The NBA season is nearly here.

Monday was Media Day for all NBA teams and for those with a lot of questions floating around, like the Mavericks, the day was a chance to finally get some answers from the players themselves.

Coach Rick Carlisle, Dirk Nowitzki, Harrison Barnes, Nerlens Noel and Dennis Smith Jr. all addressed the media at American Airlines Center and gave their thoughts on this past summer and everything that’s gone on since the 2017 season ended.

Perhaps the most unexpected development was Rick Carlisle’s admission that Nerlens Noel likely won’t start at center this season. Furthermore, he clarified that he had a group conversation with not only Noel but his agent Rich Paul and that the two were “fine” with the situation.

With that being said, Carlisle mentioned the success and offensive flexibility the Mavericks had last season with Dirk playing center last year and all but confirmed that Nowitzki would be Dallas’ starting big man.

In light of Noel’s offseason qualifying offer drama, this is a very intriguing development. Noel is the perfect style of center to run with Dallas’ flow offense and especially with the Mavericks looking to play faster this year (something alluded to by nearly every Maverick interviewed on Monday) it makes sense Noel would be in line to see heavy minutes. Smith Jr. even went so far as to call Noel his “dream big.” More on that later.

Carlisle also added that Nowitzki “isn’t the type of guy to come off the bench.”

Does this signal potential controversy amidst Dallas to start the season?

From Noel’s interview itself, there doesn’t seem to be a reason to think that. He dismissed the notion of any hard feelings with Dallas and deferred most of the “why did you turn down a $70 million deal” questions to his agent. He added that he’s as excited as he’s ever been to play basketball and expressed optimism about his health, something that’s been a question mark for almost the entirety of his four-year NBA career.

Amusingly, we learned that Noel was allegedly dunked on by Smith Jr. in practice recently. It’s an event both players, and also Harrison Barnes, referred to with laughter and Noel saying it was “unexpected” and that “other people in the league are going to find out worse than I did” just how quickly Smith Jr. can get up in the air.

Smith Jr. said he got Noel “slipping” and rose up for the slam. It’s notable the chemistry between Smith Jr. and Noel and, as mentioned earlier, how excited each of them seem to be playing with each other. It remains to be seen how much time they get on the court together and if any success will convince Noel to sign a long-term deal with the Mavericks next summer.

Nowitzki and Barnes both addressed what they feel is the promise for this season with Smith Jr. driving the offense. Carlisle referred to Barnes as a player “who is pissed because of only winning 33 games last season.” Barnes, for his part, acknowledged his need to get to the free-throw line more often and said he’s been taking his offseason workout regiment very seriously.

When asked about the recent tensions with President Donald Trump, both Nowitzki and Barnes expressed disappointment in the choice of language that was used by Trump. Nowitzki was specifically asked, after telling about his NBA Africa experience, what the reaction from his friends overseas were to the controversies in America.

“You don’t want to know,” Nowitzki replied.

When pressed further on the reactions of those abroad, Dirk steered clear of any controversy.

“Call your overseas friends and ask them,” Dirk said. “I’m not telling you.”

On a final note, Dirk was asked how many calf raises he would have to do to match Smith Jr.’s explosiveness. His reply was typical Dirk.

“I was talking to a guy about that the other day,” he said. “He told me that even if I did a million of them it wouldn’t do any good.”

It’s shaping up to be a very interesting season for the Dallas Mavericks. Their first preseason game is Monday, Oct. 2 at home against Milwaukee with the regular season opener set for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in Atlanta against the Hawks.