and they could still do
trades and there's still some other stuff that could happen. Yeah,
but it does feel kind of set. Are the Mavericks
the top six team in the Western Conference? Can I
ask a question about how this is positioned?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Shoot bank youman? Are they a top six team when
we get to the playoffs? Like are we talking about
are we talking about standings? Are we talking about how
good they are?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
You're avoiding the plan tournament, You're getting into the top six,
which you wouldn't want to do.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I would say yes, But I would also say when
the conference is as good as it is, it's going
to come down to injuries.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It always does.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And I think if you want to knock the Mavericks,
there's two main things to knock them on. Do they
have enough playmaking? And do they have the kind of
people that are gonna stay healthy. We know Kyrie's situation,
and I would argue that Anthony Davis and Derek Lively
the second. I would have no issue with someone saying
that those two people are injury prone, right right.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I don't have confidence that Anthony Davis can stay on
the court. I don't think it's reasonable for anybody to
have that confidence. But if healthy, good, Lord, they're good
because you're gonna have Lively and Gafford, so you have
two great shot blockers in the middle. And then we
saw what it's like in one half of basketball against
Houston when you have ad wandering over as a power
(02:36):
forward and now you're gonna have Cooper Flagg doing that over.
So the help defense blockers nuts and I have to
mention PJ. I mean, you've got such a good defensive unit.
I agree with you. I think the number one question
is health. The number two question is do they have
enough playmaking? And D'Angelo Russell I like him, but he's
good for that reason of what was out there. He's
(02:59):
the he's the best overall offensive player. But what we
have to what we have to, you know, put put
the framework in on that he's a part time starter, okay,
and he's making less than Jayden Hardy makes.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
He's a part time starter. Actually I should just say
he's making what Jayden Hardy makes. It's so close it's negligible.
So bearing all of that in mind, he probably was
the best fit in terms of what was out there.
I probably would have preferred Chris Paul. But I don't
think Chris Paul wanted to come here. So it's not
even in the conversation. You can't have a player that
(03:36):
doesn't want to be here. So I think they'll be
fine in that regard. There's two things that three things
that will change this conversation immensely. One we already talked
about it the health. Number Two, how good is Cooper
Flagged from the jump, because I think you run a
lot of offense through him, Like, let me get I'll
(03:56):
give you this. For example, people are very very high
on Houston, which I think they should be. So besides
Fred van Vliet, who is their playmaker, it's Kevin Durant. Okay,
So isn't that eventually what Cooper flag is going to be? Right?
And so the question is how quickly does he become
(04:18):
that Year one in Cleveland Lebron James was that they
were running offense through Lebron James and year one, So
is Cooper Flagg that good? And then the other thing
that we keep forgetting and we and I think a
lot of it has to do with the way people
they hear the term two way player and they immediately
you know, think about them a certain way. If Brandon Williams,
(04:40):
what he showed when he was given that minute is
that player, he's a really good backup.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I like him too.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So now we're talking about D'Angelo Russell, we're talking about
Brandon Williams, and we're talking about Cooper Flag. And I'm
not bringing up ancillary playmakers like Najie Marshall or I.
I personally don't think PJ. Washington should be bringing a
ball past half court, but in transition it's fine. And
so the knock on the Mavericks I think are similar
(05:11):
knocks to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Okay, the difference is
that they had the MVP.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
And this is the thing, is like Cooper Flag in
year one, how fast is a eighteen year old?
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yeah? Right?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And how tempted his Nico because they have such an
embarrassment of riches in depth? How tempted is he to
trade some of that depth for a more impactful, meaningful player.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I think that it's I don't think it's there, Ben,
because I think they think they have their impactful, meaningful players.
And then they had the main reason they signed Gafford
is you know, if you're the feelings that I have
about Wimbin Yama or Chet Holmgren or Anthony Davis or
the same feelings I have about Derek Lively. The second, like,
if you're gonna tell me he's a guy who's gonna
(05:57):
play fifty games a year, I get it. It wasn't
until Tyson Chandler was twenty eight twenty nine years old
and completely filled out that he could withstand a lot
of that. So Derek Lively second, I mean they need
Gafford and signed him, I think for that reason. And
then also PJ. Washington Junior can play a lot of
small ball five and can play four, and so they're
loaded up front, and it's to there. It's there's people
(06:20):
that think that the Rockets are loading up on bigs
to compete with the Mavericks, right, and the Mavericks have
the depth to weather those injury storms, and that's probably
the best approach because they do have some injury prone guys.
All right, coming up next, it's the weekly weekday Update
where you're gonna take us Kat.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
There was a firework theft?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
What would you stolen? All right, that's coming up next.
Don't miss it.
Ben and Skin Show ninety some point one The Eagle.
This segment is brought to you by a Twisted Root
burger company. Me and Ben do love us some Twisted Root.
In fact, the founding father of Twisted Roots, an old
friend to Buddy, an old buddy of Ben's rather, and
they've built that thing into an institution.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
They spent the last six months going back and tweaking
the menu, and the results are fantastic and our favorite
part of all of it. They still have all the
irreverent burger names and the characters they do and all
the cool things they do at all the Twisted Roots,
but they've also added to build your own burger element
and it is fantastic. Several locations around the Metroplex, and
if you go into any of them and mention the
Ben and Skin Show, you're gonna get a ten percent discount.
(00:41):
Ten percent discount just by saying you listen to the
Ben and Skin Show. How great is that? But right
now it's time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Now it's around the sports KT tweets as all the
sports Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Okay, so the Mavericks did make the signing with D'Angelo
Russell and it kind of feels like their roster is
for the most part fool and they could still do
trades and there's still some other stuff that could happen. Yeah,
but it does feel kind of set. Are the Mavericks
the top six team in the Western Conference? Can I
ask a question about how this is positioned?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Shoot bank youman? Are they a top six team when
we get to the playoffs? Like are we talking about
are we talking about standings? Are we talking about how
good they are?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
You're avoiding the plan tournament, You're getting into the top six,
which you wouldn't want to do.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I would say yes, But I would also say when
the conference is as good as it is, it's going
to come down to injuries.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It always does.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And I think if you want to knock the Mavericks,
there's two main things to knock them on. Do they
have enough playmaking? And do they have the kind of
people that are gonna stay healthy. We know Kyrie's situation,
and I would argue that Anthony Davis and Derek Lively
the second. I would have no issue with someone saying
that those two people are injury prone, right right.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I don't have confidence that Anthony Davis can stay on
the court. I don't think it's reasonable for anybody to
have that confidence. But if healthy, good, Lord, they're good
because you're gonna have Lively and Gafford, so you have
two great shot blockers in the middle. And then we
saw what it's like in one half of basketball against
Houston when you have ad wandering over as a power
(02:36):
forward and now you're gonna have Cooper Flagg doing that over.
So the help defense blockers nuts and I have to
mention PJ. I mean, you've got such a good defensive unit.
I agree with you. I think the number one question
is health. The number two question is do they have
enough playmaking? And D'Angelo Russell I like him, but he's
good for that reason of what was out there. He's
(02:59):
the he's the best overall offensive player. But what we
have to what we have to, you know, put put
the framework in on that he's a part time starter, okay,
and he's making less than Jayden Hardy makes.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
He's a part time starter. Actually I should just say
he's making what Jayden Hardy makes. It's so close it's negligible.
So bearing all of that in mind, he probably was
the best fit in terms of what was out there.
I probably would have preferred Chris Paul. But I don't
think Chris Paul wanted to come here. So it's not
even in the conversation. You can't have a player that
(03:36):
doesn't want to be here. So I think they'll be
fine in that regard. There's two things that three things
that will change this conversation immensely. One we already talked
about it the health. Number Two, how good is Cooper
Flagged from the jump, because I think you run a
lot of offense through him, Like, let me get I'll
(03:56):
give you this. For example, people are very very high
on Houston, which I think they should be. So besides
Fred van Vliet, who is their playmaker, it's Kevin Durant. Okay,
So isn't that eventually what Cooper flag is going to be? Right?
And so the question is how quickly does he become
(04:18):
that Year one in Cleveland Lebron James was that they
were running offense through Lebron James and year one, So
is Cooper Flagg that good? And then the other thing
that we keep forgetting and we and I think a
lot of it has to do with the way people
they hear the term two way player and they immediately
you know, think about them a certain way. If Brandon Williams,
(04:40):
what he showed when he was given that minute is
that player, he's a really good backup.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I like him too.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So now we're talking about D'Angelo Russell, we're talking about
Brandon Williams, and we're talking about Cooper Flag. And I'm
not bringing up ancillary playmakers like Najie Marshall or I.
I personally don't think PJ. Washington should be bringing a
ball past half court, but in transition it's fine. And
so the knock on the Mavericks I think are similar
(05:11):
knocks to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Okay, the difference is
that they had the MVP.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
And this is the thing, is like Cooper Flag in
year one, how fast is a eighteen year old?
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yeah? Right?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And how tempted his Nico because they have such an
embarrassment of riches in depth? How tempted is he to
trade some of that depth for a more impactful, meaningful player.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I think that it's I don't think it's there, Ben,
because I think they think they have their impactful, meaningful players.
And then they had the main reason they signed Gafford
is you know, if you're the feelings that I have
about Wimbin Yama or Chet Holmgren or Anthony Davis or
the same feelings I have about Derek Lively. The second, like,
if you're gonna tell me he's a guy who's gonna
(05:57):
play fifty games a year, I get it. It wasn't
until Tyson Chandler was twenty eight twenty nine years old
and completely filled out that he could withstand a lot
of that. So Derek Lively second, I mean they need
Gafford and signed him, I think for that reason. And
then also PJ. Washington Junior can play a lot of
small ball five and can play four, and so they're
loaded up front, and it's to there. It's there's people
(06:20):
that think that the Rockets are loading up on bigs
to compete with the Mavericks, right, and the Mavericks have
the depth to weather those injury storms, and that's probably
the best approach because they do have some injury prone guys.
All right, coming up next, it's the weekly weekday Update
where you're gonna take us Kat.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
There was a firework theft?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
What would you stolen? All right, that's coming up next.
Don't miss it.
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