Host Danny Leroux talks with Kevin Pelton of ESPN (@kpelton.bsky.social) about the NBA playoffs.

They break down each of the four second-round series in terms of the key matchups, swing factors and much more plus other NBA discussion.

Subscribe to RealGM Radio on Apple Podcasts or via the RSS feed. 

The Dallas Mavericks announced a multi-year contract extension for head coach Jason Kidd. This season was Kidd's third in Dallas, and he reportedly had one year left on his previous contract.

Kidd has led the Mavericks to two 50-win seasons and to the playoffs in two of his three years in Dallas. This season, Kidd has the Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs, as they open their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

The Dallas Mavericks advanced to the second round of the NBA Playoffs this year. Now, Jason Kidd may be the beneficiary of a contract extension.

Kidd has led the Mavericks to two 50-win seasons in his three years in charge. Dallas made the Western Conference Finals in 2022. After missing the postseason last year, the Mavs will play the Oklahoma City Thunder with a chance to head back to the Western Conference Finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers were rumored to be a suitor for Kidd's services. Los Angeles has apparently given up on any expectations they'll be able to pursue Kidd to replace Darvin Ham.

Dallas Mavericks reserve big man Maxi Kleber has suffered a full dislocation of the AC joint in his right shoulder. Kleber is expected to miss a significant period of time, and potentially the remainder of the postseason.

Kleber played a big part in the Mavericks six-game victory over the LA Clippers in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. Kelber hit 10-of-18 three-pointers in the series and averaged 5.7 points in 19.3 minutes per game.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic won't use a right knee injury as an excuse for his struggles in the first-round playoff series against the LA Clippers. But Doncic is clearly playing through it, and he feels as if that's putting a lot on Kyrie Irving's shoulders.

"I just got to help him more," Doncic said of Irving. "I feel like I'm letting him down, so I got to be there. I got to help him more. He's given everything that he has, and he's been amazing for us the whole series."

Doncic injured his right knee in the first quarter of Game 3. It's impacted his ability to create separation from the Clippers defenders. But the Mavs star expects himself to be better, despite the injury.

"It's hurting obviously, but it shouldn't be an excuse, man," said Doncic on playing 45 minutes in Game 4. "Just came out and a little sloppy, so I got to be way better than that."

The Clippers won Game 4 to even the series at 2-2. Game 5 is in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison knew his team needed to add talent at the trade deadline. But Harrison didn't want to make short-term moves. He kept a long-term vision in mind when executing trades for Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington at the deadline.

"It wasn't really about winning right now," Harrison told ESPN. "It was just about continuing to build it. It's like every step is, how do we continue to get better? And we're not built for just right now; we're built for the next three playoff runs."

Harrison felt that Gafford and Washington would improve with the Dallas. Both players would have something to play for, as opposed to playing out the season on teams near the bottom of the standings. Gafford echoed his GM's thoughts.

"No disrespect to any other team that we were on, but it's just we went from playing for nothing to playing for something," Gafford said. "It's like we had to lock in a whole different way."

The NBA announced the finalists for 2023-24 Most Valuable Player. The finalists are Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

Jokic is a two-time MVP, having been honored for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Jokic was the MVP runner-up to Joel Embiid for the 2022-23 season.

This is the first time Doncic or Gilgeous-Alexander have been finalists for MVP.

The Dallas Mavericks could have interest in Klay Thompson in free agency, sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Thompson has received the support from several key stakeholders within the Golden State Warriors including Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr and Draymond Green.

Grayson Allen recently signed a four-year, $70 million extension with the Phoenix Suns, which could be a benchmark for the type of deal Thompson commands.

Thompson was drafted by the Warriors in 2011 out of Washington State.

The Western Conference seeds are set following the end of regular season on Sunday. The first round begins on Saturday, April 20th.

First Round Matchups

• No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 8 (Pelicans, Lakers, Kings or Warriors)

• No. 2 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 7 (Pelicans or Lakers)

• No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. No. 6 Phoenix Suns

• No. 4 LA Clippers vs. No. 5 Dallas Mavericks

Play-In

• No. 7 New Orleans Pelicans vs. No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers

• No. 9 Sacramento Kings vs. No. 10 Golden State Warriors

Mark Cuban does not have a separate employment agreement as part of his sale of the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families.

Sources tell Marc Stein that Cuban could have pushed for him to contractually retain operational control of the Mavericks' basketball department, but he declined to do so because he thought it was unnecessary due to his relationship with Patrick Dumont. Cuban, 65, also does not want formal employment.

The sale agreement does stipulate that new owners Miriam Adelson and Dumont hold an option to buy out a further 20 percent of Cuban's 27-percent share within the first four years of the partnership if they choose.