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The Dallas Mavericks reshaped their roster this offseason following their NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics. Although the team recently received a scare when superstar Luka Doncic suffered a calf injury to open up training camp, the MVP candidate is expected to be ready for the season, one that will be filled with expectations for the new-look Mavericks.
Recently, Dallas hosted a practice at their home arena that was open for fans of the team to attend, and Doncic fittingly gave them all something to drop their jaws about when he casually tossed in a shot from nearly the full 94-feet length of the court.
https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1842994255603835204
Doncic shot the ball in “sky hook” fashion, modeling after legendary players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who usually attempted the shot from about 80 feet closer to the basket than Doncic did.
One person who couldn't believe what he saw was Mavericks second year big man Dereck Lively II.
“Man the bs I see everyday is crazy,” wrote Lively on X, formerly Twitter, alongside some laughing emojis.
Can the Mavericks make another deep run?
There has perhaps never been more optimism for a Mavericks season than there is for the current upcoming 2024-25 campaign, at least since Dallas last won a championship vs LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 2011.
The Mavericks made a big move this summer by adding future Hall of Famer and sharpshooter Kaly Thompson from the Golden State Warriors in what was technically a sign and trade move but didn't result in them parting with any significant assets.
The Thompson move was a clear reaction to Dallas' shooting struggled in their Finals loss to the Boston Celtics, particularly after Boston made a concerted effort to minimize the corner three point attempts that largely carried the Mavericks to the Finals.
There are, however, some concerns about how seamlessly Thompson will be able to fit into a Mavericks team that already has defensive limitations with both Doncic and Kyrie Irving in the starting lineup. While Thompson was an elite defender in his heyday, back to back significant knee injuries in 2019 and 2020 have severely limited his impact on that end of the floor in the present day.
The team also lost arguably its best perimeter defender in Derrick Jones Jr. in free agency, as well as its third leading scorer during the regular season in Tim Hardaway Jr., although Hardaway didn't have much of an impact during the team's playoff run.
In any case, the Mavericks are now gearing up to begin their preseason schedule, before the regular season gets underway on October 23 with a home game vs the San Antonio Spurs.
