Welcome to Part 3 of the 2026-27 League Pass Rankings—our annual exercise to determine the most watchable teams in the NBA. If you need a refresher on our methodology, check out Part 1 from Wednesday, which began our countdown with the bottom six. Thursday’s Part 2 continued with teams 24 through 19, and today we cross the halfway point with nos. 18 to 13.

Reminder: We are publishing these rankings in five parts to mark the lead-up to the new season; once it tips off, The Lowe Post will convert to its normal cadence of one post per week. Let’s go.

18. Dallas Mavericks (30)

Things I will miss while watching the Mavs:

• P.J. Washington, one of at least seven Mavericks who could be classified as a “power forward,” serving as a stone-faced, arms-folded bodyguard for Luka Doncic.

• The Nico Harrison Memorial Staircase—straight-up prop comedy. They should have kept it there, roped it off, and allowed fans to leave mementos—like a mausoleum.

• Dereck Lively II. He looked like the perfect rim-running, defense-first center for Doncic, and now for Cooper Flagg—a true heir to Tyson Chandler from the 2011 championship team. Lively should be a cornerstone in this great accidental rebuild. He had so much more game to show before foot injuries derailed his development—passing, one-dribble moves, growth on defense. Here’s hoping Lively gets healthy soon.

Flagg’s game is bursting in every direction, and now he has Kyrie Irving, perhaps the slickest ball handler in league history, to split ballhandling duties. Those two should form a lethal pick-and-roll combination, preying on mismatches. Either one can work off the ball when the other runs two-man game with one of the Mavs’ bigs—including Daniel Gafford, perhaps the most violent dunker in the league. Let’s use some of this fancy-pants tracking technology to measure the downward velocity of Gafford’s right arm when he directs ball to rim.

Dusty May is a stylistic wild card, but the Mavs have a pretty high Fun Floor as long as Irving and Flagg are here. They played fast last season, and Flagg can now run the wings—a massive target—when Irving sprints the ball up.

May can play rangy lineups stocked with switchable forwards: Washington, Naji Marshall, Santi Aldama, Caleb Martin, Zaccharie Risacher (remember him?), Tarik Biberovic, and old Michigan pal Morez Johnson Jr. He could even use one at center in smaller lineups.

Rule of thumb: Marshall is always helpful to have around. He plays super hard, takes zero crap, and does almost everything pretty well; he shot a Jokic-esque 54 percent from floater range last season, and he takes more of them than almost anyone.

Marcus Sasser is good and seems eager to make Detroit regret dumping him.

The three-man booth—Mark Followill, Derek Harper, Jeff “Skin” Wade—is broadcast royalty.

17. Detroit Pistons (30.5)