DALLAS — It was, without question, a magical run through the 2022 NBA Playoffs for the Dallas Mavericks.
A trip to the Western Conference Finals was the payoff, and what will go down in the record books as the Mavs' accomplishment this season.
But the value of their 18-game odyssey through the West is something that will have benefits for the organization for years to come.
"It was an amazing ride," Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said, at the outset of our sit-down interview with him last week.
Harrison said he knew coming in how good Luka Doncic was. But he still marveled at how the Mavs superstar can control everything happening on the court.
"He really knows how to manipulate a game," Harrison said. "He sees things, two, three, four steps ahead of time."
"We know, that when we go into a playoff series, we have the best player on the floor. So that's got to give everybody confidence."
But now, Harrison has to figure out how to improve this Mavs team.
And, he embarks on a crucial offseason for the organization, as he tries to grow the roster around Doncic, while simultaneously encouraging growth from Doncic himself.
We sat down one-on-one with the second-year Mavs GM, as he charts the course to a championship.
Q: Doncic's conditioning has been maybe the only area in which he's received some criticism. Is that something you guys talk to him about, and say 'hey, let's come into the fall of 2022, *fully* ready for the season?'
Nico: "Yeah, I mean, that's something we talk about, it's something he talks about, and he knows. At the end of the season, he was in great shape, and he played really good. If you're looking for Luka to be the size of Doe Doe, that's not gonna happen. That's just not the way his body is built. And then he also benefits from having weight, because he punishes guards, so there's a balance between where you want him conditioning-wise."
Q: There's been a lot of conversation about him being involved in the process with you, Mark, and Jason, in terms of what this roster looks like in the future. What does Luka want?
Nico: "Luka wants to just keep getting better. Keep on getting players that -- I mean, the level of expectations are going to be high, so we've got to get players that can help meet those expectations."
Q: How do you make the necessary tweaks, now, to what is very clearly a very good roster, that needs to be a great roster?
Nico: "Yeah, I mean, one of the things is we have a great team that's connected. So we have to be very careful when you start bringing people in, or shipping people out."
The other key player the Mavs selected in that 2018 is Jalen Brunson. And he had a tremendous playoffs
Q: Is he capable of being the No. 2 on a championship team?
Nico: "Yeah, I mean, I think he's capable of a No. 2 on a championship team. For sure. He's shown in the playoffs, at the highest level what he can do. I think it's about, doing it game in and game out... and he's pretty close to doing that."
Q: 2022-23 will be a success if... what?
Nico: "I think I'll answer it a different way. I think 2022-23 is going to be a success because we're a better team now than we were at the start of the season. So we're going to start the season off as a better team. Doesn't mean we're going to go to the Western Conference Finals... but we're gonna start off as a better team, which I think is going to carry us through the season."