Luka Dončić’s Playing Style Deters Some Players from Joining Mavericks
Luka Dončić is the main reason the Dallas Mavericks are a factor in the Western Conference playoff race, but his style of play might also be hindering them from bringing some players into the fold.
On the latest episode of The Hoop Collective Podcast (starts at 26:45 mark), ESPN’s Tim MacMahon pointed out Dončić’s ball dominance is a turn-off for certain players across the league:
“As great of a player as Luka is, and we just talked about him being one of four legit MVP candidates this year, he is as ball-dominant as any player in the league, and there are guys around the league, I’m sure you guys have both talked to players, who don’t necessarily want to play with Luka because of that.”
This might be a growing topic of conversation around the NBA. Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma told The Athletic’s Josh Robbins that team president Michael Winger presented him with a trade offer before the deadline that would have sent him to Dallas.
“There was a point in time, Dallas, they definitely did want me. Winger presented me with what the trade was and obviously didn’t want to trade me and kind of left the decision up to me a little bit and asked me what I wanted to do,” Kuzma said. “I told him I wanted to stay and continue to build something. And that was kind of the end of it.”
Robbins noted it was unclear what the Mavericks’ offer to Washington was. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said (starts at 6:00 mark) on Tuesday’s episode of NBA Today he believes the offer included two first-round picks that Dallas would end up using in deals for Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington.