The Mavs Have Given Up Too Much To Still Be This MID
The Dallas Mavericks looked like one of the NBA’s most improved teams after the trade deadline with their mid-season acquisition seemingly fitting in perfectly besides Superstar Luca donic but that improved play was hiding the Ugly Truth Don’s Mavs have given up way too much over the years to still be this mediocre
After adding the versatility of PJ Washington and the combination of Rim running rebounding and shot blocking Daniel Gafford brings to the lineup the Mavs reeled off four straight wins as part of an overall seven game win streak however Dallas has quickly come crashing back to Earth blowing a late lead in
Cleveland suffering a home loss to the idless Sixers and taking blowout L’s to the Pacers and Celtics suddenly the post- deadline version of this team looks a lot like the inconsistent middling squad donic has been propping up all year sure the mf’s offense finally looks closer to the Juggernaut
It should be but the lackluster defense and overall results are more indicative of Dallas’s ceiling and while donic himself isn’t exactly a consistent Defender how much more can the all NBA first teamer really give in that loss to Cleveland donic had 45 points 14 assists nine rebounds and three Steals on 59%
Shooting while winning his minutes by 13 points in just 7 minutes without him the Mavs were outscored by 15 his 38 Point triple double against Philly wasn’t enough because despite winning his 40 minutes played by nine points the Mavs were outscored by 13 in the 8 minutes
Dage set stop me if you’re sensing a theme here I’ve ranted before about how Dallas has wasted the Head Start that precocious donic provided them and you could argue it’s only gotten worse since the the last of those Reigns coming out of last year’s draft with Derek Lively
Was terrific for the maps and I still believe in Josh green and Jaden Hardy but the overall upside here just doesn’t line up with all of Dallas’s wheeling and dealing trading for christops porzingis during Don’s rookie season kickstarted this chain of events as the big man never quite fit into a Luca
Centric system buying low on Kyrie Irving was a worthwhile gamble that has mostly paid off but it came with the team’s draft Capital already dwindling plus the reason they needed Kyrie in the first place was because the front office absolutely botched the Jaylen Brunson situation eventually watching the
Ascendant Star Walk For Nothing in free agency trading for The Versatile Grant Williams last summer made sense even if that deal included more draft picks but Williams and the Mavs didn’t exactly enjoy their time together to say the least halfway through his first season in Dallas Williams was traded to
Charlotte in the deal that brought PJ Washington to Texas but to complete that transaction the Mavs also gave up a 2027 first rounder that is only top two protected finally Dallas landed Gafford by trading little used big man ran Holmes and a 2024 first rounder they had acquired from Oklahoma City earlier on
Deadline day except here’s the thing in order to NAB that pick used in The Gafford deal the Mavs gained the Thunder first round swap rights in 2028 it’s almost as if you have no business training at all those two deadline Day deals are representative of the Mavs front office’s overall
Performance during the donic era since benefiting from the collective buffoonery of Phoenix Sacramento and Atlanta on draft night in 2018 Dallas has been chasing its tail to find the right mix around its franchise star even when the Mavs make a move that improves their short-term Outlook it’s often only
An incremental upgrade that doesn’t justify the long-term cost the maps have spent the The Last 5 Years exhausting all that AFF forementioned draft capital and trade Equity just to end up a likely playing team whose third best player is either practically a teenager or Daniel Gafford now you might give the MAV some
Credit for acting with a sense of urgency and consistently trying to build the best possible team they can around donic even when the available upgrades are merely marginal but this team has just never seemed capable of seeing the big picture of seeing the for is for the
Treats and they just keep doubling and even tripling down what in the hell are they doing you could argue most teams would still trade places with the Mavs in a heartbeat given the mere presence of donic but that’s becoming less so the closer we get to the end of Luca’s
Contract which could come as soon as 2026 not to mention the Mavs are capped out through at least next season are unlikely to keep their first rounder this year and don’t have enough to barge their way into star trade talks anytime soon especially without giving up Lively
I know this might all seem alarmist to Mavs fans but in NBA years where time seemingly moves at the speed of light 2026 isn’t that far off in terms of sheer activity the Mavs have done a lot during the donic era but when have they ever really done it
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The Dallas Mavericks looked like one of the NBA’s most improved teams after the trade deadline, but that improved play was hiding the ugly truth – Doncic’s Mavs have given up way too much over the years to still be this mediocre.
Written & Narrated by: Joseph Casciaro (@JosephCasciaro | X)
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36 Comments
Kyrie
The attention to detail is remarkable. It's evident that a lot of thought and passion went into making this.đ
They will be much better next year. After this team has done thru this year and everyone knows there placements they will be top 4 team in the nba next year.
This team is built for next year. Integrating PJ and Gaff, knowing their heirarchy from 3 on, giving OMax and Hardy the roles of Timmy and Kleber and having 2 1st rounders to trade to. This will be a way better team next year
I agree that the Mavs front office has botched some moves like letting Brunson go for nothing. But the problem with building with Luka is that he was too good too quickly. So they didnât get a chance to bottom out multiple years like OKC did with Shai and get all those top 10 picks. Also, the KP trade was justifiable and would have worked if KP didnât keep getting hurt and he himself said that he was immature and didnât want to play his role or give it 100% effort. With Brunson, they should get credit for at least drafting the guy. But yes, some of the margin moves have been outright terrible. And I get the play-in team last two years, but they did go to a WCF and beat a 64 win Suns team. And this yearâs team wouldnât be an 8th seed if they werenât hit with so many injuries.
We might think Luka has a long future ahead but the clock is ticking faster than we realize. His championship window won't last forever
Luka "needs to be in a bigger market"…hahahahaha That's what the media always says when they like a player and don't want to dog him out like they do the players they don't like. How about "he needs more help". Or "he has been surrounded by bums". Which one works here??
Tbh a lot of their issues around defense would've been solved with one of 2 way defenders like Siakam and OG. A year or two of tanking wouldn't have hurt either.
Even the Brunson situation does not make any sense because if the contract asked was really that low, Dallas could've given him that contract and then flipped him for assets. I personally think it had to do with more with Brunson's agent, Sam Rose of CAA, being the son of Leon Rose, Knick's president and also former power agent of CAA than what was published.
To everyone saying Dallas is planning for next year, I think whole league will know how to beat em by then- let Luka score 70 but don't let anyone else have a point.
If you watch the games, its apparent that there is a clear lack of gameplan. They barely run any plays that isnt a Luka pick and roll. The defence has been bad with the lack of effort and the scheme that had them helping off one pass away. As much as the trades that the Mavricks have done are an issue, at this stage it feels like at least a coaching issue and potetnially a top down organisational one.
Tbh i think that luka is the problem. Not because hes bad but because his play style is hard to build a team around
Luka had porzongis and brunson. Bro never gonna win a chip đ˘
Luka is a selfish player that's the problem
As odd as this sounds Mavs need to learn to win without Luka.
Hope that 2030 unprotected pick swap they gave the Spurs to take Reggie Bullock to facilitate the trade for Grant Williams pays off for the Spurs.
Dallas has a solid squad. The coaching and scheme is terrible.
Didn't once mention bad coaching, the biggest reason for the Mavs' lack of success. Atrocious defence is up there too.
the 2 players that hold the ball the most play defense the least… they hold the ball so much the confidence other players need by having the ball more (many nba players do play better with more touches the same way they play better with more minutes) to be confident enough to play as efficient as they can falls off. So you get 2 big times confident players and than 10 that could be more efficient. Not saying they won't get better after playing together longer but….
J kidd as a player is an absolute stud
J kidd as a coach is never going to win a championship
Theres no excuse for their defensive shortcomings
Cuban allowing nico to make as many moves possible rn because ownership picture might be a lot different in 2-3 yrs.
Alot of player movement for mavs last few years⌠just a thought but maybe its the coaching personnel that needs a change ..
The Mavs suck period. Itâs just a Luka show, if you want to watch Luka play thatâs it other than that this team is not winning or going anywhere
What you fail to realize is you canât build a team around Luka period. Luka is in it for himself – Dallas doesnât have to worry about Luka going nowhere because no one else will tolerate him playing Luka Ball. No one wants to come to Dallas and spend their career in a corner or on the bench. You all are just looking đ at his scoring etc not seeing how his scoring is effecting the team as a whole. Itâs takes Team Ball đ to win. What PG takes the 1st 5 shots to start a game???? He will never win MVP because the other Candidates can WIN, Play Team Ball and can score just as much without icing out their team. Dallas has a good Team, but those guys are not going to keep running up and down the court and rarely touch the ball đ they are not faucets, they need their rhythm just like Luka needs hisâŚI donât understand why he hasnât learned that by now.
The announcers and Barkley on TNT were talking about him not moving the ball and majority of the time there is only one person touching the ball đ and he needs to score less and allow others to help – if Luka donât have trust in his teammates then WTF is he doing in the NBA – you canât beat any team by yourself period
Doncic plays ZERO DEFENSE. I despise when people pretend that he isn't super overrated.
All it is, Jason Kidd sucks as a coach #FIREKIDD
Maybe theyâll win a ring right before Doncic retires, like in Nowitzkiâs case.
If ever he gets healthy, the Mavs should trade for Lonzo Ball. Luka plays like Harden and Harden never made a conference finals as the guy before Houston traded for Chris Paul.
The second best player is the rookie . I like pj Washington too.
The main problem was that Luka was too good so soon. You couldnât tank and get another top 5 pick because they won too many games. They never got a chance to get multiple lottery picks
I think Kidd is the problem
The main problem is the outside shooter even it was too open.
Luka-kyrie is good
Luka has enough to win, he just has to figure it out. They've got a great second star in Kyrie and a bunch of quality role players. It's up to him as the leader of the team to figure out how to get it done. He sadly doesn't have the coach capable of helping him in that regard.
J Kidd should go
Kidd's gotta go.
Luka to Spurs.. let's start the dynasty
luka takes too many shots. other teammates cant get a consistent rhythm
Less time of Luka handling the ball and more ball movement!!!
How do you have Doncic and Kyrie and not be winning 70% of your games ?
I feel very sorry for Luka, itâs like the Lebron situation in his first years