Getty Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić is coveted by many around the NBA. The 24-year-old has already made his mark in the association, helping lead the Mavs to the Western Conference Finals in 2022.
With Dallas’ 2022-23 season ending in disappointing fashion, teams are eager to try and poke the young talent away from the Mavericks, should he grow frustrated.
According to “The Athletic’s” John Hollinger, the Utah Jazz are keeping a “very interested eye” on the Slovenian star. Hollinger hinted that the Jazz could overshadow just about any offer coming from the Brooklyn Nets, who he believes should be in the market for a blockbuster deal in order to compete in the Eastern Conference.
“With my spies telling me that Utah in particular is keeping a very interested eye on Dončić’s situation, even the Nets’ kitchen-sink offer for Dončić — the four firsts from Phoenix and one from Philly, plus whatever matching salary not named [Mikal] Bridges is needed to make the deal work — likely falls massively short.”
Though there is no urgency on Dallas’ side to move on from their superstar guard, they could reap some heavy rewards if they were to change their minds. Utah has a plethora of first-round picks that they could send to the Mavs, from both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Regardless of how many draft picks Dallas could garner from the Jazz, it’d be pretty tough to find any player as talented as Dončić. Through his first five NBA seasons, he’s been selected to four All-Star teams and three All-NBA teams.
He’s averaged 27.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8.0 rebounds per game for his career, while shooting 46.6% from the field and 33.8% from beyond the arc.
Mavericks Looking to Add Defense and Rebounding Next to Luka Dončić
Again, Dallas won’t be looking to make any drastic changes at the top of their roster any time soon. General manager Nico Harrison recently shared that he’s hoping to bring in better pieces to surround Dončić and Kyrie Irving this summer.
Harrison told reporters, during his exit interview, that he’s hoping to land some “defense and rebounding” in the offseason.
“I think for us going into the offseason, the two biggest things that we need to work on is defense and rebounding,” Harrison said via the Dallas Mavericks official YouTube channel. “That’s going to be addressed.”
Mavericks Suitors for Dillon Brooks: Sources
One player who fits the defensive desire of Dallas would be Dillon Brooks. According to “The Athletic’s” Shams Charania, the Memphis Grizzlies won’t be bringing Brooks, who is a free agent, back “under any circumstances.”
The Memphis Grizzlies have informed pending free agent Dillon Brooks that he will not be brought back under any circumstances, league sources say.
Full story and details at @TheAthletic:
Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney recently spoke to an anonymous NBA general manager who told him that Brooks is the type of player that the Mavericks “are desperate for.”
“Dallas, he is the kind of guy they are desperate for,” the GM said. “Teams like that have to make a call on a guy like him. So, I can appreciate the Grizzlies turning the page on someone they don’t want around. But look, he is not gonna be run out of the league.”