As the Dallas Mavericks move into a new era for the franchise, are Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis the stars to lead them back to contender status?
Being one of the most well run franchise’s in the NBA is tough. You have to deal with a great coach who has been consistent and maintains longevity, an owner with deep pockets, a great market, and good players for most of the last decade.
Having been able to make the jump from the Dirk Nowitzki era to now has been one of the Dallas Mavericks best accomplishments though to me. Most teams that win titles aren’t able to rebuild quickly and be back in it unless you’re a dynasty.
Few teams like the Spurs, Celtics, Lakers, and maybe a couple more have been able to string together title contention over separate generations. This is a big deal due to how difficult it is not only to fit talent together, but more specifically to draft it. A team may do well on one player and fit great pieces around him, I.E. Magic Johnson, but to be able to follow a great pick with more great ones consistently is another level.
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Now we won’t act like the Mavericks are the Patriots (in the NFL) or the Celtics as far as scouting talent, but as of late they’ve been very competent and shrewd when it comes to decision making about the future of the team. Having drafted Dirk 20-plus years ago and surrounded him with the right players to win a title, they appear to have done it again recently with Luka Doncic.
Being a European player in the draft isn’t for the faint of heart when you consider the speculations and scrutiny faced by American NBA fans. We often think of all of the bust’s from overseas and think college is a more reliable talent pool, but a blanket statement can’t be made to scare teams away from Euro players.
Proven this year by Luka having one of the best rookie campaigns since I don’t know, LeBron James? To immediately walk into the league and put up 20 7 and 5, especially as a guard who was only 20, is insane.
He’s flashed elite playmaking skills as well as an uncanny ability to hit fade aways and tough shots the likes of James Harden, and that’s exactly who he reminds me of. Both Doncic and Harden are relatively average athletically, though James is definitely more so than Luka, and both players have a knack for making bad shots as well as clutch ones. Not to say it’s all roses though, because I assuredly have some efficiency concerns with the rookie for now, but I believe it will be sorted out as his career progresses.
So, you draft one of the best rookies in NBA history, so maybe we can compete in like 5-6 years, right? Oh actually we’re just going to be intuitive as hell and trade our high upside guard that doesn’t fit well with Luka in exchange for a unicorn talent, scoring point guard, and a potential starting-2 or top notch 6th man.
The Kristaps Porzingis trade was the perfect example of the Mavs preying on an inferior front office, because they absolutely finessed the Knicks. Yeah Hardaway’s contract might not be great, but he can give you 30 on any given night and fill multiple roles for this team so I think it’s a great addition especially in light of losing the Harrison Barnes contract.
They also drafted Jalen Brunson in the same draft as Doncic and we didn’t really get to see what he could do until later in the year, but even still he showed promise to be a very competent point and potentially even a great fit to start in the backcourt.
This franchise is in a great position going forward considering they have two all-NBA talent’s that are probably one day championship level players. They then went and secured great role players to fit around them for next season, oh and…they have a desirable market location to likely attract other top talent to join them.
I’m the only one I heard say Kevin Durant should’ve signed with the Mavs this summer, but I believe it’s true. Imagine a starting 5 of Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr., Durant, Kristaps Porzingis, and Dwight Powell. On the bench you have JJ Barea, Brunson, Seth Curry, Maxi Klebler, etc.
I would project them to be around 45 wins next season if Kristaps, Doncic, Hardaway, Brunson, and the crew are healthy. Without a prized free agent, the Mavs will have to way a few years to contend for a title again. However, I still strongly believe they will be in one within the next five years with zero doubt in my mind.