**Official Luka Doncic Thread**

[TSonn]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

I think Rick is done.

His ranting and raving isn't helping. Especially when his young star already exhibits poor body language.

But we all know if Dallas doesn't have the 3 ball going they are in trouble. I have to say, Clips D was really good.

Luka got a couple of crappy calls early too. They never looked good other than when Boban came in.

Not sure what coaches are available but it's time. This team isn't ready even if a coaching change comes in. But it will be a move in the right direction.

Clips roster is significantly better than the Mavs, huh?

[dkcardman]

That was an epic suck-fest by the mavs last night. If they cant figure out a way to turn this series back around, they will carry this stink for a while.
What a difference 7 quarters can make in a series. Narrative has completely flipped that fast. Doesnt mean it cant flip back though.

[Dnic]

Originally Posted by dkcardman

That was an epic suck-fest by the mavs last night. If they cant figure out a way to turn this series back around, they will carry this stink for a while.
What a difference 7 quarters can make in a series. Narrative has completely flipped that fast. Doesnt mean it cant flip back though.

Without a healthy Luka even I have to admit the Mavs are toast need him to be 100% to even be competitive since the rest of this Mavs team sucks, they must have the worst starting 5 of any playoff team minus Luka imo

[KhalDrogo]

#1 priority this offseason is to trade KP.

#2 priority is to fire Rick.

If Cuban won't do those things, Dallas doesn't deserve to keep Luka. And I hope he leaves. Compare what the Hawks have put around Trae to what the Mavs have put around Luka. Hawks have a mix of young and veteran depth on both ends of the court. Mavs have next to nothing. A bunch of misfits whose play is elevated by Luka's presence.

[dkcardman]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

#1 priority this offseason is to trade KP.

#2 priority is to fire Rick.

If Cuban won't do those things, Dallas doesn't deserve to keep Luka. And I hope he leaves. Compare what the Hawks have put around Trae to what the Mavs have put around Luka. Hawks have a mix of young and veteran depth on both ends of the court. Mavs have next to nothing. A bunch of misfits whose play is elevated by Luka's presence.

It legitimately looks like the Mavs executive mentality is this...
'Luka is the chosen one. It is his destiny to win multiple.championships. as long as he is on the court, miraculous things will happen. Let's just throw him out there and watch the magic happen.'

He is not Jesus, he cannot perform magic, destiny in basketball is not a thing, you cant 'believe' in a basketball player enough to make the ball actually go in the basket. Other players matter a lot. They did not build a team in the offseason or during the year. They said, we are all in on Luka and all on top of Luka. They will break him doing this.

[Dnic]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

#1 priority this offseason is to trade KP.

#2 priority is to fire Rick.

If Cuban won't do those things, Dallas doesn't deserve to keep Luka. And I hope he leaves. Compare what the Hawks have put around Trae to what the Mavs have put around Luka. Hawks have a mix of young and veteran depth on both ends of the court. Mavs have next to nothing. A bunch of misfits whose play is elevated by Luka's presence.

If Cuban doesn't make changes this off season then I would hope Luka doesn't sign his max deal and leaves

[2010GBPackers]

Originally Posted by dkcardman

It legitimately looks like the Mavs executive mentality is this...
'Luka is the chosen one. It is his destiny to win multiple.championships. as long as he is on the court, miraculous things will happen. Let's just throw him out there and watch the magic happen.'

He is not Jesus, he cannot perform magic, destiny in basketball is not a thing, you cant 'believe' in a basketball player enough to make the ball actually go in the basket. Other players matter a lot. They did not build a team in the offseason or during the year. They said, we are all in on Luka and all on top of Luka. They will break him doing this.

Agreed. The Bucks have been guilty of this the previous 2 years. The addition of Holiday was bigger than people expected and Middleton is on fire right now, but I'm not sure you can win an NBA Finals anymore without two superstars. We'll see.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by dkcardman

It legitimately looks like the Mavs executive mentality is this...
'Luka is the chosen one. It is his destiny to win multiple.championships. as long as he is on the court, miraculous things will happen. Let's just throw him out there and watch the magic happen.'

He is not Jesus, he cannot perform magic, destiny in basketball is not a thing, you cant 'believe' in a basketball player enough to make the ball actually go in the basket. Other players matter a lot. They did not build a team in the offseason or during the year. They said, we are all in on Luka and all on top of Luka. They will break him doing this.

They added Jrich. Huge move! Then they traded for Redick. He was going to be the difference maker!

They went all in on Giannis 2021, and it blew up in their face the moment he extended with the Bucks.

Originally Posted by Dnic

If Cuban doesn't make changes this off season then I would hope Luka doesn't sign his max deal and leaves

He can't just leave though. I don't know exactly how this would go down, but if he doesn't sign this offseason, he's an RFA in a year. I imagine he'd have to sign some poison pill (one year deal to become unrestricted after) or just force the issue and demand a trade.

[Kobefan]

What do you guys think of the possibility of Dallas signing John Collins? He's going to be a restricted free agent and I think Atlanta won't match salary anywhere near the max cause they have too many good players with potentials and probably needed cap space, Trae, Capela, Bogdanovic, etc.

[Dnic]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

They added Jrich. Huge move! Then they traded for Redick. He was going to be the difference maker!

They went all in on Giannis 2021, and it blew up in their face the moment he extended with the Bucks.


He can't just leave though. I don't know exactly how this would go down, but if he doesn't sign this offseason, he's an RFA in a year. I imagine he'd have to sign some poison pill (one year deal to become unrestricted after) or just force the issue and demand a trade.

I would think if he forced the issue they would have to trade him or lose him for nothing in FA, I do hope he stays but unless they get some great FA like Collins or Beal etc... players of that caliber if not I hope he leaves his talents are being wasted right now imo. They should have kept Curry cause JRich is a disaster he isn't very good on defense and is a very streaky shooter the only shot he is really good at is free throws.

[jbmm161]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

#1 priority this offseason is to trade KP.

#2 priority is to fire Rick.

If Cuban won't do those things, Dallas doesn't deserve to keep Luka. And I hope he leaves. Compare what the Hawks have put around Trae to what the Mavs have put around Luka. Hawks have a mix of young and veteran depth on both ends of the court. Mavs have next to nothing. A bunch of misfits whose play is elevated by Luka's presence.

#1 Bring in a competent GM
#2 Coaching Change

This team can’t draft or sign free agents.
Just good enough to stay out of the lottery and not good enough to get past 1st/2nd round of playoffs
The only hope for last 20* years has been to trade for players the other team doesn’t want.

Makes you wonder why no one wants to play for the Mavs, Cuban or come to Dallas.
The only 2 legit stars they have had since 98 are Dirk and Luka both via trade.

Kidd was the only draft pick I can think of that was any good and he became a star elsewhere.
Nash/Finley by trade.


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[minnesotachill]

Wouldn't it just be easier for Luka to move to another team rather than get rid of the GM, coach, and teammates?

[Derekbauer]

Originally Posted by minnesotachill

Wouldn't it just be easier for Luka to move to another team rather than get rid of the GM, coach, and teammates?

From a pure basketball standpoint, yes.

But we have no idea what kind of relationships he’s built within the city of Dallas, the organization, Cuban, etc....

It’s easy for us to say “screw Dallas” I’m out. But we just don’t know the variables.


And if you’re Cuban, you do EVERYTHING necessary to make sure he stays. Period.

[armoursave]

He’s Dallas for life. That’s how it works at that franchise. They’ll fire the coach and re-tool the lineup. One things for sure...they HAVE to resign Brunson and Hardaway. Literally everyone else can go.

[k13]

How low does Luka drop after they lose this series?

[dcarado]

The Mavs obviously have moves to make, but Cuban's not an idiot. This is not a situation where you just pull what the Clippers did and sell off all your future stock for a 2 or 3-year window, hoping there's a line of vets at your door willing to play for the minimum. If you've got a generational talent like Luka, the goal should be to win multiple rings and be a contender year-in and year-out for a decade.

The timing is almost right. Warriors have run their course, Lebron is on his way out, the handful of top guys behind Lebron are mostly on the back-9. As an organization, the Mavs aren't competing against the Lakers, Clippers, Nets. They're competing against the Celtics, Bucks, Pelicans, Grizzlies, Hawks. I think Cuban recognizes that and doesn't want to throw all his chips in to try and win 1 ring. He has to find the right pieces at the right time to build a decade-long contender. All that to say, have patience. I think Cuban will deliver, it's just not going to happen overnight.

[Onepocketj]

Originally Posted by k13

How low does Luka drop after they lose this series?

Damn. Heard you were banned. Guess the good news was premature.

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by TSonn

Clips roster is significantly better than the Mavs, huh?

What are you on about?

The Mavs were up 2-0 after being on the road.

Weren't you telling me that the Clips were by far the better team?

I felt it was pretty even. 2-2 sure does seem pretty even.

But if Luka isn't 100% and they don't knock 3s they're in massive trouble.

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by k13

How low does Luka drop after they lose this series?

I'd guess not much... yet. I think we're two seasons away from the Harden career trajectory comps and speculative investors dumping heavy. They're similar players, and Luka is in a similar situation to the one Harden was in.

I don't think the Mavs are THAT bad, but every team needs to be built around a player and/or built with an identity. It's clear KP is not a viable #2. Dude can't even stay on the floor. Dallas needs a legit interior presence moving forward.

In a couple years Luka will likely be considered the best player in the league, but will still be stuck on a franchise that can't crack into the Western Conference Finals if they don't overhaul the pieces around him.

Who knows... maybe Luka brings his magic for the remainder of the series, but it's not looking good with the injury and how dependent Dallas is on him for pretty much everything.

[The_Reverend]

His injury is a blessing really. If a healthy Luka had taken the Mavs to the 2nd round, Cuban might not see the need to fix certain situations we have all discussed. Luka is the future of this league, along with a few other promising stars, but they need to lose 4 straight and not even let GM or head coach return. Also KP bad contract will be tough to move, but he is NOT the #2 they need. We will talk about the Mavs next year.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by The_Reverend

His injury is a blessing really. If a healthy Luka had taken the Mavs to the 2nd round, Cuban might not see the need to fix certain situations we have all discussed. Luka is the future of this league, along with a few other promising stars, but they need to lose 4 straight and not even let GM or head coach return. Also KP bad contract will be tough to move, but he is NOT the #2 they need. We will talk about the Mavs next year.

As much as we want to say "Things will be better next year once they make some moves"... they still need to be able to pull off good ones.

If you recall correctly, they tried to make some moves by trading Seth Curry for Josh Richardson. That didn't really work out for them.

Kristaps is a problem if he can't get it done on the court for them. He has another 2 years at $32MM and $34MM, plus a player option for a 3rd year at $36MM. I don't know what team takes on that contract and still gives you a better player back.

That being said... the series is still 2-2. 2 Games ago people here were writing the Clippers off. Now it seems a lot of people are writing the Mavs off. Let's see how it plays out.

[KhalDrogo]

I will take a single Gatorade bottle for KP.

[Onepocketj]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

I will take a single Gatorade bottle for KP.

Does it have to have anything in it?

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by Onepocketj

Does it have to have anything in it?

Luka magic.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by Onepocketj

Does it have to have anything in it?

$102M that comes out over the next three years.