Is Luka-Sorry, the Mavericks going to miss the playoffs?

[TheBonzaiEffect]

Tell me pal, which of the last 8 seasons should the Mavs have not only made the playoffs but also advanced to the semi-finals?

The issue is a lack of talent on the roster. KP is either injured or rusty or both. THJ is a third option masquerading as a second. Seth Curry was traded.

Carlisle has coached overall bad teams to playoff berth and created one of the greatest offensive systems in NBA history. Every single team in the NBA sans the Celtics/Spurs/Heat/King (b/c they're the kings) would hire him.

That’s so played out. I’m not saying he wasn’t a good coach in the past, he just isn’t now and frankly, hasn’t been for years. He’s been coasting off having a hall of fame star, past accomplishments, and good assistants for a decade now. If he was as good of a coach as people want to give him credit for, how come the Mavs have no players that are assets? Shouldn’t a good coach be making the roster better? Yet somehow Luka is the only one that routinely shows he’s worthy of a starter role.

Finney Smith was undrafted.now he's a solid starter.
Seth Curry had his two best seasons in Dallas.
Dwight Powell was drafted 45 and was looked at as a solid asset before his new deal and immediate achilles deal.
Jalen Brunson was a 2nd rounder and would start on some teams.
Trey Burke has found an NBA role under Carlisle.
Kleber came out of nowhere and has gotten better and better.

Carlisle has done quite a bit with guys that have been passed over by a ton of other teams. I think the bigger problem is getting all of these guys on medium sized deals and it clogs up their books while they still need to build their core.

I think they are in a pretty weird position here but I wouldn't blame Carlisle at all...

DFS isn't a solid starter.

[First Step]

I've watched most of the Mavs game this year because I adore Luka, but man, watching guys like Jalen Brunson and Trey Burke out there is painful.

But Luka is that good. He can lift these guys offensively, and if they can play defense, I can still see them making the playoffs. With the new play-in format, they would be a team you'd want to avoid.

[John Murdoch]

are ppl srsly blaming Carlisle? To me hes the last of their problems, every year he over achieves with the lack of talent he has on the roster. Powells regression and no JRich/KP for long periods have killed them. I think they figure it out but in the long run i hope Luka does get a solid one two punch he can go to war with ( nothing to really offer for Beal sux aswell)

[Chanel Bomber]

The Mavericks are full of average players besides Luka.

And I don't think Luka is this savior who can consistently carry a team to the playoffs on his own. Not blaming him for it, just questioning some of the expectations that were put on him before the season.

It remains to be seen if he can co-exist with another star player. Part of what makes his production otherworldly is his ball-dominance and his usage rate. And who can blame Carlisle for giving him the reigns knowing he's a basketball genius. But can he leave enough room for another star who can make plays, especially when you consider that his 3-point shot hasn't evolved the way you want to for him to play off-ball?

Or does he need better role players around him (from average to good)?

[DCasey91]

Out of all the MVP candidates Luka definitely has the worst supporting cast easily. Heck even Curry has better support around him currently.

I used to think it’s was Jokic + Doncic but the Nuggets got their act together (MPJ coming back helps a ton.)

People criticize elite players too much in trying to bring them down when they can’t will their team to the playoffs. Teams win games, The elite of the elite players are the ones that can bring you championships. They all had great or super stacked supporting casts with them along for the ride. (Barring very extreme outliers).

Only a handful of players right now could get the Mavs into the playoffs.

James
Harden (He’s gonna have to don the Rocket cape though)

Maybe Durant and Curry, that’s it.

[Antinomy]

Probably not the biggest issue but trading Curry for Richardson never made any sense to me.

Porzingis isn’t good enough of a shooter for that to be his primary role. I don’t see why he doesn’t play more from the the elbows.

[Pg81]

Great contribution there buddy.

Adequate for the "argument" you presented.

Yeah and there’s so much evidence to support the other side

There is none for yours.

[Golden Knight]

The Mavs went from 10th in 3pt % last season (.367) to currently dead last at .332 without Seth Curry. 27th in 2018-19 without Curry.

[Tennis19]

mavs cant rebound that ball... the other night vs the jazz they had 12 at halftime. freaking 12.

[preldzic]

Mavericks can be good this season if they stay healthy and nobody gets infected. I am confident they can connect the dots and start playing well together. I think they could be even better than last season (2nd round?).

In the long term, I am concerned that Porzingis will never be healthy enough for a deep playoff run, and Luka can't do it himself. Hardaway as the 3rd option can effectively replace Porzingis once every 5 nights, maybe.

They have too many quite average players who are getting paid average dollars. But having one player worth $25 million and two veterans playing for the minimum is better than having three players with average talent earning $10 million. Next free agency will be key for the Mavs, I reckon.

I often feel like most supporting players play with little passion. I think Luka sees that too and he tends to force things just because the outcome is ultimately the same, which can make the whole team chemistry worse. I think he could be like LeBron or Kobe in a few years time, in a way that he will demand the same effort, passion, competitiveness from his teammates, but it might be a little to early for him to be this kind of a leader.

[DroseReturnChi]

luka should leave for atlanta and form a superteam. who would have thought dallas is a worse team.

[MrOrange]

Classic fan overreaction. 54 games left in the season... GSW looked beyond pathetic during the first games but managed to turn it around. However, there are problems they need to address: pick'n'roll defence. They were simply slaughtered by UTA. Or everyone else who exploited that. Ball and people movement on offence. Yes, Luka can pass and gets his numbers on assists, but the offence, in general, is stale and static. Live and die and on a jump shot. No consistent shooters on the team to play like this. And Luka and KP ned to work on their mutual understanding and create some chemistry (if creating chemistry is possible at all). It is non-existent at the moment.

[WargamesX]

We can discuss all the different reasons the mavs are not doing well but I think it just comes down to the fact that all the factors around them that normally leads to a team that underperforms are contributing to them underperforming.

Even with that said, this same roster would have looked better last year and probably would have made the playoffs except the majority of teams in the west got better too. It made more sense before the season that they would play like this than any expectations they would be a top seed.

[Muha_i_samolet]

The team is absolutely awful, there's no NBA-level talent there. KP is 6-18 chucker who gets outrebounded by 6'1 guards, he doesn't defend a lick either. Gobert looked like peak Hakeem last night. Also, rc is senile, he should be institutionalized, I'd call the cops on his family and ask why they torture their old man and not put him in shrink.
I'm 100% serious about all this.

[Archx]

The Mavericks are full of average players besides Luka.

And I don't think Luka is this savior who can consistently carry a team to the playoffs on his own. Not blaming him for it, just questioning some of the expectations that were put on him before the season.

It remains to be seen if he can co-exist with another star player. Part of what makes his production otherworldly is his ball-dominance and his usage rate. And who can blame Carlisle for giving him the reigns knowing he's a basketball genius. But can he leave enough room for another star who can make plays, especially when you consider that his 3-point shot hasn't evolved the way you want to for him to play off-ball?

Or does he need better role players around him (from average to good)?

It's hard man... Asking such a young player to carry the load and having high expectations. Young LBJ couldn't do it, MJ wasn't even in the league, young Kobe and Shaq even had their problems before Phil joined... Heck, look at LAL without AD, lost to Detroit. My point is, everyone needs help, EVERYONE. And Mavs are simply not clicking right now. Their shooting has gone down the drain. Luka is nr1 at potential assists at 19+, up 3 from last season. They can't make open shots or are too incosistent. Also rim protection is severly lacking without Maxi. We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks when they'll finally play some games together.

[Muha_i_samolet]

Those who watch every Mavs game have noticed that Luka looks extremely depressed, he doesn't wanna play. That started right after that Bulls game when he tried hard to not lose by 40 to freaking Bulls. And then his g-league teammates were not happy that he was "ball-hogging too much". Freaking Iwundu level players were not happy, coz Luka ball-hogged... I'd stab them in the throat if I was Luka.

[dzumaal]

KP has been a letdown. Even when his healthy he's not a as good as expected. It might be that he needs some more games to get into it.. But with his health he's on and off so often I don't see that happening.

[Pinpilinpauxa]

Covid has hit them hard and Porzingis has been injured also the schedule has been brutal for them.

Mavs have the best ofensive player in the league and an all Star player when he isnt injured but the rest of the team are borderline starters/good bench players. They wont be contenders but I think their good defense + Luka will be good enought for the playoffs.

[Muha_i_samolet]

Finney-Smith is a solid starter ahahahaha. No one knew who that guy was before they started watching Dallas for Luka. Dorean "No 3 no D" Bricky-Scrubs.

[guille_4]

DFS is a fine player. He's not a starter in most teams in the league, but he's a solid rotation player for 20-24 minutes per night.