Mavericks’ Trade Fallout Shows Who Controls the Team

Dirk Nowitzki attended the Dallas Mavericks’ home opener after publicly opposing the Luka Dončić trade, a decision that worsened his relationship with the team. Live coverage said the relationship had improved. Nico Harrison, whom the coverage described as the trade’s architect, had left the team, and Masai Ujiri had taken his place. The people making the calls changed; players and supporters still face the consequences.

Nowitzki received a loud ovation when he appeared on the Jumbotron in a suite with his wife, Jessica, and their children. He and Ujiri seemed to get along well. For one night, the home crowd cheered a familiar figure. The franchise kept moving under a new executive.

Who Makes the Calls

The live blog also showed how much a player’s role depends on decisions from coaches and team officials. Kyrie Irving missed the Mavericks’ Saturday home opener for left knee injury management after scoring 24 points in Dallas’ Friday win in Indiana. The team ruled him out a few hours before tipoff. Dusty May said: “It was more of he’s ready to play in Indiana. Let’s play that. And let’s not make any decisions in advance. Let’s just take this one day at a time and plan accordingly. There were several conversations. And there wasn’t one thing that tilted it one way or the other.”

In Chicago, coach Tiago Splitter discussed benching Matas Buzelis late in the Bulls’ Friday win in Milwaukee. “I think we gotta understand, the NBA is gonna change now with the rules. Nobody is just playing guys, giving them minutes, and we’re gonna lose, we don’t care. You gotta win every game. That’s how you should be approaching (it). That’s gonna change how you develop players, because the importance of winning is bigger.” In this account, winning sets the terms for who gets minutes, even as the team rebuilds.

Live coverage reported that VJ Edgecombe, the 76ers’ second-year guard, scored nine points in the first quarter against Milwaukee. He’d scored nine and 11 points in his first two games. Playing with All-NBA talent could leave him fewer shots, but also room to develop off-ball scoring, playmaking and defense. He entered the league as a scorer and averaged 16 points on 13.7 shots a game the previous year.

The Costs of the Roster Machine

Charlotte beat the Miami Heat 115-110 on Saturday, handing Miami its third straight loss. Brandon Miller scored 34 points, four short of his career high of 38. Charlotte reached the play-in tournament the previous year, then traded LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges and built a core around Miller, Kon Kneuppel and Naz Reid. Miller signed a five-year, $209 million rookie-scale contract extension in October. Reid scored 23 points, and Dennis Schröder added 25.

Kneuppel hadn’t made his Year 2 debut as he recovered from a left hamstring strain suffered during training camp. He’d finished second in rookie of the year voting the previous season behind his former Duke teammate Cooper Flagg. Miami’s leading scorer was Davion Mitchell, with 22 points; Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 14 and Bam Adebayo scored 20. Miami trailed Charlotte 96-75 entering the fourth quarter after Miller scored 13 in the third. Coverage said Miami needed steadier offense from its best players.

New Orleans ruled starting center Yves Missi out for its Saturday back-to-back game in Denver after he left the previous day’s loss to the Utah Jazz with a left knee bone bruise. Missi averaged 9.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and two blocks through two games. His absence was expected to give second-year big man Derik Queen more playing time. But with the team short on centers, concerns about Queen and Zion Williamson playing and defending effectively together would have to wait.

The Game Keeps Moving

Stacey King, a former Chicago Bulls player and TV analyst, died suddenly in June. The team honored him before its home opener and chose a rotating group of analysts instead of naming a replacement. In the season opener, play-by-play announcer Adam Amin worked the first quarter alone to honor King. Live coverage called him a major presence for the franchise and noted his mural in Logan Square.

Elsewhere, Houston coach Ime Udoka said Reed Sheppard would play after missing the previous night with a knee contusion; Fred VanVleet, Marcus Smart and Steven Adams would sit because it was the second night of a back-to-back. Washington’s No. 1 pick, AJ Dybantsa, missed his third consecutive game with a left ankle sprain he suffered in the preseason finale on Oct. 16. Coach Brian Keefe said the team was “still evaluating [AJ] one day at a time right now.”

The live blog listed eight games on Saturday’s schedule, beginning with Miami at Charlotte at 6 p.m. It also tracked early-season numbers: Toronto allowed 88.6 points per 100 possessions through two games, while Ty Jerome averaged 36.5 points per game. Trades, injuries, contracts and playing time kept shaping the league’s daily business, with decisions handed down and consequences left to the people expected to perform.