Ever since Dirk Nowitzki’s reign, Luka Doncic is the most prized possession that the Dallas Mavericks have had in recent years. Nowitzki has even claimed that the Slovenian is already better than what he was at his prime. He is set to become the poster boy of the NBA in the next couple of years.
One can place bets that Doncic who is a former Rookie of the Year will also bag the MVP title and also be a NBA Champion. Despite being young his charisma on the court is totally different. He leads from the front and he wants to get involved in each and every possession.
Luka inspired the Mavs to a fifth placed finish in the Western Conference but now for two consecutive seasons, they have failed to overcome the first round of the playoffs. Therefore the former Real Madrid basketball player is waiting for Mark Cuban to make things work in the offseason as he needs a better supporting cast to help the Slovenian who gave his all and still they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers.
In his short playoffs game span of 13 matches, he has almost averaged triple doubles proving his worth as a player to this Mavs unit. Both the Clippers and Mavs were evenly matched on paper but it was the supporting cast that let Doncic down. He averaged 35.7 points per game, 7.9 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game in the seven game playoffs series which they lost.
This has happened twice in consecutive seasons and hence the frustration and tension have risen at the club. This even soured Luka’s relationship with former coach Rick Carlisle and hence him leaving the Mavs was not a surprise to many.
Senior NBA Insider Chris Haynes via the Dan Patrick Show recently shared his opinion on what happened at the Dallas Mavericks. He said, “It was a poorly announced secret that Luka didn’t really get along with Rick Carlisle.”
“It was within league circles. We heard that throughout his tenure. Rick Carlisle is a coach who wants a lot of control. And he’s given control to Luka because he’s such a great, phenomenal player,” He further added.
“But he’s used to controlling the offense, controlling defense, calling sets and he had to allow Luka to have more reign being the player that he blossomed into.”
He concluded by saying, “But, those 2 guys, it was never just pure bliss with those 2 guys. I don’t have any information to say that Luka needed Carlyle to be out to stay there, but it wasn’t a secret that they made this decision.”
Doncic is bound by a contract that runs till 2022 and till that time at least he will be representing the Dallas Mavericks. He continues to share a great bond with franchise owner Mark Cuban.
