Why Luka Doncic, Mavs Will Be Better Than Last Season
After making it to the Western Conference Finals last season, the expectations for the Dallas Mavericks increased exponentially. Although Dallas lost its second-best player in Jalen Brunson, it hopes Christian Wood, who was acquired in a trade from the Houston Rockets in June, or Spencer Dinwiddie, who will now join Luka Doncic in the starting backcourt, can adequately fill that void.
Whether the Mavs are able to live up to these higher expectations or not will be determined by a handful of factors, including: Doncic getting off to a fast start and staying healthy, potential growth from young players like Josh Green, Frank Ntilikina and Jaden Hardy coming off the bench, Dinwiddie's production in an increased role and Wood getting familiarized with his new teammates and coach Jason Kidd's philosophies.
As far as Doncic's conditioning goes, that's something the Mavs likely won't have to worry about heading into this season, as he's looked fantastic for Slovenia in international play this summer. With EuroBasket 2022 set to take up the majority of September, and NBA training camp quickly following after that, Doncic should be in prime shape when Dallas opens at the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 19.
All of this and much, much more – including potential domino effects for the Mavs that could come from the Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell trade sagas – is discussed on today's episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast. You can listen to the entire 30-minute show right here:
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You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg
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