THE RINGER: Mavericks Season Preview

[Kammrath]

https://www.theringer.com/nba-preview/20...-interview

“Rick is a lot more touchy-feely … just a lot lower key,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told me. “He’s always demanding and detail oriented, but Rick is smart. He recognizes where the Mavs are in our life cycle. We’re the Gen Z Mavs.”

The Mavericks sacrificed to land Doncic because of the player he can become. “What’s Luka’s gift?” Nelson asked me. I said playmaking. “That’s why we’re so excited about him,” he continued. “The ability to make his teammates better is not only his greatest strength but also where he gets his greatest joy.” Nelson said Doncic has DNA like Kidd or Magic Johnson because of his blend of vision and mind-set. Doncic is a transcendent playmaker who manipulates defenders with his eyes and body, and then delivers passes in every direction all over the court with precision. There’s a Larry Bird–like quality to him: He’s not overly athletic, but his passing skills and instincts are already elite and could someday reach an all-time level.

Porzingis has notoriously gotten off to fast starts, and then seen his production fade fast through his first three NBA seasons because of fatigue and nagging injuries, particularly to his left leg. Playing with Doncic should help maintain his scoring efficiency with easier looks and simply less responsibility. “No disrespect to the Knicks, but KP hasn’t had a real point guard,” Cuban said. Porzingis’s three best point guards in New York were arguably Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack, and Derrick Rose. Oof. What an upgrade in Dallas.

Carlisle said that Doncic worked hard on his shot this summer. When I asked Doncic about what he did, he said it was mostly about consistency, though one tweak was made to his form: Last season, he flared his right hand away from his body as he’d release the ball. So he worked on having his fingers follow through and down to create a straighter release that led to even better results.

Better mechanics should help, too. So should improved conditioning. This summer he got a dietician and a chef, and according to Cuban, “his girlfriend was on him about it.” Doncic has more muscle definition now; cutting pasta from his diet every day seemed to have helped.

“Earlier in my career, smaller guys like Marcus Smart would get me off balance,” Porzingis said. “But now I feel comfortable playing against a smaller guy. A lot of times what works is a quick move with one bump or just turn into his face and shoot over him. I’ve gotten a lot better at reading those situations. It’s a lot of film study, but also just playing, knowing how to play against a smaller guy instead of a bigger guy.”

“Seven years ago, we tried to show Dirk and Vince [Carter] that they shot better two feet behind the line than they did on the line because nobody was guarding them,” Cuban said. “Now we’re forcing guys to do it. And we actually track all of it, both guarded and unguarded. If you’re shooting back at 30 feet, all the space that’s created, you can’t guard all the way out there. Even if it’s Boban.”

“We’ll be a better shooting team. We’ll be a better spacing team,” Cuban said. “While some people were asking, ‘Can they compete for playoffs?” I’m like, ‘If we stay healthy, we’ll do more than just compete for a playoff spot.’”

Nelson went as far to say he would “love for this to be the core moving forward,” which is exactly what he should say to a media member. But the Mavs did sign most of these players to contracts through the 2022-23 season. They are enamored of their current group.

“In the old days, if a big couldn’t shoot it, it was like, ‘Okay, at least he’s a great defender, and this and that,’” Nelson said. “Now you have to look real hard at guys that can’t shoot, and it’s almost to the point where those guys are almost not draftable.”

Nelson said the goal this year is to make the playoffs, then draft a player in 2020 and take the next step on the court, and then add more talent in 2021 when they could create tens of millions of cap space. “It’s a good draft in 2020, and then we have [free agency] the following year, so I think you can see a nice little … ” Nelson said as his voice trailed off and he gestured with his hands as if he were building steps. The Mavericks sent their 2021 and 2023 firsts to the Knicks for Porzingis, but they still own their firsts in every other year. The 2020 draft is rich with talent, and then they could create max cap space in 2021 to pursue a player like Bradley Beal or Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even if the cap drops, they’ll still have enough to splurge on second-tier or third-tier free agents to build around their Big Two—that’s one of the big benefits of having your best player still on his rookie contract.

Dallas has organizational goals, and they aren’t shy about sharing them. “We liked the parade we had here in 2011,” Nelson said. “We want another one—well, everything but Dirk’s rendition of ‘We Are The Champions.’”