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The Mavs decided to let go of Kristaps Porzingis before the NBA trade deadline in lieu of two terrific scorers in Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks Nico Harrison may have decided to have Dinwiddie and Bertans on his roster because Porzingis would fail to even be healthy on the floor for long stretches of every campaign. It has derailed two of their last playoff appearances as Slovenian Luka Doncic lacked another All-Star caliber player to help him carry the load.
Dorian Finney-Smith was already signed to an extension after the Porzingis trade, while Jalen Brunson is another young stud who is due for a new contract as well in the offseason. The flexibility of the front office has unleashed Doncic who has been dominant over the past few weeks. At the very least, he has catapulted himself to a top 10 spot in the MVP conversation. Even with the impeccable numbers of Doncic and their tremendous defense, there are still looming questions on the outlook of Dallas.
Mavs Burning Questions After All-Star Break
How will Doncic's supporting cast perform in the playoffs?
Doncic has proven time and time again that he could easily score over 30 or 40 points in a game if it is necessary for them to stand a chance in a playoff game. They have competed with the Los Angeles Clippers on back-to-back years against rough defenders like Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Marcus Morris Sr. The aforementioned Porzingis was glaringly missing last year when he had difficulty adjusting to the role given by former coach Rick Carlisle.
Brunson, Finney Smith, and Reggie Bullock have been tremendous shooters and scorers to space the floor for Donic. It has a whole new environment and feeling in the playoffs, so it is an immense challenge for them to step up on the biggest stage. The massive boost for the team is Kidd imparting a defensive system that could flourish against any type of lineup. Even with that, the supporting cast must not leave Doncic as the sole scorer in the most important games of the year.
Do the Mavs have enough size?
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Even if Porzingis would play on the outside, he is still a 7'3″ unicorn with superb shot block abilities. He would start at the four or five alongside either Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell or Maxi Kleber. Acquiring a wing shooter and guard creator for a big decimates their front court rotation, especially when they will play against the Utah Jazz or Phoenix Suns.
Kidd looks like he will go all-in on small ball and develop their offensive with Doncic heading the ship. Dallas still has Boban Marjanovic if they are in dire need of size, but Kidd has not decided to utilize him a ton this season. Over the final 23 games, it would be brilliant to analyze and study how Kidd tends to formulate his game plan when they are against a team that has a talented big man on their lineup.
Can Doncic lead this squad to a deep playoff run?
At 22 years of age, Doncic is already tasked to lead a whole team to the Promised Land. He still has a ton of room to mature and grow as a leader in the biggest basketball league in the world. He is more of a leader by example proven by his fantastic statistical numbers and enormous impact over the past two playoff runs, but he may need to be more vocal and inspire his other teammates to elevate their performance when the bright lights are on them.
Even with his young and limited exposure in the league, the pressure continues to ascend for Doncic because of his legendary repertoire. There are certain guys like Stephen Curry or Dwyane Wade who are guards who struggled in the playoffs in their first few years in the league, but they were still the key piece in propelling their franchise to the championship.
This may still not be the year wherein Doncic wins it all because of the stiff competition all over the league, but if he continues to gradually improve in the NBA Playoffs, the upside and potential of this Mavericks organization will grow exponentially in the following seasons.
