The Dallas Mavericks might have found something in the second half of the first round. Sergio De Larrea, the Spanish guard they took 25th overall in the 2026 draft, put up 16 points and 12 assists Monday night in a 96-88 Summer League win over the Memphis Grizzlies. For a team that spent last season hunting for a reliable secondary playmaker alongside Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg, that stat line jumps off the page.
De Larrea ran the show from start to finish. At 6’5″ he sees the floor well and his passing stood out in a setting where most young guards are hunting their own shot. He found cutters in the lane, hit rollers out of the pick-and-roll and fired skip passes to the weak side before the defense could rotate. That vision is rare for a 20-year-old, even in a league full of gifted ball handlers.
Not your typical rookie
Here’s what makes De Larrea different from most first-year guards. He’s spent the last four seasons playing for Valencia in Spain’s ACB league. That means he’s been competing against grown men — veterans, former NBA guys, experienced international players — since he was 16. Summer League should feel like a speed bump compared to the physicality and structure of European basketball.
He finished with four turnovers Monday, but for a rookie point guard running the offense for the first time in a Mavs uniform, that number isn’t alarming. What matters is that the team ran through him. Every possession started with the ball in his hands. He looked comfortable making decisions under pressure, and the guys around him clearly benefitted from his pace and accuracy.
Where he fits with Dallas
The Mavericks have spent real energy building around Flagg, and Irving’s recent injury history has made the need for another ballhandler more urgent. De Larrea isn’t going to replace Kyrie. Nobody on the roster does that. But he can take pressure off Flagg by initiating the offense and creating easy looks for teammates. That’s a skill set Dallas hasn’t had much of outside its two stars.
It’s Summer League. Everyone knows the caveats. The defense is looser, the rotations are sloppy and players are mostly auditioning for roles. But De Larrea’s performance didn’t look like an accident. He didn’t just get hot from deep or rim-run in transition. He orchestrated. That kind of floor game tends to translate, even if the numbers take a hit once the real season starts.
The Mavs have to be happy with what they saw Monday. A 20-year-old point guard who can run a team and hit open shooters? That’s exactly the kind of development they need to keep this window open.
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