The Mavericks are miles ahead of everyone early in the season thanks to one key factor

With only one day left until the Dallas Mavericks officially take the field in an important game, everything that happened last summer, in training camp and in the preseason in Dallas, has prepared this Mavericks team for their loss in the To avenge last season's NBA Finals.

Dallas' first game of the season will be against the San Antonio Spurs, which will also host Victor Wembanyama's first game of his second season. It goes without saying that there will be an electric atmosphere at American Airlines Center on Thursday night as there are many compelling narratives to follow in the competition.

There will also be many players making their debuts for the Mavericks, including Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes. With the Mavericks trading away many key pieces from last year's roster, it will likely take some time for the Mavericks to fully adjust to each other before this team reaches its true potential, and head coach Jason Kidd will have to tinker with the rotation until it reaches his climax.

However, the Mavericks don't have to worry about their health on Thursday night as the Mavericks are expected to be fully healthy aside from guard Dante Exum, who is out with a wrist injury.

While this may not seem like a significant advantage given the start of the regular season, the Mavericks' perfect health gives them a decent advantage over many other Western Conference opponents who aren't as fortunate at this point in the season.

In the Southwest Division alone, there are a number of players who will already miss their regular season debut, and in some other cases even longer. For example, the Spurs will be without young player Devin Vassell against Dallas tomorrow, as Vassell is expected to miss at least a week with a foot injury.

The same goes for newly extended New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, who is also expected to miss the start of the season with a hamstring injury. After an injury-riddled season last year, another of Dallas' rivals, the Memphis Grizzlies, is far from healthy to start the season as they will be without Jaren Jackson Jr., Vince Williams, GG Jackson II and Luke Kennard to start theirs tonight regular season.

Some non-division opponents in the Western Conference that Dallas played in the playoffs last season also already have a number of run-ins with the injury bug. The Oklahoma City Thunder will be without new free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein to start the season, and LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is expected to be out indefinitely with knee inflammation.

The injury situation in the Western Conference is by no means so dire that the Mavericks will have an easy path to a top-four finish in the West or a great playoff run, as it is far too early to tell how that will pan out In any case, things will develop in this regular season. However, the Mavericks can clearly benefit from preventing other teams from starting the season.

Dallas' only injured player in Exum is not a crucial part of Dallas' rotation when healthy, although having him is certainly a luxury while some other teams in the conference are missing stars or senior role players early in the season 2024-25. Because of this, there is a clear chance for the Mavericks to pick up some wins early in the season, but only time will tell whether that will ultimately be the case.