Dallas Mavericks: Why Dave Joerger is the ideal head coach for Luka Doncic

Rick Carlisle stepped down as the Dallas Mavericks head coach last week due to a loss of power. Carlisle is a system-oriented coach who often likes to call plays for the team and determine when the team takes a timeout.

Carlisle’s coaching style created issues for him in 2018 when the team drafted Luka Dončić. Dončić is a player who often likes to freelance. Consequently, they butted heads early during Dončić’s rookie season. In the game versus the Boston Celtics, Carlisle called a timeout because Dončić made a risky pass that resulted in a turnover.

Let’s take a look at why Dave Joerger’s adaptive offensive system makes him an ideal coach for Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic.

Carlisle was angry because he believed that players shouldn’t take that big of a risk. When he called a timeout, he raised his arms and made a gesture towards Dončić. Dončić didn’t like it and talked back to him. Shortly after that incident, Carlisle decided to give in to Dončić’s preferences because he knew it was ill-advised for him to confront Dončić constantly, as he was the future of the organization.

Although Carlisle improved his relationship with Dončić, he ran into another power struggle situation a year later. The Dallas Mavericks hired Haralabos Voulgaris as director of quantitative research and development in 2018.

Voulgaris quickly got the ear of Dallas Mavericks’ owner, Mark Cuban, as he was the person who led the organization to sign Seth Curry in 2019 and acquired Delon Wright from the Memphis Grizzlies via sign and trade.

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After making those moves, Voulgaris interfered with Carlisle’s lineups and rotations, as he convinced the organization it was best for the team to start Delon Wright in the season opener. Voulgaris’ decision backfired as Carlisle decided to remove him from the starting lineup after one game.

Although the decision backfired, it was a sign of things to come. Voulgaris kept having influence in front office and coaching decisions, as he made the first two selections for the Dallas Mavericks during the 2020 draft.

Voulgaris, once again, began to meddle in Carlisle’s lineups and rotations. According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Voulgaris was the driving force for starting Boban Marjanović in Games 5 through 7 of the team’s first-round series against the Clippers.

Voulgaris’ influence on Carlisle’s coaching led to friction between him and players, as players didn’t know who was in charge. Rick Carlisle’s loss of power led to him butting heads with Dončić again, as Dončić would yell at him, “Who’s in charge, you or Bob?” Carlisle was fine with handing the reins over to the franchise’s future in Luka Dončić but had a problem with a front office member trying to tell him how to run his team, evidently leading him to step down.

Can Dave Joerger be the next head coach for Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks?

Carlisle’s decision to step down creates an interesting question: who should be the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks? The answer is, it should be a coach that acquiesces to Dončić’s skillset and can stand up to the front office. A perfect candidate for the job would be Dave Joerger. Joerger is a coach who has a flexible offensive system.

For instance, Joerger ran an offensive system primarily centered around post-ups during the 2015-16 season, as the Memphis Grizzlies were 3rd in the category, averaging 12.9 per game. He ran this system because two of his three best players were big men at the time, in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.

He left the Memphis Grizzlies the following season to take the Sacramento Kings job. At first, he decided to bring the Memphis system into Sacramento, as the Kings ranked 7th in post-ups, averaging 8.8 per game during the 2016-17 season.

However, before the following season, he went on record, saying that he would tweak his offense and make it more up-tempo because the team drafted De’Aaron Fox with the fifth-overall pick in 2017. Before arriving in the NBA, Fox excelled in transition; he led the SEC in 2016-17 in transition points, averaging 5.9 per game.

Joerger kept his word as the Sacramento Kings increased their transition possessions by 3.4 percent the following season, as they went from 14.1 to 14.6. The slight increase led to Fox having his first breakout season, as he accounted for 22.6 percent of the team’s transition possessions, averaging 3.3 per game.

He was efficient during these possessions, shooting 49.2 percent from the field on 2.5 attempts per game, creating 3.2 points: 27.6 percent of his scoring output. Joerger stayed committed to the up-tempo during the 2018-19 season as Sacramento increased their transition possessions by 67.1 percent averaging 24.4 per game.

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Joerger gave Fox 21.3 percent of the possessions averaging 5.2 per game. He shot 53 percent from the field on 3.7 attempts creating 5.5 points per game. Fox’s success in transitions contributed to him scoring a career-high of 17.3 points per game at the time.

Joerger’s ability to adjust to his players makes him an ideal coach for Dončić, as he’ll put Dončić in the best position to succeed. Joerger would have to run many pick and rolls to put Dončić in place to thrive, as before coming to the NBA, he was in the 88th percentile as a playmaker during the 2016-17 season with Real Madrid on 531 pick and roll possessions.

Doncic has continued to excel as a pick and roll ball handler in the NBA, shooting 47.1 percent on 8.5 attempts per game. The shooting percentage helped him generate 11.6 points per game, 45.1 percent of his scoring output.

It appears that Joerger is aware of this as he vouched for the Kings to draft Dončić before the 2018 draft. He wanted to pair Dončić up with Fox in the backcourt to have two ball handlers. More importantly, Joerger has also shown an ability to reject the front office’s suggestions.

For example, the Kings front office wanted Joerger to play second-overall pick, Marvin Bagley III. Jaeger limited Bagley’s minutes to 25.3 per game during his rookie season because he thought the team played better with Nemanja Bjelica on the floor.

Joerger’s decision to play veterans in an attempt to win games led to a recurring issue with the front office during his final season. The front office believed he could win while developing the young core. The disagreement between Joeger and management led to his dismissal after the 2018-19 season.

Joerger’s actions will give him the best shot to earn Luka Dončić’s respect as Dončić will know that the front office isn’t in charge. Joerger’s flexible offense, in combination with his ability to stand up to the front office, makes him an ideal coach for Dončić.