Being a young player with a lot of responsibilities on your shoulder is not an easy task. Not many can shoulder that burden of even hypothetically disappointing your fans. Fortunately for the Dallas Mavericks, their young superstar, Luka Doncic, is someone who can fulfill that role.
In fact, in his short span of being drafted into the NBA, he has already established himself as one of the elite players in the league. He took it to the next level in the 2022 playoffs.
When most expected the Mavs to make an early playoff exit, they went on to play in the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors. But at the end of the day, the Dubs were too big of an opponent to take on for Doncic and co.
Despite not making the NBA Finals, he gained immense respect from everyone in the NBA community. Does this story seem like it has already happened before? Well, when LeBron James was with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the first time, he quickly fell into this situation.
NBA analyst Brian Windhorst spoke about this in a recent interview. Windhorst explained how Luka Doncic might be in the same boat that LeBron James rode with the 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers.
Via Sportskeeda:
“Reminds me so much of 2007 Cavaliers. It was incredible they got to those Finals, it was very clear they were not the same caliber as the champion Spurs, and they spent the next three years scrambling, trying to find that big piece to add next to LeBron. They tried Ben Wallace, they tried Shaquille O’Neal, they tried Antoine Jamison, they tried Delonte West, they tried Mo Williams. They tried to get Amar’e Stoudemire, they tried to get other players like that. They just could never do it because it was really hard.”
Windhorst perfectly explained the situation that Doncic is stuck in. Currently, Luka can either ask the franchise to surround him with amazing role players. On the other hand, they could try to find another superstar who is willing to join the team.
But is there someone who will take this step? We can only expect to find the answer to that question in the 2022 offseason.
