Luka Magic Not Enough for the Mavs
33, 22, 42, 24, 27, 41, 35. Those are Luka Doncic’s point totals since missing a November 16th contest vs. the Houston Rockets.
Doncic is averaging a league-leading 33.6 points per game at the moment. He’s the leading MVP candidate by a comfortable margin, and he still seems to have room to improve those numbers.
Aside from being the top scorer in the NBA, Doncic is also leading his team in rebounds, assists, and steals per game. And, he’s shooting 50.5% from the field.
And yet, the Dallas Mavericks are nowhere near the playoff picture in the stacked Western Conference, currently idling at 10-11 on the year.
A One-Man Show?
To say the rest of the Mavericks aren’t stepping up to help their superstar would be unfair. After all, the Mavs have four other players averaging double digits in scoring. Spencer Dinwiddle is putting in 16.2 points, 4.9 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and a steal per game. Christian Wood is averaging 16.8 points and 7.7 rebounds, while Tim Hardaway Jr. is averaging 11.6 points.
Yes, the rest of the Mavericks are pitching in. However, those contributions aren’t enough. Just look at their recent loss at the hands of the Giannis Antekounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks.
Doncic had 27 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, and six turnovers. The rest?
Dinwiddle finished 22 points. Wood had 21 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Dorian Finley-Smith scored 13 points in 38 minutes. And Hardaway Jr. had six points in 21 minutes.
In contrast, Antetokounmpo led a balanced attack from the Milwaukee starters with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Grayson Allen scored 25 points in 32 minutes, while Brook Lopez, Jrue Holiday, and Jevon Carter combined for 43 points. Bobby Portis Jr. also had 15 points and ten rebounds off the bench.
Both teams have a superstar who can easily attract double teams or even triple teams, and yet the Bucks came out victorious because they got more contributions from their role players.
It also doesn’t help the Mavs that Doncic’s numbers go down significantly in their losses. In their wins, the third pick in the 2018 NBA Draft is averaging 36.8 points, 8.7 assists, 8.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 55.5% field goal shooting. Those numbers go down to 29.6 points, 7.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 44.9% field goal shooting when the Mavs are on the losing end of the boxscore.
It highlights the fact that a Luka Doncic one-man show in Dallas can’t and won’t deliver championships. Just ask James Harden when he was leading the Houston Rockets.
Moves Unlikely
Yes, it’s obvious Luka Doncic needs more help or perhaps, another superstar teammate to help get the Mavericks over the hump. Unfortunately, the Mavs won’t be able to move a muscle when it comes to their roster for many reasons.
For one, they have several players whose salary has been locked in Dallas which means trading any of them would hurt the team financially even further. For another, the team also lacks tradable assets that would be of interest to other NBA teams.
Luka Doncic is averaging 33-8-8 and yet, the Mavs are currently outside the playoff picture at the moment. With additional help from the outside not available for now, the only help Doncic could get is from within the team. He needs more from the rest of the squad, especially when the defense is focused on him.
Otherwise, they won’t even make the play-in tournament.
While the signing of Kemba Walker is a sign that the front office isn’t willing to rest on their laurels, it’s also unlikely to move the needle much. Walker’s struggled to remain healthy over the past several seasons, and even when he was, his defensive chops are almost non-existent at this stage of his career.
Several knee injuries have sapped most of the burst that made him a 4x All-Star, and his best days are almost assuredly behind him at this point. There’s several intriguing names on expiring contracts this year, but as previously mentioned, the Mavs lack tradable assets at the moment.
Luka is a 3x All-NBA first teamer already, making him only the 3rd player in NBA history to achieve the feat through his age 22 season, joining Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. However if something doesn’t drastically change in Dallas, and soon, we could be witnessing an all-time individual season get squandered.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.