Getty Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks.
Last season, the Dallas Mavericks got fire during the playoffs, riding a strong spell all the way to the Western Conference Finals. It likely wouldn’t have happened without Luka Doncic, Dallas’ superstar point forward, whose brilliance against the No. 1 seeded Phoenix Suns (32.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists) was on fully display.
But it’s not always happy days when playing with Doncic. At least not according to Max Strus of the Miami Heat. Strus sat down with the Road Trippin’ podcast to share his journey to NBA and rapid rise with the Heat.
And during the podcast, Strus dropped his take on playing with Luka Doncic. And if you’re wondering when Strus shared the rock with Doncic, the answer is never. Nonetheless, Strus certainly sounds happy he’s not Doncic’s teammate.
“I just think Luka just has the ball in his hands the whole time, and it’s tougher for guys to get in a rhythm, get in a flow,” Strus said. “But as a teammate and being on his team, I think to take a team to a championship, it’s tougher to get in a rhythm and a flow as a teammate of Luka’s.”
A Closer Look at Doncic’s History as a Passer
Doncic might have the ball in his hands quite a bit, but let’s be clear: he’s not keeping it there for the whole game. Over the last three complete seasons, Doncic has finished in the top-10 in assists per game. And so far this season, nothing’s different; Doncic’s 8.7 dimes are fourth-most in the league, behind just Tyrese Haliburton, NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, and Trae Young.
By those numbers, it would appear that Doncic is one of the league’s best players at getting his teammates involved in the offense, thereby ensuring they find their own “rhythm.”
Could we chalk up Strus’ comments to petty jealousy? Perhaps. After all, Kyle Lowry leads the Heat in assists at 6.0 per game, which is just the 19th-best mark in the league.
But Strus might be alluding to something else entirely: Doncic’s astronomical usage rate.
Will the Mavericks be Doomed by Doncic’s Usage Rate?
As Zach Kram of The Ringer wrote back in May, Doncic’s usage rate puts him in some seriously hallowed ground. It also likely means the Mavericks won’t have much in the way of sustained playoff success. Yeah, last year’s Conference Finals run was fun, but the Mavericks became just the third team in NBA history to go to the Conference Finals with a player whose usage rate stood north of 35 percent.
According to Kram, the reason those high-usage teams don’t have postseason success is crystal clear.
Luka Doncic has more triple-doubles this season than the
Celtics
Knicks
Pistons
Lakers
76ers
Wizards
Bulls
Spurs
Pacers
Rockets
Suns
Clippers
Cavaliers
Trail Blazers
Jazz
Pelicans
Timberwolves
Magic
Hornets
Grizzlies
Bucks
Thunder
Hawks
Warriors
combined.
“The culprit is obvious: The reason teams have such a high-usage star in the first place is that the rest of the teammates aren’t good enough to command the ball, which means the team probably isn’t good enough to win deep into the spring, either.”
So when Strus says “to take a team to a championship” other players have to find a “rhythm” and “flow,” he’s not entirely wrong. But it’s also quite the argument to suggest it’s Doncic’s fault that this is the case, when the team wouldn’t even be in the conversation without him.