The gargantuan task for the former face of the Mavs franchise is figuring how to get his 30 while simultaneously filling the shoes of the greatest NBA player of at least a generation. The Mavs asked a lot of Luka Doncic, but they never asked him to do that. For his sake, let’s hope the new lifestyle sticks.
Meanwhile, as the Mavs prepare for an opener without Luka for the first time in eight years, life moves on in Dallas, as we’re constantly reminded.
No one in the organization mentions Luka per se, but the references to what the Mavs were and what they are now, or want to be, are as common as colds.
Since day one of February’s shocking trade, the party line is defense wins championships. Nico Harrison made it clear both in word and action. No one quibbles with the notion that Luka doesn’t play much D. Nico didn’t say conditioning was also a factor. He didn’t have to. The message got out just fine, and it was hardly the last one.
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Just the other day, the new offensive coordinator, citing a desire to make sure everyone gets to touch the ball, said it “didn’t really move” in the old personnel configuration. A common complaint from Luka’s critics.
So there you have the 2025-26 Mavs: Defense, ball movement and pedal to the metal. Good enough for me.
Now all they have to do to justify the new look is win.
Big.
Like, conference finals or bust, at a minimum.
Nothing less will do, and not just because Nico has pretty much said the same. There’s no time to wait on chemistry or karma or a comet flaming across your horizon when your two biggest stars were born while the Backstreet Boys were still, well, boys. Cooper Flagg gives Mavs fans long-term hope, no question. But, as Luka will tell you, the terms and conditions of a Mavs icon include no guarantees. The future is not a given. They’re built to win now, as Nico told us.
No sense giving the general manager the benefit of the doubt if he insists otherwise.
As is the case in any sport, everything hinges on health. Anthony Davis must play at least 60 games, something he’s done once in the last five seasons while earning the nickname “Street Clothes.” For a 33-year-old coming off an ACL tear, Kyrie Irving looks good just futzing around at practice. A good thing, too. A guy who relies on quickness and agility can’t afford to come back at 60%. And it doesn’t seem too much to ask if Dereck Lively II, a marvelous talent averaging 45.5 games in his first two years, could remain upright.
Just the same, healthy or not, expectations of a long playoff run should remain the same. Maybe that sounds unfair to you. Injuries happen, right? True enough, especially with this bunch. If the Mavs had a team car, it’d be an ambulance.
But another of the unspoken reasons for a franchise-rattling deal was Luka’s availability or lack of same. Nico thought he didn’t do enough to keep himself in shape and injury-free. For that matter, the GM turned the medical staff inside out because he thought it could have done more to keep everyone in uniform.
You can’t trade one superstar because he didn’t play enough for another who doesn’t, either, and make excuses for him.
Considering everything the Mavs have put their fans through over the last couple of years, from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows to a winning lottery ticket in their Wheaties, it seemed fitting to ask the head coach just who these guys are now.
“We’ve talked internally about that identity,” Jason Kidd said. “Yes, we want to play faster. Yes, we’re big, but there’s some other areas that we want to be better at, too.”
For instance, playing faster isn’t so much a matter of foot speed as passing. Without Kyrie, and with Dante Exum a mystery scratch, the Mavs are sorely lacking in playmakers. D’Angelo Russell is a shoot-first point guard. Could Brandon Williams or Ryan Nembhard fill in until Kyrie’s back? Can Flagg spend quality time at the point if he exhausts himself on defense?
From all appearances, the Mavs’ frontcourt will be a wall. Not so much a backcourt of Russell and Klay Thompson. They’ll need reinforcements, and it remains to be seen if the reserves shoot well enough to make up the difference.
The good news is Flagg has already earned the respect of the guy he replaced in the starting lineup. P.J. Washington, soul of the Mavs’ defense, says they’re “all here for each other.”
Which is nice, but do they have an identity?
“Not yet,” he said. “For us, it’s just being physical on the defensive end and trying to be the same way on the offensive end.”
Big and physical might just be the way to go in a conference the Rockets and Spurs are built the same and the best way to beat the Thunder is to wear them down. The new look may, indeed, work. And it had better.
Because despite all the complaints, the old look – a little D and a big point guard who pounded defenses into submission – was good enough for two conference finals in three years and a lifetime of memories. My brain ain’t what it used to be, and even I remember that.
On Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN
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