The Mavericks have found their next STAR...

The Dallas Mavericks have found their next star, as a 20-year-old rookie just grabbed 17 rebounds against Utah, and yet it's not even the most interesting thing the Mavericks did on Friday night. Because in that same game, a forward made his debut after knee surgery, and a guard on a $5.2 million contract never got off the bench. Dallas ended up beating Utah 112-100 in the NBA Cup, and I think this one game just told us who was staying and who was going. By the end of the show, I'm going to tell you which player I think Dallas is about to cut, and the box score is going to back me up behind it. Now, let's start with the star, Moritz Johnson Jr., the Dallas Mavericks lottery pick from this year. Now, he's the reason Dallas won, and to see how big this was, you have to know where he started the week. Through his first eight NBA games, Moritz had 25 rebounds. Total, his best night was six. Then on Friday, he played 24 minutes and finished with 13 points and 17 rebounds, and 10 of those rebounds were on the offensive glass. It is his first career double-double. 17 in one night, when it took him eight games to get to 25, nearly three times his previous best. And here is how loud that is. The entire Utah team grabbed nine offensive boards. Moritz himself had 10. And guess what? It's the most rebounds by a rookie this season thus far. He is also 20 years old, which makes him the sixth Maverick ever to record a double-double before his 21st birthday. The first five were Dirk Nowitzki, Dennis Smith Jr., Luka Doncic, Dereck Lively, and Cooper Flagg. A lot of those names are big names. Dirk, Luka, Flagg. It's not a list of role players you're seeing there. That's a list a franchise will build around. And yes, I know, it's one night. But some of you are already ordering the statue, right? And here is the season math. In nine games, he has now 42 rebounds, 152 minutes, and 72 points. Friday alone was 17 of those 42 rebounds, about 40% of his season in one night. Now, if you like Mavericks coverage like this, subscribe to Mavericks Digest, as we're currently at 26,790 subscribers, and I want to try and get us to that 27,000 mark. And look at what he did it next to. Irving shot just 7 of 20 and finished with 14 points. P.J. Washington had a season-high 26, and Cooper Flagg had 21 points, 10 boards, and 7 assists. The Stars did their job, and the rookie did the dirty work. He also did it on a body that is still catching up. He has been managing shin splints, and that is why his minutes have been capped. 24 was a career high for him, up from 18. Dusty Mays' verdict after the game? He's a winning player. Now look at when it mattered. It was tied 57-57 at halftime, then a 22-10 run in the third quarter that turned a one-point deficit into an 81-70 lead. And Dallas never gave back double digits in the fourth. Perez finished with 20, the best on either team. Now fair warning, Utah came in 1-7 on a seven-game losing streak. So this was not a contending team they did it against, but a rebounding night like this does not care who is across from. Let's be real, guys. One of the best parts about watching sports, it's the food. Wings at a bar, burgers at a tailgate, or pizza on the couch while watching the Mavs. Nothing beats it. But what does make it harder is that belt. Constantly dig it into your waist after that big meal. Well, that's why I'm proud to announce today's sponsor as Anson Belt and Buckle, because it is certainly a game changer. Now, it's a family-run company that's been around since 2009, and they've completely reinvented how belts should work. Instead of holes, Anson uses a micro-adjustable track system with quarter-inch increments. 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His last game was February 4th with the Memphis Grizzlies. He had right knee surgery on March 17th. Dallas got him in a six-team trade in July, and they had to wait until now to finally get him out there. Dusty Mays said he was, quote, really close so many times that the fans started counting. Friday, guess what? He finally was. In 13 minutes, he had 8 points and 9 rebounds, 4 of them offensive, and he was plus 17 on the court. And his first points as a Maverick came on a putback off a missed Clayton 3 just 34 seconds after he checked in. Put him next to Merez, and that is 26 rebounds in 37 minutes between the two of them. Three Mavericks had 9 or more rebounds, Merez had 17, Flagg had 10, Aldama had 9. And Dallas needed that. Gafford played 18 minutes and had just one rebound. The two bigs behind him gave Dallas the work it was missing. He makes $17 million this season, and Dallas holds a team option on him next year. Gafford has averaged 22.7 minutes a game this season, and he played just 18 on Friday. Those other four minutes did not disappear, and they went to the two guys behind him. So now Dallas has Perez, Santee, Gafford, Flagg, Washington, all fighting for the same minutes. Somebody has to lose them, and Friday showed us who. Marcus Sasser did not play. Not for a single minute. His name on the box score with nothing next to it. Walter Clayton Jr., however, he played 23 minutes. Count who got in ahead of him. 11 Mavericks played at least nine minutes. Max Christie, coming off an injury, played nine and did not score. Caleb Martin played 11. He didn't score. Even Jet Howard, a two-way player, got in for a minute at the end. Sasser, who is on a standard contract, did not. And Clayton's story is a good one. Utah drafted him 18th in the 2025 draft. He then got traded to Memphis. Memphis waived him, and Dallas signed him in a two-way deal. Friday, he scored 12 points against the team that ended up drafting him. And this has been coming. Sasser's minutes, game by game. 24, 27, 27, then 8, 22, 7, 19, 5, and now 0. No reason has been reported for Friday, so I'm not going to guess on this one and say injuries or anything, but... This is the same guy who scored 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting in his first game as a Maverick in Houston. Now, he's on a one-year deal at $5.2 million, and then he's a restricted free agent. There's no long-term commitment holding a roster spot for him. Meanwhile, look at Clayton's last three games. 24 minutes against Sacramento, and he scored 20 points, with four made threes on five attempts. Then 21 minutes against San Antonio, and 23 here on Friday. In those same three games, Sasser played 24 minutes in total. Clayton played 68. And it's not just the last three games. On the season, Clayton has scored 61 points in 125 minutes. Sasser has scored 49 in 139. Now, think of it like a restaurant. You've got two chefs, one station, one's going to keep sending out plates in less time, and eventually the owner stops handing the shifts to the other one. Now, here is the contract side, and everything from here is a read, not really a report. Clayton is on a two-way deal. He took the last two-way spot when Dallas waived John Polakaitis. A two-way player can be active for up to 50 regular season games, and he cannot play in the playoffs unless the team converts him. Clayton has played eight games so far, so the clock is not a problem, but the playoffs, well, that's where it comes in. And last check, Dallas had 15 players on standard contracts, and 15 obviously is the maximum. So if Dallas wanted to give Clayton a real deal, somebody's got to go, and you can kind of see where I'm going with this. Sasser makes $5.2 million this season. He is the guy at the end of the bench. So you want my prediction? Well, yeah, I'm going to say it out loud. Dallas is going to waive Sasser. They're going to sign Clayton to a full NBA contract, and the two-way spot opens up for somebody else. Now, again, nobody's reporting that, but the minutes, that's kind of what they're telling me at this point. Now, let me argue against myself, because there is a cheaper way to kind of open up that 15 spot. Moussa Sissé is on a standard contract, too. He played 17 minutes all season over six games, and he got one minute on Friday. And if Dallas only wants a spot, that's the easy one to open. But the difference is Cissé is a 15th man by a roll. Nobody is taking his minutes. Sasser is a guard making 5.2 million and a younger guard on a roster that is taking every minute he loses. That's how a rotation tells you who's next. And to be fair to Sasser, Clayton also shot one of five from three and turned it over four times on Friday. So it's not like he's lighting the world on fire every single game he's out there, but he's definitely been better. But he's getting the minutes is the big thing, and Sasser is not. In this league, that tells you the play. And I'm not saying that Sasser can't play or that he's bad. 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting in his debut, yeah, that's pretty good. But I'm saying Dallas has already decided who's next by showing the minutes. So here's the board after Friday. Merez is in, Aldama is in, Clayton is in, Sasser, not so much. Now from here on out, there's three things to watch. Does Merez's 24 minutes become his floor? How many minutes does Aldama get now that he's healthy? And is Sasser's name on the box score at all? Dallas is 5-4, it's 2-0 in the NBA Cup, and next up is Brooklyn at home. Watch the box score. If Sasser's name still isn't on there that much, you kind of already know. Now that's how it works. Players do not get cut in press conferences, they get cut in the box score first. So tell me, do you cut Sasser and sign Clayton, or does Sasser stay? Let me know down in the comment section, and for now guys, peace out.