Luka Doncic is the franchise. He’s what this whole Mavericks thing is being built around. He’s the savior two decades after the original wunderkind hit these parts and rescued basketball.
He’s the answer.
And also, maybe, the problem.
Before anyone accuses me of mindless clickbait – and I’ve laid my share of blame for such offenses – don’t think of “problem” in a negative sense. Think of it as a massive riddle that doesn’t have an answer staring the Mavs in the face.
Luka is a unique, franchise-lifting talent. Though just 19, we’ve been told of his veteran maturity since before NBA Day 1 and witnessed it firsthand since. Dirk Nowitzki stood at the podium on the eve of training camp and marveled, “He plays with a savviness that I never had.” The Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, the greatest coach in league history, spoke for the entire basketball world Wednesday night in a testimonial sounding like an intro to Luka’s Hall of Fame induction speech.
As much as the Mavs loved Luka before he ever stepped foot inside the AAC, they didn’t see this coming. Not this soon. Not this good.
And what it’s done is accelerate the process to a point where personnel and franchise-defining decisions are being made for Luka. This is basically uncharted territory, with few exceptions.
Most teams just don’t know this fast if they’re ready to completely chart their course around a guy with three months NBA experience. Cleveland knew with LeBron James. Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis fall into that boat. Same can’t be said for Steph Curry or Giannis Antetokounmpo or Joel Embiid or Kawhi Leonard or James Harden or Russell Westbrook.
No one could predict after half a season that they would become NBA royalty. We know with Luka. Better yet, the Mavs know and that’s driving the bus.
Sorry, Dennis Smith Jr.
This isn’t pitting Doncic against DSJ. Relationships and family dynamics are never that simple. There are basketball reasons that make it difficult to fit the Mavs’ most recent lottery picks together. The analytics show the Mavs aren’t nearly as efficient with Luka and DSJ on the court at the same time, so it’s easy to point to the pairing not working going forward.
I asked a Mavs front office source that if the last two drafts were reversed in their entirety – the players in 2018 were available in 2017 and vice versa – how would it play out if Doncic was drafted last year and Smith was available this past summer with the ninth pick. Suffice to say that Smith, who the front office whooped and hollered about in the war room back then, would probably not be the choice this time around.
But also remember that the Mavs are less than 30 games into the Luka-DSJ experiment. Smith, with only 28 games under his belt this season, is only 21. There’s plenty of time, seasons even, to figure this thing out if figuring it out was the priority. That’s where this gets sticky.
Instead of looking at Luka-Dennis, there needs to be a healthy examination of Rick-Dennis. Carlisle has a history of banging heads with point guards here. Jason Kidd. Darren Collison. Rajon Rondo. Smith hasn’t made it easy. He wants to be a star. He wants to run a team. He wants that big paycheck.
The divide between Carlisle and DSJ leaves this at nearly a point of no return. Yes, the prevailing hope within the Mavs organization is that it works out and there are plenty of voices inside the room that still think highly of Smith as a talent and a person. But when it comes to predicting his future in Big D, few are willing to bet the mortgage on reconciliation.
When it comes to choosing sides, the man that skippered the only championship in franchise history is the odds-on favorite to win, even if Carlisle might not be a coach suited for a rebuild. The Mavs are fielding offers for Smith and have received some pretty enticing ones. They may be only getting 75 cents on the dollar if and when they pull the trigger, but that would be better than what some other teams took back in similar situations.
The Spurs definitely didn’t get comparable value in moving Leonard north. Same can be said for Paul George and Jimmy Butler. Former No. 1 pick Markelle Futz may only fetch 40 cents on a buck when Philly finally moves on.
That the Mavs are shopping DSJ this quickly seems crazy. What would make it look worse is if Smith reaches his star potential somewhere else. It wasn’t all that fun to watch Steve Nash win a couple of MVPs in Phoenix. And what if a couple of years from now if Smith pulls a Kyrie Irving and says he wished things went differently in Dallas?
So much plays into this drama, but what remains at the heart is Luka being far more advanced than anyone could have predicted. He’s going to be Rookie of the Year. He’s third in All-Star voting, so book his room in Charlotte. He’s a future MVP.
He’s also become a problem, one that Mavs are all too willing to solve. No matter how much it may hurt along the way.
