Mavs Donuts: Luka Doncic Must Knock on LeBron James' Door

The Mavs are left with good table manners when they need to get "rude'' about LeBron James.

Start your day off with Dallas Mavs Donuts ... Our notebook on your team and your league ... 

DONUT 1. BUST DOWN LEBRON'S DOOR

Years ago, the Mavericks were interested in LeBron James. The approach by owner Mark Cuban and then-GM Donnie Nelson was a subtle and polite one. It failed ... because the "approach'' was never approached. Dallas never really got an audience with "The King.''

"Why not?'' we asked Donnie, who kindly explained by using words like "protocol'' and "improprieties'' and "going through channels.''

That was then.

This is now.

There is no room for being polite.

We explain here the pipe-dream scenario that would team LeBron with Luka Doncic, and we make the "pipe dream'' portion of this quite clear. But now we add this: Over the years, we've seen teams/players recruit using banana boats and by locking up guys in their homes and by organizing secret lunches (Pat Riley!) and by arranging for players to become Hollywood producers (wink-wink) and most recently by simply and blatantly tampering with a player (Jalen Brunson).

Meanwhile, what the Mavs are left with are ... good table manners?

Somebody needs to call LeBron and check on the level of his Los Angeles Lakers disgruntlement. Have lunch with his barber. Call a friend of a friend. Or hell, just go bang on his door.

The Dallas Mavericks are good. But they're not good enough to be polite.

DONUT 2. OH, AND BY THE WAY

Yes, Luka. You must be involved.

You don't like recruiting? Too bad. Luka, if you can't/won't put a voice and a vision to what it's like being a Mav ... why would anybody else bother to see it?

And yes, Mark Cuban, you must sell Luka on the necessity of his involvement. Tony Cubes, you pride yourself on being one of the sharpest and most skillful negotiator/salesmen on the planet.

Now all you need to do is sell Luka.

DONUT 3. THE BETTER MAVS?

How are the Mavs going to be better in this upcoming year? Leave it to our Staff Optimist Dalton Trigg to explain ...

DONUT 4. OVER OR UNDER? MAGIC WIN PROJECTIONS

"After winning just 22 games last season, good for second-worst in the league, there isn't a whole lot of promise in Central Florida. However, the Magic got better this offseason. By drafting Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 pick, the team adds an instant starter and difference-maker on the court. Banchero will change the way the offense is played and elevates the floor and ceiling of the team."

DONUT 5. TOP 50

Do you agree with where an "expert'' placed Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic on the all-time NBA top 50?

DONUT 6. "HELL NO!''

OK, we get the Mavs' "Hell no!'' response to the idea of adding Russell Westbrook. 

But here's what we don't get: Why say it out loud? How does doing so help the locker room, help with agents, help with future deals, help Luka Doncic win games?

Maybe it does. But ... how?

DONUT 7. TRADE TERRENCE ROSS?

"Bleacher Report wrote about the idea of the Denver Nuggets acquiring Ross in exchange for former Magic players Ish Smith, Jeff Green and a 2023 second-round pick."

DONUT 8. HAND IT TO BRUNSON

We've got to hand it to Jalen Brunson, who - it is obvious now - has long harbored the idea of going home to New York. ... but who never for a minute in a Dallas uniform performed as if he was simply biding his time.

On the very first night of Brunson in Dallas, Draft Night, then-coach Rick Carlisle labeled him "a true pro.'' Brunson was just a kid out of college at the time, but Rick was right. And he still is.

DONUT 9. JOHNNY EGAN, FORMER ROCKETS COACH, DEAD AT 83

"During his 11-year career, Egan had his high-scoring season with the Knicks in 1964. The Providence alum, who led the Friars to an NIT title in 1961 at Madison Square Garden, averaged 14.1 points over 42 games in his first tour with the Knicks after playing for the Detroit Pistons. He was later one of three players dealt to the Baltimore Bullets for Walt Bellamy in 1965, and was later taken by both the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers in separate expansion drafts."

DONUT 10. WESTBROOK AND RICK?!

Yes, we are aware of the rumors that would send Russell Westbrook to Indy. And no, if that happens, we cannot wait to see how Westbrook meshes with Pacers coach Carlisle.

DONUT 11. PLAYOFFS?

“We can f**king go to the playoffs this year,” Ross said on a recent episode of his show, The T. Ross Podcast. That level of confidence has been a common theme from the organization throughout the offseason after missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year."

DONUT 12. THE FINAL WORD

“The whole playoff experience was fun,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “I enjoyed it, I know everybody on the team enjoyed it, but we want more. I want to win the championship. That’s what I’m working for and that’s what everybody’s working for.”