The Dallas Mavericks entered the 2026 NBA Draft with the #9 pick, the #30 pick and a fair amount of trade rumors swirling around them. After selecting Morez Johnson, Jr. at #9, things went dreadfully quiet on the trade front. As subsequent picks were made and the minutes ticked by, it seemed apparent that Dallas would be making a selection at #30 instead of packaging that pick with a veteran in an effort to move up the draft board. Any hope at picking up a young guard to help in the rebuild looked bleak.
Dallas, TX
Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys Highlight NFL Week 14 Prime Time
Amon-Ra St. Brown and Detroit fans can celebrate the Lions’ first 11-1 start in franchise history. … [+]
The NFL Week 14 primetime slate features a pair potential Super Bowl teams in division leaders Detroit and Kansas City.
The Lions and Chiefs are the only 11-1 teams in the league as the stretch run begins, and both have a chance to extend their division leads against challengers Green Bay and the Los Angeles Chargers, respectively.
The Lions are off to the best start in the 95-year history of the franchise, but they still do not have much breathing room. Minnesota (10-2) and and Green Bay (9-3) are right behind in the NFC North, which is playing like the best in the league.
The Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills (10-2) are the only teams to have clinched playoff spots, and the Chiefs are motivated by the fact that if they finish tied with Buffalo, the Bills would have home field advantage through the AFC playoffs by virtue of their 30-21 victory over Kansas City three weeks ago.
Detroit will play its second consecutive Thursday game when if it plays host to Green Bay. The Lions beat the Packers 24-14 in the first meeting this season and enter after holding off the Chicago Bears 23-20 on Thanksgiving, a loss that led to the dismissal of Chicago head coach Matt Eberflus the following day.
Kansas City’s 11-1 record seemingly has come with a dash of smoke and mirrors. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Kansas City and San Diego (8-4) will play the second game of their season series Sunday night. The Chiefs won the initial meeting 17-10 in the fourth week of the season.
The Cincinnati Bengals (4-8) and Dallas Cowboys (5-7) will meet on Monday night, each holding a slim chance at a playoff spot.
Detroit quarterback Jared Goff has the Lions pointed in the right direction. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
THURSDAY NIGHT
Green Bay Packers (9-3) at Detroit Lions (11-1)
How to watch: Prime Video, 8:15 pm ET
Key matchup: Josh Jacobs vs Lions D
Early line: Lions -3.5
This has the makings of a high-scoring game. Detroit and Green Bay rank 2-3 in the league in total offense, both averaging more than 382 yards per game, and the uber-balanced Lions’ attack is scoring a league-high 31.9 points per game. At the same time, both rank in the middle of the pack in total defense.
Detroit has won 10 in a row, its only loss 20-16 to Tampa Bay in the second week of the season. The Lions have scored 99 points the last three games and have been over 40 four times this season
Packers’ running back Josh Jacobs has five touchdowns in the last three games, all Green Bay wins. … [+]
Quarterback Jared Goff, protected by the consensus No. 1 offensive line in the league, has completed 72 percent of his passes and thrown for 22 scores. His passer rating is second in the league behind Lamar Jackson. Tight end Sam LaPorta has two touchdown passes against Chicago and has five this season.
The Packers have won three in a row and seven of their last eight, the only defeat in the home loses to Detroit despite outgunning the Lions 411-261 in total offense.
Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love has 20 touchdowns but 11 interceptions, and the Packers recently have relied on a running game led by Jacobs (987 yards rushing), who has five touchdowns during the three-game winning streak.
Patrick Mahomes has found himself under more than customary pressure this season. (AP Photo/Ed … [+]
SUNDAY NIGHT
Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) at Kansas City Chiefs (11-1)
How to watch: NBC/Peacock, 8:20 pm ET
Key matchup: Patrick Mahomes vs Chargers D
Early line: Chiefs -3.5
The Chiefs have won nine games by seven points or less, and they found another escape hatch in a 19-17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders last Friday when the Raiders muffed a snap on their final play of the game while in field goal range. Kansas City recovered, and the win clinched their 10th consecutive playoff berth, the second-longest streak in league history.
Quarterback Mahomes’s numbers are down — he has 19 touchdown passes against 11 interceptions, nine in the last seven games. It is the third-most in the league and three short of a career high. The offensive line has not helped. Mahomes has been sacked a career-high 32 times. The defense
Cornerback Jason Verrett and the Chargers’ defense had four interceptions against Atlanta last week. … [+]
The Chargers bring the NFL’s top defense statistically into the match. Jim Harbaugh’s bend-don’t-break group has limited opponents to a league-low 15.7 points, although they are in the middle of the pack in yards allowed. They have plus-11 turnover margin, third in the league behind Buffalo and Baltimore, after intercepting Kirk Cousins four times in a 17-13 victory at Atlanta last week.
Quarterback Justin Herbert has played well since recovering from a high ankle sprain that bothered him the first month of the season, when the Chargers opened with losses to the Chiefs and Pittsburgh. The Chargers’ only loss in their last six games was to Baltimore, although they are again will be without injured leading rusher J.K. Dobbins.
Joe Burrow leads the NFL in passing yards this season. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
MONDAY NIGHT
Cincinnati Bengals (4-8) at Dallas Cowboys (5-7)
How to watch: ESPN/ABC/ESPN+, 8:15 pm ET
Key matchup: Joe Burrow vs Cowboys D
Early line: Bengals -5.5
Cincinnati brings the most prolific passing combination into a game that both teams must win to remain in contention for a playoff berth, although both have much more work to do.
Burrow leads the league with 3,347 yards passing and has thrown 30 touchdowns against only interceptions. He has 15 touchdowns in his last four games, although the Bengals enter on a three-game losing streak in which they scored 99 points but allowed 113.
Ja’Marr Chase executes the touch-down against the Chargers, one of his six scores in the last three … [+]
Ja’Marr Chase has a league-high 1,142 yards and 13 touchdowns on 79 receptions.
The Cowboys have won two in a row behind Cooper Rush and with Carolina and Tampa Bay in the next two weeks could find themselves in the mix for the final NFC wild card spot, although their 26th-ranked defense needs to tighten up.
A 12-year-old Dallas middle-schooler ended up on the streets, where a pimp discovered her. For as little as $50, he sold her for sex. He withheld food unless she worked. She later disappeared into the state’s foster care system after suffering from depression. She attempted suicide.
A 13-year-old seventh- grader was forced to have sex with men in Houston by a pimp who hooked her on drugs. She died shortly after turning 18 from a fentanyl overdose — a few months before her abuser was sentenced to prison.
A 17-year-old Lubbock runaway was required to have sex with men in hotels and truck stops until she earned her pimp $1,000 daily. That quota meant seeing up to 20 “clients” per day. She spiraled into drug addiction.
These children have more in common than the abuse they endured — and the lifelong trauma that comes with it. Each was mandated by federal law to receive financial compensation from the pimps and pedophiles who abused them.
You can read more in-depth reporting from our media partner, The Dallas Morning News.
With the #30 pick, Dallas selected Koa Peat, Adam Silver said goodnight and that was that. Except it wasn’t. As the first round of the Draft was concluding, rumors started buzzing that the Mavericks were in fact making a move. Details are still being confirmed, but as it stands, Dallas will be trading the #30 pick Koa Peat and two future second-round draft picks to the New York Knicks in exchange for Sergio DeLarrea’s services. The exact second-rounders were still being determined late Tuesday night.
Here are the details we have at this time:
Los Angeles Lakers Received: 24th Overall Pick (Cameron Carr, Baylor)
Dallas Mavericks Received: 25th Overall (Sergio de Larrea, Spain)
Phoenix Suns Received: 30th Overall (Koa Peat, Arizona)
New York Knicks Received: Cash (Lakers), two second-round picks (Mavericks), and three more second-round picks (Suns)
DeLarrea was on the radar of a number of Mavs Moneyball staffers, perhaps none more than Tyler Edsel who wrote an excellent crash course on him and what he can bring to the Mavs. To be clear, it is unlikely he is going to have a massive day-one impact on the team, but the Mavericks really needed to do something to acquire more young talent that fit a position of need. While he may not be as flashy a name as Brayden Burries (whom the Mavs skipped over in favor of Morez) or Labaron Philon, Jr. (who somewhat surprisingly slipped to #22), Dallas really needed to do bolster the guard position and they came through.
If DeLarrea’s shooting transfers to the NBA level, it would be a big boon for a team that struggled from downtown much of last season. While not an immediate impact player, Dallas did well to move up a bit in a low-cost move that keeps all of their other assets intact for what will surely be a summer of retooling via trades and free agency.
Stay tuned for updates, as it is unclear which second-round picks the Mavericks will let go of in this deal.
I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.
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What Drake London’s new deal could mean for George Pickens
Falcons WR Drake London is now the NFL’s third-highest paid wide receiver in AAV, signing a four-year, $141 million extension with $100 million guaranteed and $35.26 million per year.
London, who is 25, is the same age as Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens, and both are heading into their fifth seasons in the NFL. Pickens too was seeking a long-term contract, but the Cowboys told him and his representation that would not happen this offseason, and he instead signed his $27.3 million franchise tag that keep shim under contract for the 2026 season.
Pickens’ one-year deal on the tag makes him the 17th highest-paid wide receiver in the league in AAV. Should Pickens go out and post a year similar to his 2025 campaign where he had more than 1,400 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, a deal similar to London’s may be in the ballpark of what Pickens could seek. For reference, CeeDee Lamb is the league’s fifth-highest paid WR at $34 million annually. If Pickens surpasses him and is closer to London’s $35 million per year mark, he and Lamb would become the highest-paid WR duo in NFL history, surpassing the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who currently combine for $69 million per year. – Tommy Yarrish
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