I definitely think the chances Luka leaves Dallas is very small, due to rookie contract structure and Dallas's overwhelming motivation to keep him. To become a FA after his rookie deal, Luka has to traverse a course very rarely done by other stars. It's not impossible, just risky and costly for one year, since he'd have to play for the one year qualifying offer instead of a max salary he'd get in RFA. I've seen similar arguments about Luka's usage/ball dominance and agree its a good one. Luka's control of the ball is the highest in the league. Only Harden, Westbrook, Wall and Trae have had seasons with the same level of ball dominance (9+ minutes time of poss per game). For reference over the years Curry, Lebron and Joker is around 5 to 6 minutes. intuitively it makes a ton of sense, let your best player decide/control as many possessions as possible. but does that ball dominance limit the growth and abilities of their teammates and of the unit as a whole (sum of parts idiom). Furthermore does that strategy face limitations in the playoffs due to increase effort, fatigue and opponent game planning. It's an interesting question, but since this type of singlular player offense is pretty rare and with too many varying factors to analyze, I doubt there will be any consensus on an answer.
Over the 7 games series? No. Did he close it out by being the best player? Yes. Kawhi didn't start playing a high level of defense on Luka until the Clippers they tried everything else first.
Kristaps wasn't much of a factor in the postseason, whether that was more due to Luka, Carlise or himself is TBD. But the criticisms from the public and media is excessive now. I just saw someone on twitter post his season stats and it isn't that bad. 20 points 9 rebs on 58% TS ( 37% from three ) in 30 minutes isn't great for a max player, but its not terrible either. The defense and injury issues are definitely a problem, but he is still young and his game can still improve. Mavs need to work on his post game, pnr game, screening and somehow improve the on court chemistry with Luka because they might just be stuck together for a while.
He has relegated Porzingis into a role player. The offense is all about Luka and if he does pass it’s hardly to Porzingis.
I am pretty sure I watched Lord Beverley play tonight in the second round while the other dude is back in some Euro village herding sheep. Har har
none of the TX teams have an easy time attracting free agents despite all 3 being historically good organizations in a state with warm weather and no income tax…Houston and Dallas are also major cities Spurs did get Aldridge, but for the most part, no one is going there Dallas is well run, has a rich owner, has Carlisle, and still gets curved time and time again Rockets get no one unless there’s already another star that was drafted or traded for on the roster
I've been thinking this too. Each basically patches over the others flaws and weaknesses. The biggest issue though is how to afford it, and second if Giannis also forces a trade from Milwaukee if it creates even more NBA backlash against stars teaming up and everything.
Report: Haralabos Voulgaris Has Become Most Influential Voice For Mavericks Haralabos Voulgaris has become the most influential voice within the Dallas Mavericks since he was hired in 2018 with a title of director of quantitative research and development, according to reporting from The Athletic. Voulgaris has either initiated or approved virtually every transaction made over the past two seasons and he has frequently gone as far as scripting the starting lineups and rotations for Rick Carlisle. Mark Cuban had sought out Voulgaris’ basketball advice in the years before putting him on the team’s payroll. As one team source says, “Mark Cuban is the most powerful person in the organization, but whoever he’s listening to is second.” Luka Doncic and Voulgaris have had a strained relationship during their time together with the Mavericks. When reached for comment on Monday, Cuban defended Voulgaris’ involvement. “I really like what Bob brings to the table. He does a great job of supporting Rick and the front office with unique data insights.” Cuban added: “Bob has a great grasp of AI and the opportunities it create for gaining an advantage. Which is important to me. But he isn’t any more influential than any other data source on the team.”
