3 pieces Dallas Mavericks must add to get the best out of Luka Doncic in the 2021-22 NBA season
Luka Doncic is fast becoming one of the most recognizable names in the NBA, and his ability to dominate games for the Dallas Mavericks has quickly endeared him to the hearts of NBA fans around the world.
Player empowerment means that the clock is ticking for the Dallas Mavericks to begin bolstering their supporting cast if they wish to keep Luka Doncic in Texas for the long haul.
Players request trades all the time, with the principal reason being a lack of trust in the front office's commitment to building a sustainable contender. Luka Doncic may not have been cut from this mold and could find walking in Dirk Nowitski's shoes a challenge within itself.
Only Luka Doncic knows the answer to what he's looking to achieve in his career and if being a one-organization man is a part of his roadmap.
Regardless of Luka Doncic's long-term plans, the Dallas Mavericks could do no wrong in looking to add some extra pieces around their budding superstar as they look to unlock his full potential.
NBA 2K has warped fans' minds, and a perceived simplicity in trade discussions couldn't be further from the truth, but Mark Cuban and his front office staff might need some showdowns at dawn in the Wild West of NBA negotiations.
Here are three pieces the Dallas Mavericks could try to acquire to help unleash Super Saiyan Luka Doncic upon the world.
The type of players needed around Luka Doncic
A pure rim-runner
Luka Doncic spent 43.9% of his offensive possession operating as a pick-and-roll ball-handler last season per Instat's tracking data. Still, he only managed to muster a measly nine assists from this type of play all season.
On 13.2 possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler per game, Luka Doncic attempted 9.8 field goal attempts, further strengthening the notion that he lacks a rim runner to create for in these scenarios.
Teams didn't feel pressured to drop deep. Instead, they constrained Luka Doncic high up the court in an attempt to force the ball out of his hands. Overall, the Dallas Mavericks only had a total of 270 shots from their rollman, with 156 of those being successful.
Those attempts extrapolate out to just 3.8 per game from teams rolling big; that's not enough to force the defense to respect an offense's pick-and-roll game, regardless of who the initiator is.
As last season progressed, the Dallas Mavericks began leaning on the incredibly versatile Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic's pick-and-roll tandem, which yielded fantastic results.
However, that is more of a pick-and-pop threat than a smash-mouth drive to the hoop game - sure, pick-and-pops are more aesthetically pleasing, but there's value in getting easy looks around the rim.
Luka Doncic lob to Kristaps Porzingis for the slam dunk
Gotta love a pick and ROLL https://t.co/YQ0igJqmim
Finding a way to obtain a player in the Clint Capela or Jarrett Allen mold should be a priority for this Dallas Mavericks team if they wish to unlock Luka Doncic's playmaking skills in the most heavily used basketball play.
Additional ball-handling
Cleaning The Glass tracked Luka Doncic's usage rate to be an insane 40.5% last season, ranking him in the 100th percentile among wings, which means that Luka Doncic was responsible for almost 50% of the Dallas Mavericks offensive possessions while on the floor, either as an initiator, creator, or finisher.
That level of usage is astonishingly high, and highlights the fact Luka Doncic needs assistance in terms of offensive creation or play finishing.
This isn't to say that it's Chris Paul or bust for the Dallas Mavericks, far from it. Needing a secondary ball-handler is simply saying that Luka Doncic needs to feel comfortable deferring the ball.
Losing Josh Richardson means the Dallas Mavericks will need to rely on the likes of Tim Hardaway Jr., Jalen Brunson and Reggie Bullock to use their scoring gravity as a means of offensive creation. But what about when the defense needs unlocking?
Luka Doncic is the only member of the roster who can be sincerely relied upon to create offensive opportunities when facing a stern defense that's already positioned within the half-court.
Adding another guard that can create their own offense and manipulate defensive rotations to generate opportunities for others should be high on the shopping list. These types of ball-handlers are in short supply these days and usually come at a premium, but when a player of this skillset inevitably becomes available, the Dallas Mavericks should kick the tires on any potential trade discussion.
My 5 observations from Mavericks' preseason games: why offense looks fine, Josh Green struggling with the ball, Maxi on fire, Brunson's (lack of) playmaking, and James Johnson passing on the move 👇 twitter.com/mavsmoneyball/…
Defensive help
Be it at the guard or wing position, having an additional defender around Luka Doncic could be a difference maker for the Dallas Mavericks. It should be ideally somebody who can provide reliable help defense to provide cover for when Luka Doncic gets beat off the dribble or taken out with a screen.
There's no such thing as too much defense, and when your star player is prone to defensive mishaps or losing his man, an extra helper is worth its weight in gold. Obviously the golden standard would be somebody like Jae Crowder, who is selfless in his approach but can also provide a reliable offensive punch when required.
PJ Tucker would be another great addition for the Dallas Mavericks, the problem is, both of those players are already on contending teams are will almost certainly be staying put for the duration of the season.
The Dallas Mavericks moved to add some additional length, ball handling, and versatility when they signed Reggie Bullock and Frank Ntilikina. Both players are respectable within their roles and can improve the roster as a whole, but neither is projected to be the missing piece that unlocks that final level of Luka Doncic.
It's like a computer game, where there's a final boss battle and if you missed one item throughout the quest your survival time is limited - same thing in the playoffs, one missing link in the chain can be the difference between a second round exit or a conference finals appearance.
A player who could potentially be available for a mid-season trade that would fill the need is Robert Covington, but whether the Dallas Mavericks can strike a deal is a totally different story.
Of course, asking a front office to find a player or a couple of players to fill these roster gaps is similar to asking the bank for a loan without proof of income; not impossible but highly unlikely to succeed. A far more reasonable option is to hope a player such as Covington becomes available as the season progresses, at least that way one or two of the needs are filled with a single transaction.