ESPN REPORT: sad news, Luka Dončić is been fired due to….
ESPN REPORT: sad news, Luka Dončić is been fired due to….
The owner of the Atlanta Hawks, Mark Cuban, entered the corridor outside the Dallas Mavericks’ draft room and took a call while the team was in the clock for the third overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Tony Ressler, the major owner of the Hawks, was contacted by Cuban. The majority of the day was devoted to talks between Donnie Nelson and Travis Schlenk, the basketball operations directors for Dallas and Atlanta, respectively, over a possible trade that would enable the Mavericks to advance two picks. Cuban wanted to make sure the deal went through to completion, and there were still minutes to spare.
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The billionaires decided to stick with the current structure, which called for the Hawks to give the Mavs the third overall pick in exchange for the fifth overall pick and a protected pick in the top five the following year.
While wearing a Hawks cap on the Barclays Center stage, Luka Doncic was actually on his way to Dallas, where, according to Cuban previously told ESPN, their analytics department had him “ten miles ahead of everybody else” in that selection class. Despite wearing a Mavs cap while on stage, Trae Young—who was chosen with the fifth pick—knew he would be a Hawk.
In 2018, a noteworthy transaction occurred on draft night involving Luka Doncic and Trae Young. Mike Lawrie / Magnum Photos
It transpired that two of the NBA’s most effective playmakers—each a superb passer and scorer—were traded. Having been selected for three first teams and one third team, respectively, Doncic and Young have both been recognized as All-NBA players. This qualified them for their respective $212 million, five-year supermax deals, with player options for the remaining season.
As they try to build contenders around their young franchise players, the Mavs and Hawks are facing significant obstacles halfway through the first season of their agreements. This is a desire that has an inherent urgency in the modern NBA, where there are several examples of superstars leaving their original teams to pursue championship dreams.
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The superstars’ professional paths share more parallels than just those when they square off in Dallas on Wednesday night (7:30 ET, ESPN). After coaching changes, they both had falling outs with their first head coaches and took their teams to unexpected conference finals runs. Major front-office makeovers have been implemented for both franchises.
In order to obtain co-stars, both teams made significant swings in the trade market; these transactions resulted in poor outcomes in Dallas and, thus far, in Atlanta.
As a result, the Hawks and Mavs are left wondering how to get their superstars into the title game and worried about what might happen if they don’t figure it out fast enough.
NOW I see THE Hawks overestimated their own abilities. They didn’t anticipate going all the way to the postseason in 2020–21, especially with coach Lloyd Pierce fired in midseason.
Under then-interim coach Nate McMillan, the Hawks, on the other hand, went 27-11 for the remainder of the regular season, easily defeated the New York Knicks in the opening round, and stunned the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semifinals. This run convinced the Atlanta executive office to effectively hold onto the roster, a move they later regretted following a 43-39 season and a pitiful first-round loss to Miami the previous year.
“I think if you asked our front office, they would say that we thought based on last season’s visit to the Eastern Conference finals that we could bring back predominantly the same team and get better and expect it to be better,” Ressler stated to reporters in May. That didn’t turn out the way we had anticipated.
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Friday, March 1: Bucks vs. Bulls, 10 p.m.; Mavericks vs. Celtics, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 2: Kings vs. Clippers, 9:30 p.m. (ABC); Nuggets at Lakers.
On Sunday, March 3, the following games are on ABC: the Warriors at the Celtics at 3:30 p.m.; the Knicks at the Cavaliers at 7 p.m.; Thunder at the Suns at 9:30 p.m.
All times are Eastern.
“So, yeah, I believe that instead of trying to resurrect what we had, we ought to have attempted to improve. I promise that won’t happen once more. I think that was a mistake.”
In fact, Atlanta went all in over the offseason, making a blockbuster trade with the San Antonio Spurs to acquire All-Star guard Dejounte Murray. In addition to 2026 swap rights, the Hawks forfeited three first-round picks, including a heavily protected pick from Charlotte obtained in the midseason trade of Cam Reddish and Atlanta’s unprotected 2025 and 2027 selections.
Given that Murray has no incentive to accept a contract extension and can become a free agency in 2024, it was an extremely dangerous move. Murray’s $17.7 million contract in 2023–24 is seen as much below his market worth, and league regulations restrict extensions to a 20% boost in the first year of the agreement.
According to statistics from pbpstats.com, Atlanta has been pretty effective when Young and Murray are together, outscoring opponents by 3.8 points per 100 possessions. The Hawks’ net rating is minus-6.58 when Murray plays without Young, which is poor, and minus-6.62 when Young plays without Murray.
Midway through what has been a turbulent season, the Hawks are back in play-in territory with a 22–22 record. Nick, the 27-year-old son of Ressler, heavily influences Landry Fields, the 34-year-old general manager, who took over the basketball operations a few weeks ago when Schlenk was fired. Following his argument with Young, rumors are circulating regarding McMillan’s job security and/or desire to remain in Atlanta. As he has been for a few years, power forward John Collins is frequently mentioned in trade speculations.
Now, an inexperienced front staff must build a contender around Young, which presents a particularly challenging task given the diminished assets.
Only a few months into Doncic’s debut year, THE MAVS GAVE IT all. The Mavericks seized the chance to match Doncic with another young European star when the Knicks chose to sell Kristaps Porzingis. However, Porzingis’ list of desired destinations—which, according to sources, did not include Dallas—was disregarded by both the Mavericks and the Knicks.
In an attempt to clear salary cap space for that summer’s free agency, the Knicks were motivated to trade expiring contracts for Tim Hardaway Jr. and maybe Courtney Lee, with whom Nelson had been in talks. In a deal like this, Dallas would have received draft compensation.
During the first week of their rookie seasons in 2018, Doncic and Young squared off in the NBA. The USA TODAY Sports’ Dale Zanine
Point guard Dennis Smith Jr., a 2017 lottery selection who had fallen out of favor in Dallas, and two first-round picks (2021 and 2023) were sent to New York along with Porzingis, who was abruptly added to the package. In order to complete his recovery from a ruptured ACL in his right knee sustained in the previous season, Porzingis missed the remainder of the campaign.
That summer, as a restricted free agent, Dallas increased its wager on Porzingis and signed him to a five-year maximum contract with no injury protection before he had ever played a minute in a Mavs uniform.
The deal for Porzingis was highly praised at the time, particularly among the community. Dirk Nowitzki handed the torch to two up-and-coming European players as he left.
What a waste of the wonderful setting.
The Mavs surpassed the NBA record for offensive efficiency in 2019–20, during a period when Doncic and Porzingis gelled. However, their synergy took a while to grow and quickly broke down. Before the pandemic and during the bubble comeback, they were a tremendous team, but that came to an abrupt end when Porzingis tore his meniscus in his other knee. With the Mavs, Porzingis never fully recovered from that injury, necessitating surgery.
Porzingis had trouble, particularly when it came to defense. He returned a few weeks into the 2020–21 season, but he wasn’t content with his supporting role. When the Mavs went shopping for Porzingis in the trade market, they found that moving his deal would require giving up at least one more first-round selection.
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By then, the only thing Porzingis and Doncic had in common was that they both hated playing for coach Rick Carlisle, who quit that summer rather than start the following season under pressure.
After Carlisle left, there was no longer any tension between the two players, who were both relieved to have a new beginning. Following Carlisle’s firing, Jason Kidd showered Porzingis with accolades, referring to him as a “perfect fit” for Doncic’s co-star role. With the use of analytics data, Kidd pushed Porzingis to use his post and midrange moves, which Carlisle attempted to stop.
Nevertheless, deeds speak louder than words. Just before the deadline that season, the Mavs sent Porzingis to Washington in exchange for two contracts—Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans—that the Wizards were keen to move.
When healthy that season, Porzingis had performed admirably, but he did not elevate Doncic’s genius. As general manager Nico Harrison stated that “depth and flexibility” were the main reasons he made the trade, the Mavs traded for Porzingis as soon as they could without having to attach a first-round selection because they were more effective with him on the bench than on the court. The fact that Dinwiddie solidified his position in the center of the Mavs’ core throughout their run to the Western Conference finals and thus far this season was a bonus.
The Mavs are back to square one in their quest for a worthy co-star to go with their youthful, perennial MVP candidate after it was revealed that the Porzingis acquisition was a strikeout. (Also included is the tale of how the Mavs mishandled Jalen Brunson, losing him to the Knicks in free agency after he was instrumental in their run to the West Finals.)
