Dallas Mavericks look to do some damage with their own star duo
By Phil Watson
The Dallas Mavericks launch the post-Dirk Nowitzki era in 2019-20 on the backs of former All-Star Kristaps Porzingis and Rookie of the Year Luka Doncic.
For the first time this millenium, the Dallas Mavericks will enter a season without the best player in franchise history on their roster. Dirk Nowitzki took his 30,000 points and his iconic stiff-legged fadeaway into retirement and a new era is on the horizon in the Big D.
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And it’s possible that new era includes the most star-powered duo the team has had since Nowitzki and Steve Nash were doing their thing back in the early 2000s.
Luka Doncic is poised to become the franchise’s new face, a 20-year-old who is the reigning Rookie of the Year and is expected to make significant strides as a point forward for the Mavericks in 2019-20.
He’ll be joined by another of the NBA’s top young talents, as Kristaps Porzingis — an All-Star with the New York Knicks before sitting out a season-plus after an ACL tear — is prepared to make his delayed debut in Dallas.
The last time Porzingis played in an NBA game, Doncic was still wowing them in Spain for Real Madrid en route to becoming the youngest EuroLeague MVP in history.
As the Mavericks look to return to the playoffs after a three-year absence and win a playoff series for the first time since winning the franchise’s lone NBA title in 2011, the questions Dallas will need to answer involve the supporting cast around the two young stars.
Dallas made the playoffs 12 straight times from 2001-12, but have made just three trips in the last seven seasons since.
A return to the postseason will depend largely on whether the Doncic-Porzingis tandem can be one of the elite pairings in the new NBA era of dynamic duos, but how far the Mavericks ultimately go in 2019-20 may be decided further down the roster, which added some new pieces.
The specter of the sexual assault allegations made against Porzingis by a woman in New York will also be looming over the team until there is some sort of a resolution in the case. The New York Police Department launched an investigation in March, but there has been little in the way of new information since news of the allegations first broke.
So there is optimism in Dallas, but it is tinged with a lot of unanswered questions. What’s in store for the Mavericks in 2019-20? Glad you asked!