Landon Buford
For the second season in the row, the Los Angeles Clippers have eliminated the Mavericks in the first round. Luka Doncic played spectacularly for the Mavericks, helping them get out to a 2-0, but unfortunately, the Clippers would win the next four out of five games.
In a recent interview with Daily Beast, Mavericks Governor Mark Cuban shared that they need a secondary ball-handler.
“We need a secondary ball-handler with some size,” said Cuban.
“KP will spread the court, make threes, is a great cutter, and block shots, Luka will create. We’ve got shooters with Tim [Hardaway] and Trey [Burke] and Maxi [Kleber], and others.”
During his exit interview last week, Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle shared, “guys that would complement are rigged defenders. It would be great to find a rigged defender, who was a dead-eye shooter and could make some simple plays. We are always open and we have some young guys that are developing too. I think all of those are realistic avenues.”
A couple of players that meet Carlisle’s criteria are New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball and Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart. Certainly, both Ball and Smart would be great additions to the Mavericks organization. A couple of others could include DeMarr DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, and Mike Conley.
As for Luka Doncic helping himself, many criticized the 2018 Rookie of the Year for being a little out of shape. I recently spoke to basketball trainer Mark Edwards about ‘The Don.’ Asking him if he had the opportunity to work with Doncic this off-season what he would focus on.
“I don’t know that you can necessarily control his weight situation; that is something he would want to do. I think he like being that big body point guard you cannot put a small guard on. That small guard won’t speed him up, and Luka Doncic’s skillset won’t allow him to speed him up, and he can bump you. So, now, if you are a small forward like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, he can bump them, and he has a great skillset against them as well. So, it is not really about his size; it is about his strength development and flexibility,” said Edwards.
“The only thing that you can do with Luka really as far as controlling his weight is a personal chef. That will cook food for him that give him the acquired taste that he likes and his nutritionally that he needs. People like food and you are at the mercy of your own pallet.”
During his exit interview, Doncic shared what he would be working on this off-season.
“I don’t know if there will be a lot of individual work because I have to go back and start practicing with the national team,” said Doncic.
“Then it depends if we qualify or not, and obviously, there is a lot of work that you can work on even in practice. So, I don’t know yet, but obviously free throws. But, I think it is a mental thing too, so I have to be way better than that.”
Luka Doncic averaged 27.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 8.6 assists in 66 games this season.
