Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic has provided a bit of a hot take on the NBA's playoffs play-in tournament system. The Mavs star himself admitted that he is a bit perplexed by how it actually works.

Doncic does not seem to agree with how teams can be so easily eliminated from playoff contention after all the hard work they put in throughout the season (h/t Eddie Sefko of mavs.com):

Fair point from the Mavs man here. It would indeed be heartbreaking if your team was sent packing after losing two games in a play-in tournament. All the hard work from the season would have been for nothing after just two losses in the play-in games. This is without even having a taste of postseason action.

Then again, it's pretty much the same scenario in the playoffs. All it takes is four losses and you're done for the season. The fact remains, however, that your team made it to the playoffs at least. That would be far less disappointing than losing a postseason berth in a play-in tournament.

The good news for the Mavs is that they can control their fate right now. While they may be struggling of late, Doncic and Co. just need to string together a few wins. They could quickly find themselves climbing the ranks in the conference, thereby eliminating the need to take part in a play-in tournament. It goes without saying, however, that this is much easier said than done.