The new-look Dallas Mavericks are one of the teams to look out for ahead of next season.
Even if Jason Kidd’s coaching raises some questions around the league, they have too much talent in Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis not to be in the dark horse conversation.
Moreover, coach Kidd wants the Mavericks’ offense to have more balance, more touches in the post, and less three-point shooting than during the Rick Carlisle era:
“We’re going to have a balance,” Kidd said, as quoted by The Dallas Morning News. “We’re not just going to rely on jump shooting because that can leave you at any part of the season or in the playoffs. And if that happens, you don’t have anything to fall back on, and that means it’s an early exit.”
That’s one of the things the Mavs need the most: Balance. They couldn’t get back into games when the three-ball wasn’t falling and that wore out Doncic due to his insane usage rate:
On that note, Kidd recently said that he expects Doncic to trust his teammates more going forward and they to step up and take some weight off his shoulders:
“I look at Luka as a young Picasso,” Kidd said. “(He’s) someone who’s very talented, loves to win and understands how to play the game at a very high level.
As a coach, I don’t know if anybody told Picasso that he had to use all the paints. But I just want to remind Luka that he can rely on his teammates, and his teammates are going to be there to help him,” he added.
The biggest key will be whether he and Porzingis can coexist on the court and fulfill their potential together, and judging by the Latvian’s recent words on Luka, it seems like they’ll be just fine.
