👋 Good morning! Bobby Karalla here, officially taking the reins from Joseph Hoyt. Joe sat in the host chair for his final DLLS Cowboys podcast yesterday and will take over a beat writing role at The Dallas Morning News next week. We here at DLLS couldn’t be happier for our former colleague, but we’re also going to miss our friend.

Personally though, I can’t wait for the Chill vs. Hoyt beat writer battles to come. 🍿 — Bobby Karalla

The Dallas Mavericks will introduce Cooper Flagg to local media today, officially launching the Flagg era in Dallas. This moment has been a long time coming for him and for Mavs fans, many of whom still might be going through what Marc Stein has called “the 77 stages of grief.” Winning the lottery certainly worked wonders on many fans, a thunderbolt sent from the basketball gods to signal that maybe this will all end up being OK after all.

The DLLS Mavs Podcast was live for both nights of the NBA Draft. Night one, of course, was all about Flagg. But during last night’s second round, we veered pretty far off-course and ended up discussing the Mavs’ options with the $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception at their disposal when free agency begins next Monday at 5 p.m. Central. (We’ll be live for that, too!) Will it be D’Angelo Russell (possibly), Chris Paul (probably not), Russell Westbrook (I hope so, for entertainment purposes), or someone else?

For those filling out depth charts at home, Stein mentioned that there could be mutual interest in Dante Exum remaining in Dallas. The Mavs, however, would have a full 15-man roster if they sign one of the point guards listed above, meaning they would need to clear a roster spot in order to bring back the trusty veteran Exum. I’m preemptively mourning what that could mean for Olivier-Maxence Prosper, but nothing is a guarantee in this league and there’s still plenty of time for all of this to change.

The beauty of landing the No. 1 overall pick and a potential generational talent, though, is that one of the biggest problems this team is facing right now is what to do with its 15th roster spot. Flagg solves so many problems and fixes so many issues by himself and, as summer begins, that’s something worth celebrating after a painful winter and a disappointing spring.

Check out our day two draft show here!

Speaking of new eras, the Dallas Stars might have one starting soon, too. Stars CEO Brad Alberts tweeted the eyeball emojis last night.

Everyone was predictably super chill about it and no one is jumping to any conclusions… but that probably means Glen Gulutzan will be the team’s new head coach. Or they’ll be hosting an outdoor game this year. Or that they’re rebranding. Or that they’re acquiring Mitch Marner. Or Connor McDavid. Or both!

Fridays are historically for news dumps, but the first round of the NHL Draft is tonight and free agency begins on Tuesday. It wouldn’t be the worst time to hire a coach and get this thing rolling. One thing’s for sure, though: Our DLLS Stars crew will be ready to break it all down — whatever it is, whenever it happens.

Tune in to our draft coverage tonight, starting at 6 p.m. Central!

While we’re on the subject of new eras, how ‘bout this one? The Dallas Wings will play their first ever game at American Airlines Center tonight, where they’ll host the Indiana Fever and (hopefully) Caitlin Clark, who missed last night’s contest with a groin injury. The AAC has been sold out for this one for a while now, and rightfully so. Clark is an electric player and so too are Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale.

The Wings have been playing better ball lately, winning three of their last four. Their lone loss came by three on the road in overtime after Bueckers tied it with seconds left in regulation. Whether or not Clark plays, tonight’s game is gonna be an up-tempo, entertaining contest. It’s an exciting moment for basketball fans in Dallas, and hopefully the game lives up to the hype.

The DLLS Wings Podcast will be going live at 2:30 Central this afternoon to preview the game! As always, Erika Day will walk you through the Wings’ most recent games and the latest buzz from around the league. Today we’ll be joined by a VERY special guest, Quita Loves Sports! Quita is one of the newest additions to the ALLCITY Network, and she has an awesome channel and community where she discusses all things women’s basketball every day. Give her a follow on Twitter and check out her YouTube channel.

We’ll see you at 2:30!

Tell em somethin, Joe.

Be sure to subscribe to our shows wherever you listen to your podcasts. Traffic can be the worst, and one of the best ways I get through it is by listening to the audio versions of our DLLS shows. You should, too!

Bobby Karalla
DLLS Sports Head of Content​
[email protected]​