How Luka Doncic Plans to Play Off-Ball with Kyrie Irving, Help Dallas Mavs Increase Pace
DALLAS — When the Dallas Mavericks began last season, Luka Doncic had to shoulder heavier usage in the offense than he ever had before with Jalen Brunson departing to the New York Knicks in free agency. Entering this season with Kyrie Irving, there is a greater emphasis on playing faster as a unit and finding more off-ball opportunities for Doncic to reduce his workload.
Doncic is one of the NBA's best at isolation scoring and pick-and-roll ball handling, all of which help the Mavs control the pace of a game within the half-court. He draws such significant defensive attention and stays poised through blitzes and traps, along with being a master manipulator of weak-side defense. It's tough for the opposition to keep up in a game that comes down to a matter of execution in such a setting. However, being required to do that frequently during a game can be taxing.
Between spending more possessions off-ball alongside Irving and the Mavs generally playing faster to exploit transition opportunities, the focus is clear in attempting to make Doncic's job easier. The Mavs hope to find a balanced formula for when Irving will push the pace and initiate the offenses versus having Doncic do it. Establishing such an approach will help create both a faster pace and more off-ball involvement for Doncic.
"Mostly, I don't run … not with the ball. I make the throw-ahead pass," Doncic said. "I think that's been working pretty good. Sometimes, I talk with Kai about it. We're going to exchange the handling of the ball. So say, for example, when it's a free throw, maybe I get the ball, but when it's like open, when it's not stoppage, he will take it. So we're going to exchange that."
While Doncic has initiated many of the Mavs' possessions since entering the NBA, he remains confident in playing more off-ball. He feels he can lean on his experience exchanging initiation duties mid-game from playing alongside Sergio Llull with Real Madrid before entering the NBA.
"When I was in Madrid, I played like this," Doncic said. "I remember playing with Yul, so we were the same. We would exchange, so I remember playing like this."
Doncic has worked on his catch-and-shoot jumper to be more fluid when spacing out to prepare for spending more time off-ball. The defense is unlikely to play off of him much, which will open up the floor for his teammates like Irving and the rest of the offense to attack. When combined with his impressive ability to attack the paint off the catch, integrating a more fluid catch-and-shoot approach will be important.
"I think spacing is important, just to move," Doncic said. "I know the defender is probably not going to help off me a lot of times, so that opens more space for Kai, for other teammates. ... I've been working on my catch-and-shoot, so I'm ready."
Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic during the 2022-23 NBA season.
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
In recent years, Doncic has held onto the ball on the catch instead of having a quick trigger to let it fly within the flow of possessions. Sometimes, these result in him breaking down a defender in space, requiring him to get into a step-back instead of taking the more straightforward shot.
When asked if he'll take fewer step-backs after receiving the ball when spacing out, Doncic replied: "Less, less. Now it's more catch-and-shoot."
A significant element of the Mavs' ability to play faster is having the necessary athletes and skill sets. Between needing explosive players who can get up the floor and play above the rim and shooting threats who can make quick decisions and put the ball on the floor, the Mavs added both this offseason.
“Talking to Luka this summer, he was all for it," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said on Monday. "We got to take the ball out fast. His ability to throw a full-court pass and throw-ahead also takes off the pounding of him being picked up full-court and hounded.
“Now we have Kai, Josh, and Derrick out there, guys who can get out and run and put the ball on the floor," Kidd explained. "It helps us because it’s a numbers game. If we’re playing four-on-four and playing faster, the offense always has the advantage.”
With Doncic sidelined, the Mavs displayed progress in attempting to play fast in their 114-104 preseason victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday. The Mavs finished with 30 assists, showing a lot of success passing the ball ahead and getting into actions quickly, like handoffs, ball screens, and off-ball screening actions.
“When you look at the way we have been talking about pace, we haven’t been seen by the public for a while, so I thought for the public to see that we can play fast and to have 40 points in that first quarter and then also come back in the third and almost have that same mentality," Kidd said on Friday.
Josh Green, who scored 15 of his 22 points in the first quarter against the Pistons by being aggressive and making quick work of his touches, sees playing fast as a significant advantage for the Mavs. He reiterated that it's been emphasized by the team throughout training camp and remains a goal to sustain it during the regular season.
“The assists came with us playing fast and pushing the ball," Green said. "Guys are playing unselfish, and it’s something that we have been working on. The transition has been a big emphasis on this team. We’ve been doing it daily in practice, and it’s a fun way to play.”
It's not just about making a stylistic preference and wanting to sustain an approach when it comes to the Mavs and playing with a faster pace. Kyrie Irving observed rival teams succeeding by involving their bigs in the offense and having the guards use a quicker pace throughout a possession.
"We have a ton of work to do. This Western Conference is loaded," Irving said. "We see how teams are making moves even late into kind of preseason right now, different lineups. If you've been watching preseason, you can see guys are getting their bigs more involved, and their guards are playing with a quicker pace."
On Wednesday, the Mavs' first opportunity to test their faster approach will be against the San Antonio Spurs. The Mavs will be tested in various ways in a matchup featuring rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama and no shortage of athletic, big perimeter players.
