Lakers vs Mavericks Summer League preview and Game Thread: Day one in Vegas

The Lakers look to spoil Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks’ summer debut on Thursday in the Las Vegas Summer League kickoff

The Lakers are back in Las Vegas where they will compete in the annual Summer League tournament from July 10-20.

Their first matchup will be against Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks

When: 5 p.m. PT, July 10

Where: Thomas & Mack Center

Watch: ESPN

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At this point, it feels like the NBA is going to do everything it can to build a rivalry between the Lakers and Mavericks. It just doesn’t feel like a coincidence that both teams are in the same group for this upcoming season’s NBA Cup and Flagg — who was picked No. 1 overall in this year’s NBA Draft — will make his Summer League debut against Los Angeles.

It feels as if these two teams are going to be associated with each other for the long haul and it’s hard to blame the league for taking advantage of it. So get used to it!

That said, the first to get a taste of what’s in store for these two teams this season are the young ones in Flagg, Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, among others. With this game slotted as the main event for day one, here are the storylines worth following:

Can the Lakers pick up where they left off?

The Lakers got a head start on their summer by competing in three tune-up games during the California Classics where they left San Francisco with a 2-1 record. Just when it looked it would be another underwhelming summer with nothing exciting to root for about this team, they picked it up in the last two games and showed that they might just be a fun squad after all.

The California Classics highlighted the mix of this roster, featuring incoming sophomores like Knecht and James, veterans like Cole Swider and Darius Bazley — both who impressed in the last three games — and those making a strong case to land a contract, such as DJ Steward. It’ll be fascinating to see how the aforementioned names perform, especially in Las Vegas where the lights are brighter and more eyes are directed towards them.

Will Knecht continue to be a cause for concern?

Another storyline that arose during the California Classic was Knecht’s underperformance, particularly in the first two games. Before turning that narrative around in the clinching match of the tournament, the 24-year-old had not made a single 3-pointer and averaged just 7 points on 25% shooting from the field with 3.5 rebounds and 2 assists in 25.8 minutes per game. There were appropriate concerns about Knecht’s approach and interest in the tournament.

But that all changed after the University of Tennessee product put up 25 points on 9-18 shooting (15 points of which were in the fourth quarter) and 8 rebounds in the thrilling victory against the San Antonio Spurs. Hopefully, DK has dust off the rust and shines even brighter in the entertainment capital of the world.

Can the Lakers ruin Flagg’s debut?

It may just be Summer League and it’s really not as serious as the regular season but that doesn’t mean people aren’t going to overreact. After all, it’s overreaction season and given that Thursday will be the first time this year’s No. 1 draft pick sees NBA action, it’s definitely going to be a talking point.

This then leads to the question: How will the Lakers be talked about? As the villains who ruined Flagg’s debut or the first team he defeats in his professional career? It would certainly be nice to be the former.

All these questions will be answered on Thursday as the Summer League tournament commences.

Notes and Updates

• No injuries have been reported ahead of Thursday’s match against the Spurs.
• After the California Classics games ended, Swider — who averaged 19.7 points , 5.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 1.0 blocks across three games — was named part of the 2025 All-California Classic Team.
• The Mavericks are fielding a pretty young team for this year’s summer league featuring Flagg, our good old friend Maxwell Lewis and Ryan Nembhard. Let’s see if the Lakers can take advantage of this young team.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.