Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic cleared the air following an ESPN report that the team fears he could request a trade as soon as the summer of 2024 if they do not make significant progress next season.
“I saw the report. I don’t know who, [but] somebody said I was gonna just request a trade. It was funny because I didn’t know it was true,” Doncic said during his exit interview.
The report spawned a CBS story ranking each NBA team’s chances of landing Doncic in a potential mega-blockbuster trade. The Knicks were pegged as among the favorites. CBS’ Sam Quinn wrote:
The good news for the Knicks is that if things go badly enough that Doncic wants out a year from now, the 2024 pick they get from the Mavericks could be just as valuable. Picks are something the Knicks have in abundance. They’ll be able to offer seven unprotected picks and four swaps to Dallas in a Doncic deal, but perhaps more importantly, they have one of the few players likely to make an effective recruiting pitch to Doncic in Jalen Brunson.
Doncic quickly doused cold water on the rumors.
“I’m happy here [in Dallas],” Doncic said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
Doncic is set to enter the second year of a five-year, $215 million supermax contract next season.
After reaching the Western Conference Finals last season with Jalen Brunson as his sidekick, Doncic and the Mavericks unraveled this year. They tried to fill Brunson’s shoes by swapping Spencer Dinwiddie and their best defender Dorian Finney-Smith for Kyrie Irving. It didn’t work out as they couldn’t defend, flaming out with a 7-18 record in the final two months.
What Are the Odds Mavs Pick Convey to Knicks?
The Mavericks blatantly tanked, losing their last two games, to fall out of the play-in race and enhance their chances of keeping their first-round pick this year.
They owe a top-10 protected pick to the Knicks as the final compensation for the Kristaps Porzingis trade in 2019, which also did not work out for the Mavericks.
Per Tankathon, the Mavericks have a 65.9% chance of keeping their pick at 10th, a 4% chance of vaulting to the top four, and a 19.5% chance they slide to 11th and 1.2% to 12th, which will enable the Knicks to get their pick.
If the pick does not convey this year, the Knicks will get a crack at Dallas’ first-round picks in 2024 or 2025 with the same top-10 protections. If it still does not convey, it will turn into Dallas’ 2025 second-round pick.
Knicks May End up Without Pick This Year
The Knicks will be without a draft selection in the upcoming NBA Draft if the Mavericks pick does not convey this year.
The Knicks have earlier traded their own first-round selection in the Josh Hart trade, while their other picks from the Detroit Pistons (top-18 protection this year) and Washington Wizards (top-14 protection this year) will also not convey this year as both teams are lottery-bound.
The Knicks have also surrendered their second-round pick this year in the Draft Night trade involving Kemba Walker, which opened the necessary cap space to pursue Brunson.
However, the Knicks can purchase picks in the upcoming draft headlined by generational talent Victor Wembanyama.
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Luka Doncic Reacts to Trade Report Amid Knicks Rumors