NBA Finals 2024: The reasons the Mavs, Kyrie Irving, and Luka Doncic will be title contenders in the future.
The Dallas Mavericks’ media availability on the eve of Game 4 of the NBA Finals felt a lot like early exit interviews.
One of the main topics of discussion was how superstar Luka Doncic, 25, might profit from his rough first NBA Finals experience in the future.
The questions and answers implied that this would be Doncic’s first of many appearances on the biggest stage in the basketball world. And that when he does come back, he’ll be better prepared—probably even in a Mavericks uniform.
Doncic remarked, “I have a lot of things to learn.” “This is my first NBA Finals, so I’m going to learn from it, for sure.”
That’s when Doncic realized,No matter how long it took for the Mavs to become the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit, he realized that his remarks could be taken as a concession before the series was over.
Doncic countered, “But we’re not in the offseason yet.” “They’ve still got to win one more game.”
The Boston Celtics won one more game to avoid the sweep, despite a valiant effort by Doncic and the Mavs. Their twentysomething star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown helped the team win an NBA record eighteen titles in their second Finals appearance.
Even in a Western Conference that is dominated by teams like Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder, and Anthony Edwards’ Minnesota Timberwolves, it won’t be simple for Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Mavs to return to the Finals. Still, that is to be expected from a team that boasts a perennial MVP candidate who is getting close to reaching his prime.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd stated on Monday night that “you should always be fighting for a championship when you have one of the best players in the world.”
When Nico Harrison, the general manager of the Mavericks, decided to join Kidd in Dallas in 2021 after leaving Nike, he was under the same kind of pressure. It’s the tremendous sense of urgency Harrison experienced when rebuilding the supporting group surrounding Doncic and Irving during the previous season, providing the players with an opportunity to recover from the humiliating lottery exit from the previous season and guide the Mavs to their third Finals appearance.
Dallas failed to maintain the momentum it had after its first two trips. Five years and one head coach later, the Mavs returned from their 2006 defeat, but their rosters featured only Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. After the Mavs won their only championship in 2011, then-team owner Mark Cuban decided to pare down the aging roster around Nowitzki in order to take advantage of salary cap flexibility and try their luck with a number of elite free agents.
The Mavs went through a more than ten-year (six playoff) drought.visits without winning a series) prior to Doncic leading them to the Western Conference Finals in 2022. It required thirteen years for them to reclaim the West and return to the Finals.
Nonetheless, the Mavs are set up for long-term success this season.
Doncic responded, “I feel great,” when asked about the Mavs’ current and future situation following their Game 5 elimination loss. “We made some excellent [people] decisions. We’ve been dating for about five months, I would say. I’m proud of all the guys who worked hard on the floor, the coaches, and the backstage crew.
“Obviously, we didn’t win Finals, but we did have a hell of a season.”
The organizational flow chart, which was unclear, now has clarity.previously. Contrary to what he says, Cuban lost control of basketball operations when he sold the Adelson and Dumont families the majority of the team in the middle of the season. Patrick Dumont, the newly appointed governor, is informed about Harrison’s work but has expressed confidence in him to manage roster personnel issues. During this playoff run, Dumont gave multi-year contract extensions to both Harrison and Kidd.
