Getty Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
Luka Doncic has had individual success during his time in Dallas, as he has been named an All-Star four times and All-NBA four times. But as a team, he and the Mavericks have not enjoyed much success. Outside of their trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2022, they have not made it out of the first round of the playoffs.
In 2023 Dallas did not even qualify for the play-in tournament after a dismal second half of the season. But despite the lack of team success, Doncic is “happy in Dallas” according to Tim Cato of The Athletic.
“Doncic is currently happy in Dallas,” Cato wrote in a July 31 article.
However, Cato also defined the Mavericks star’s commitment to the franchise as “binary” and says that his feelings about his future with the franchise could be subject to change. But as of now, he is happy in Dallas.
“I think his commitment to the Mavericks is somewhat binary,” Cato added. “He’ll be happy until he’s not, and then he might want to leave, but he doesn’t right now. I’m not sure he’d ever request a trade away from Dallas — I can’t know this, but it’s my hunch.”
Mavs Have Made the Right Moves for Luka Doncic
Despite having multiple disappointing postseason appearances, Luka is happy in Dallas. And why shouldn’t he be? The franchise has done just about everything to ensure his success on the basketball court. It started when they made the blockbuster trade to pry Kristaps Porzingis, who was arguably one of the NBA’s top big men at the time, away from the New York Knicks.
When the Porzingis experiment did not work out, they traded the star big man to the Washington Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie. That trade ended up being significant as Dinwiddie was an instrumental part of the Mavericks reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2022.
Dinwiddie’s stint with the Mavericks was short-lived, as he was a key piece in the blockbuster deal that brought All-Star Kyrie Irving to the franchise in February.
The Mavericks have employed Doncic with all the tools he needs to be successful. With his first full season with Irving on the horizon, it is time for the Mavericks star to deliver.
Spencer Dinwiddie Sounds off on Mavericks Trade
After a tumultuous three and a half years together, Irving filed for a divorce from the Brooklyn Nets in the days leading up to this year’s trade deadline. The Nets were more than willing to oblige his request. Irving demanded a trade from the franchise on February 3, and on February 5, He was a Dallas Maverick.
He got dealt in exchange for an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and valuable role players in Dorian Finney-Smith and Dinwiddie. After being traded at the deadline for a second consecutive year, Dinwiddie expressed his true feelings after being dealt by the Mavericks.
“I think it’s something that the tale of the trade won’t be told this season,” Dinwiddie said in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks.
“You know, I think if you look at it from Dallas’ side, they got star power, right? They got another high-octane player [Kyrie Irving] to pair with Luka [Doncic]. And, you know, hopefully, it works out for them.”