When the Dallas Mavericks drafted Luka Doncic with the third overall pick in 2018, fans knew that they had a generational talent. Doncic's first couple of seasons validated the hype: he immediately became one of the best players in the league. His preternatural passing sense and insane scoring ability had everyone talking about his ceiling. He has the potential to be an all-time great, a franchise cornerstone a-la Dirk Nowitzki before him.

There's only one problem… and it's the Mavs themselves. Despite having one of the best players in the planet, Dallas has done almost nothing to help out Luka Doncic. Entering his fifth year, there are already countless times where the team failed their star. Let's take a look at some of the many reasons why Luka Doncic could be frustrated at the team.

Mavs' rebounding problem

This Mavs roster is a complete abomination. Even before the Kyrie Irving trade, Dallas already had looming issues on their roster that needed addressing. Rebounding and defense was a problem: the former arguably dooming their playoff run last year. It was crystal clear from their loss to the Warriors that the Mavs needed to beef up their front-line. One can only take so many Kevon Looney and Andrew Wiggins offensive rebounds after all.

Having a solid center would also be a benefit for Luka Doncic: his mastery of the pick-and-roll would elevate any decent big man he played with. Christian Wood was a good pickup, but the Mavs needed to pick up another big to cover for his weaknesses on defense. Instead… Dallas hoped that their existing big man rotation (the same rotation that got murdered by Golden State) would be enough. Guess what? It wasn't: they are last in rebounds per game, 29th in rebounding rate.

Where's the D?

As for their second problem… defense has definitely been an issue for the Mavs for the longest time. Save for Reggie Bullock and Dorian Finney-Smith, there's no consistent plus-defender for the Mavericks last year. The phrase “defense wins championships” gets thrown around a lot, but that's because it's true. You don't win playoff games by outgunning your opponents: you grind the wins out.

It also doesn't help that their big man rotation is also not that good at protecting the rim: they rank 23rd in FG% near the rim (66.0%). What happens when you combine having few perimeter defenders with non-existent rim protection? You get a Mavs defense that ranks at the bottom 10 of the league in defensive rating. Doncic is definitely part of the problem (sub-par effort and physical limitations make him a poor defender), but Dallas doesn't do him any favors by surrounding him with other mediocre defenders.

Worse, they had to trade one of their best defenders (Dorian Finney-Smith) to plug another weakness they have (secondary shot creation behind Doncic). That leads us to the next point, which is…

Failing to keep Jalen Brunson

The Mavs' handling of Jalen Brunson's free agency last season is emblematic of how the Mavs failed Luka Doncic. The 2022 playoffs saw Brunson break out as one of the best guards in the league. The Villanova product was already having a solid season for Dallas in the regular season. When Doncic went down with an injury in the playoffs, Brunson took the reins of the team and helped them get to the Conference Finals, even after Luka's return.

You'd think, that after his breakout year, that the Mavs would push to keep Brunson around. After all, he's the perfect complement to Doncic: he's a capable ball-handler who can run the offense without Luka, and also play off-ball when they share the court. However, Brunson was an unrestricted free agent (something that the Mavs could've controlled), and the Mavs balked at giving him a lucrative contract. Now, Brunson is balling out for New York, while Dallas had to trade one of their best defenders for Kyrie Irving for him to fill the shot-making void left by Brunson.

Conclusion

Doncic is not completely absolved of the blame for the Mavs' slump this year. We've already touched on his defense: he's not a good defender, and he doesn't exert a lot of effort on that end as well. He also has a tendency of taking bad shots at times.

However, it's also fair to say that the Mavs didn't do Doncic any favors with the cards they dealt him. Letting your second-best player walk for free (Brunson) and not addressing their biggest problem last season leads them to where they are now. Dallas is squandering their chance to win a championship with Doncic in his prime. They need to fix these problems as soon as possible, or they might see Doncic attempt to force his way out.