With the #3 pick (!) in the 2018 draft, the Mavs get Luka Doncic

[JustJay]

I don't feel Luka needs a super team to win a ship unlike some players. We just need a few upgrades to the roster, trade or two maybe. I hope they keep Wood but so far I don't have a lot of confidence.

[Lestat_1795]

Originally Posted by JustJay

I don't feel Luka needs a super team to win a ship unlike some players. We just need a few upgrades to the roster, trade or two maybe. I hope they keep Wood but so far I don't have a lot of confidence.

I feel the same.
One decent rebounding center and another guard who can create his own shot should be enough.
It will be tough to beat Luka in a 7 game series anyway. Ask the Suns!😬

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by JustJay

I don't feel Luka needs a super team to win a ship unlike some players. We just need a few upgrades to the roster, trade or two maybe. I hope they keep Wood but so far I don't have a lot of confidence.

Agreed. I also think that with Luka's ball dominance, we wouldn't see as much of a benefit from pursuing stars. Would another star be good? Maybe. Can we afford to buy a star? Probably not. I think the smarter call is to get good role players who Luka can make better.

OFFENSE - 6th in the league is good enough to win it all. 1st in fewest TOs is godly. The only issues are:
1) We need to give Luka more breaks
2) We see times like in the first half of the Rockets where Luka is just bad/frustrated. A committee of Walker/Frank/Wright obviously did not get it done. If Luka comes out bad, he should get some rest so he can dominate in the second half.

DEFENSE - NBA rule changes have hamstrung defenses so it's understandable we'd see a drop, but even compared to other teams, we are mediocre at 17th place. That is not going to get it done. Every team goes cold, but our mediocre defense means that when we go cold, we lose 10-20 points on our opponent.

REBOUNDING - Mavs are dead last and only rebounding 47.6% of available boards and we are losing the rebounding battle by 4.6 rebounds a game. Giving the opponent five more shots is just making the game so much harder than it should be. McGee in theory should have helped. Doncic is the most dominant PG in the league in rebounding. Wood is 14th among PFs in rebounding.

Our problem is that our rebounding from the center spot is just trash (Powell is 54th among Cs and beaten out in rebounding by most second-stringers. McGee is unplayable. Kleber is 69th among centers which makes him dead last in the league, Wood is a decent PF but not a center)

If we can get a decent big to anchor the defense and lose the rebounding battle by a little less and a guard to smooth out the cold spots in offense, then we could be REALLY good. We don't have much to offer, but that's not too far off from being at least a first round threat. Right now, though, playoff defenses are going to frustrate Luka and we dont have the control of the defense/boards to tread water nor the ability to mix it up when Luka gets frustrated.