While Mavericks star Luka Doncic may be a top-five candidate for MVP this season, not everyone agrees with the way he runs the offense for his team. According to former Mavericks swingman Chandler Parsons, it’s ‘exhausting’ being Luka Doncic’s teammate and his particular iso-heavy play style is nothing but a drag to his teammates.
“I think [Luka Doncic] is an unbelievable talent, he’s literally a guard version of [Nikola] Jokic, where he can do anything,” said Parsons on ‘Run It Back.’ “But as a teammate, it’s a little exhausting watching the same sh*t over and over again. And then when you don’t win it’s magnified — hey, can we try something else? Can I maybe get the ball? It definitely can be frustrating.”
With averages of 34.6 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.0 rebounds per game on 49.6% shooting, Luka Doncic is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world right now. He’s also first in the league in time of possession per game (8.6), and third in total touches per game at 92.2, only behind Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis.
With Luka, it’s not just the fact that he relies on isolation scoring to generate points, it’s that he often needs the ball for 15-20 seconds at a time before he makes a play. In short, Doncic has basically taken over complete control of the Mavericks’ offense. Between his touches and the opportunities for Kyrie Irving, there are not a lot of shots left over for anyone else.
This has been the story for Luka’s entire career so far, with the exception of the year that he and Jalen Brunson led the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals. On one side, the Mavericks need Luke’s production to stand any chance against the elites but his ball-dominant tendencies have limited the potential of what they could be.
The Dallas Mavericks Do Not Have Enough
Since Luka’s arrival in 2018, the Mavericks have been on the clock to surround him with the right kind of pieces to compete for a title. At first, they tried their luck with Kristaps Porzingis and hoped that his size and shooting could unlock something special.
It didn’t take long before that experiment was deemed as a bust and the Mavericks eventually shifted their focus to Jalen Brunson. After a surprising and impressive run to the West Finals, the Mavericks thought they had found Luka’s co-star for good, but they weren’t willing to outbid the Knicks that summer.
Now, Luka is rolling with Kyrie Irving as his partner and the results have been pretty mixed. Irving’s ball handling and shooting have only made the offense even more potent, and they have helped to ease some of the burden on Doncic in late-game situations.
Unfortunately, as another player who needs the ball in his hands, Kyrie takes up whatever is left of the time that Luka isn’t actively making a play and it’s made the Mavericks very predictable offensively.
While Luka’s teammates have denied that he’s a hard person to share the court with, it will not stop anyone from making their own conclusions. But until the Mavericks go out and win the title for themselves, there will always be doubts about their potential and Luka’s chances for success while playing this isolation-heavy style of basketball.
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