There is no question that Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic is one of the best basketball players on the planet. On the court, he does it all, from scoring points in bunches to setting up his teammates for easy looks.
But when it comes to everything else, Doncic isn’t nearly as active. In fact, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Doncic spends much of his offseason overseas, preferring to let the front office handle all the things that come with constructing a championship roster.
Tim MacMahon on Luka Doncic:
"They seek his input, but he's not heavily involved in personnel decisions. He has not shown interest in being heavily involved. He spends much of his offseason in Europe. He's not a guy who has shown the desire to be a recruiter."
(via ESPN) pic.twitter.com/hM932xla78
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 17, 2022
It seems like the Mavs would like Luka to be a bit more involved when it comes to helping them recruit players to the team. With one or two premier additions, Dallas could become a title favorite. Instead, they lost Jalen Brunson for nothing in free agency and are set up to be worse off than they were a year ago.
But the Mavs are preaching patience as they remain committed to building the best possible team around their young superstar.
“Luka is the start and finish for us,” said head coach Jason Kidd. “He did a great job for us all season and the big thing is for us to build on that. I know expectations are going to be high with Luka but again, we want to build a championship team and it just doesn’t happen overnight.”
Unless Dallas lands Kevin Durant this summer (unlikely), they will be behind some of the other elite teams in the Conference. They need to add a true co-star to maximize their potential.
Unless Luka changes his ways and starts embracing the recruiting process, it’s going to take some time before they are at the place they want to be… and that’s okay.
