Luka Doncic is one o the most gifted young players to enter the league in recent memory. Since entering the league, Doncic has taken the NBA by storm and has been slowly and steadily developing into one of the best players in the league. But a few stats show that his presence can be detrimental for the Mavericks.
NBA analyst Tommy Beer pointed on Twitter that Luka Doncic’s on/off stats for the Mavericks have been quite bad. In fact, the Dallas Mavericks have been outscored by 110 points during the time Doncic has been on the court this season. Only Kemba Walker has been worse, with the Knicks getting outscored by 112 points with him.
Yes, Luka Doncic's on/off splits this season are stunning.
The Mavs have been outscored by 110 points with Doncic on the floor this season.
The only player in the NBA on a winning team with a worse plus/minus is Kemba Walker (-122) https://t.co/YJO4F53kh9
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) November 30, 2021
This isn’t the only condemning stat from Doncic. His free throw shooting has also gotten worse over the last few games. Doncic started decently from the free throw line last year, making 178 of his 224 free throws in the first two months of last season, a decent 80%.
Over the first two months of last season, Luka Doncic was:
178-for-224 (80%) from the free-throw line.
Thus far this season, Doncic is:
58-for-89 (65%) from the free-throw line
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) November 30, 2021
But this season, Doncic has started much worse from the free throw line, making just 58 of his 89 free throws, a mere 65%. Doncic’s defense and his dip in his accuracy from the free-throw line will be cause for concern for the Mavericks, who have put the future on Doncic’s back.
To be fair to Luka, this might not be his fault entirely. It is important to look at the players in the rotation that Jason Kidd puts around him. Doncic’s defensive weakness has been known, but Kidd should be aware of that and make up for it by surrounding Luka with better defenders in order to make up for it.
Going forward, the Mavericks will be hoping that Luka can turn the corner when it comes to these stats. But if not, they need to make the proper team adjustments in order to compensate for his weakness. How the Mavericks react to this will be crucial to their success going forward.
