Dallas Mavericks: the future of Luka Doncic is at stake

Great players win championships. You knew that. No one is going to learn that from reading this article. Yet it still holds undeniably true. It’s a blessing to have one of the 10 or so best players in the NBA because it gives a team an instant shot at contending for a championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the luxury of having one for the time being.

Luka Doncic is that guy, pal. He has been much more than anybody could have expected, wasting no time in racking up accolades in his first three seasons: a Rookie of the Year Award,  two All-Star nominations and two All-NBA First Team selections. His ability to raise his level of play in the playoffs only certifies him as one of the absolute best basketball players in existence.

The Mavericks haven’t made it out of the first round with Doncic leading the way but they have firmly established themselves as a playoff team. The next thing on their to-do list is to improve the roster enough to win a playoff series. Doncic has done his part by being borderline unstoppable when it matters the most. Now, the rest of the organization, starting with owner Mark Cuban, needs to do its part.

The hectic, unstable state of the franchise has reportedly started to upset Doncic. Cuban and the Mavericks have their work cut out for them this offseason. Nothing is set to collapse at this very moment. But if Cuban doesn’t correct his ship’s course, it may on the verge of sinking.

The Dallas Mavericks need to treat Luka Doncic right

Over this past week, the Mavericks have dominated the headlines like Doncic dominated the playoffs. First came a report from Tim Cato and Sam Amick of The Athletic (subscription required) that detailed a member of the Mavericks’ front office that is causing a rift between it and its superstar. Then came the departure of two longtime franchise figures: general manager Donnie Nelson and head coach Rick Carlisle.

For the first time in a while, Dallas needs to find new faces for the most important positions in basketball that aren’t on the court. Those hires will likely be made by Cuban himself. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on The Lowe Post podcast that Mark Cuban calls all the shots around the team he owns.

"He doesn’t have the official title but Mark Cuban makes all the basketball decisions. It just comes down to whose advice is he taking at the time."

According to The Athletic’s report, Cuban has heavily listened to Haralabos “Bob” Voulgaris, a well-renowned bettor, since he took a front-office gig with Dallas in 2018. Voulgaris’ influence within the organization reached as far as hijacking their first two picks in the 2020 draft ‚— picking Josh Green and Tyrell Terry, neither of whom had much impact this past season, without consulting Dallas’ scouting department — and putting together starting lineups and rotations for Carlisle.

Additionally, Voulgaris rubbed Doncic the wrong way. Even though Voulgaris’ contract expired and he may not be returning to the Mavericks, the damage has already been done. Not only did he alienate the most important person currently in the Mavericks organization, but he contributed to a power dynamic where Doncic has more power than players of his age normally do.

Superstar NBA players controlling their own destiny and having influence within their team’s front office is nothing new. But traditionally, the players who do that are long-established stars that have roughly/over a decade of professional play under their belts.

Meanwhile, Doncic is only halfway through his rookie contract. His play on the court is unquestionably superstar-caliber but for him to be in a place where he has this much leverage over a franchise is new territory for an NBA team.

And make no mistake: Doncic has the Mavericks practically at the tips of his fingers. He deserves the power and influence he has because the team’s success hinges squarely on him. Now that the public is aware of behind-the-scenes tension with him and management, management has to be extra focused on making their franchise cornerstone happy with the way things are.

Will Cuban let Doncic handpick his new GM and head coach? That seems incredibly unlikely but if Cuban truly wants to build around Doncic, the superstar’s ideas should be heard. The same goes for the next general manager.

The front office, not Cuban, should be the ones building the team. Ownership taking control of basketball-related aspects of a franchise has spawned countless tales of fruition and on-court failures (see: James Dolan’s New York Knicks, Tilman Fertitta’s Houston Rockets and Vivek Ranadive’s Sacramento Kings).

Now, none of this drama means Doncic is 100% on his way out of town. One of the first things MacMahon discussed on The Lowe Post was that none of the chaos impacts what he’ll do this summer. The Mavericks will have the ability to offer Doncic a supermax contract worth $201 million over five years, a more-than-deserved amount that MacMahon said Doncic will likely not turn down.

Assuming everything goes to plan, Doncic will be a Maverick for the foreseeable future. But the factors that will impact just how enjoyable those years are will be decided this offseason. The pressure is on Cuban to find a new decision-maker to get Dallas on the right track.

The new general manager will inherit quite a difficult situation. Dallas is missing numerous first-round picks, including one in this upcoming draft. Their collection of young players is uninspiring. Kristaps Porzingis’ max contract became more unmovable with each playoff game and their second-best player in the playoffs, Tim Hardaway Jr., needs a new contract. Oh, and they need a new head coach.

Cuban not only has to find someone capable of improving Dallas’ roster, but he also needs to stay out of their way. Hire someone smart, write the checks, and give them the green light to do smart things.

Getting too involved has led to irritating his franchise player just three years in. If Cuban keeps pulling things his way, Doncic will assuredly pull back. This tug-of-war-like vibe will only breed more tension, possibly leading to Doncic demanding a trade. Trying to win the race with a slower and more steady pace is the way to get Doncic on board and put a powerful team around him.

The very first and most important order of business is to make sure Doncic is on board with the plan, as he is the motor of whatever Dallas hopes to construct and drive to the ultimate victory. There’s no need to panic right now but there should be an added sense of urgency to get a plan in motion that surrounds Doncic with the players and coaches he needs to truly contend for a title.

If the rift grows between the team and the player, Cuban may find himself on the other side of a familiar situation.

In addition to owning the Mavericks, Cuban is also a host on the reality show Shark Tank, where entrepreneurs pitch ideas to five wealthy businesspeople in the hopes that one of them will invest in them and their idea. Cuban is one of five Sharks and his role is to decide if a product is worth investing in or passing on it.

The script is flipped for the situation in Dallas. Doncic is the Shark and Cuban needs to make decisions that convince him the Mavericks are the right team to help him win a title. Right now, Cuban and Doncic are in a 1-on-1 setting. But in due time, there could be other teams placing legitimate bids for Doncic’s services.

The best way for Cuban to avoid getting to that point is to learn to trust his front office more and play some give-and-take with Doncic. It’s his team but its success doesn’t start or stop with him. The sooner he realizes this, the quicker he can get away from the “total bullsh*t” and get back to working on building Dallas’ next title contender.