02-04-2020, 10:33 AM
It's got to be mental.
The Mavs have a lot of hard work to do between Luka's return and the beginning of next season to figure this out.
I love and appreciate Luka - as I've said multiple times, I wouldn't trade him for any other NBA player - but I really hope he's watching how his teammates play without him. If Luka develops the mindset of playing that style of ball as the key facilitator of it, then this team at least becomes a second round out instead of a first round out, even with the relative dearth of talent after Luka and KP.
The more we see the supporting guys - THJ, Maxi, DFS, Curry, Wright, and Brunson - throughout the season, the more clear it becomes that the Mavs aren't "Luka, KP, and a bunch of 7th-best-players-on-a-contender," but rather "Luka, KP, and a bunch of 5th-best players-on-a-contender." There is talent and quality (as well as inspiring determination!) here. Just need to figure out how to bring in that 3rd and 4th guy.
The Mavs have a lot of hard work to do between Luka's return and the beginning of next season to figure this out.
I love and appreciate Luka - as I've said multiple times, I wouldn't trade him for any other NBA player - but I really hope he's watching how his teammates play without him. If Luka develops the mindset of playing that style of ball as the key facilitator of it, then this team at least becomes a second round out instead of a first round out, even with the relative dearth of talent after Luka and KP.
The more we see the supporting guys - THJ, Maxi, DFS, Curry, Wright, and Brunson - throughout the season, the more clear it becomes that the Mavs aren't "Luka, KP, and a bunch of 7th-best-players-on-a-contender," but rather "Luka, KP, and a bunch of 5th-best players-on-a-contender." There is talent and quality (as well as inspiring determination!) here. Just need to figure out how to bring in that 3rd and 4th guy.