DALLAS — After extending their season into mid-June, the Dallas Mavericks are now days away from the start of their 2024-25 campaign. With a roster that looks improved upon from the team that surprised their way through the Western Conference before falling in the NBA Finals, the pressure is now on for Luka and crew to capitalize on their deep playoff run with another step forward.
For as good as last season was for Dallas, especially late in the regular season and into the playoffs, their match-up against the champion Boston Celtics saw the offense crater if Kyrie Irving’s shot was MIA for the night.
To address the lack of firepower, the Mavericks added an all-time shooter with Klay Thompson joining the mix to sit and snipe at the perimeter. Four-time champion Thompson’s addition should take pressure off of the scoring tandem of Irving and Luka Doncic as they decide where to attack and force defenses into picking their poison.
Newcomer Quentin Grimes has shown potential in training camp and throughout the preseason for being a dynamic role player capable of more than chucking open threes. Free agent signee Naji Marshall’s defense will make him a fan favorite by opening week, as he steps in for the departing Derrick Jones Jr. as the squad’s elite stopper.
Spencer Dinwiddie, Luka’s co-star in his first WCF run in 2022, also returns now to run the backup offense behind the star Dallas guards. Forward P.J. Washington is set to start his first full year in Dallas after coming on as a trade deadline acquisition that made an immediate and surprising impact. Upon his insertion into the lineup, Dallas appeared transformed as they went 20-9 in the regular season following Washington’s addition.
Meanwhile, last season’s first-round center Dereck Lively II blossomed during the playoff run and now gives Dallas the luxury of having Daniel Gafford come off the bench as a two-headed monster.
After a season where things started slowly due to a rash of injuries, the Mavericks have quickly given themselves quality depth through their rotation that should keep them fresh for the long year. All of their stars have had recent injury woes, but they seem better prepared to absorb injury-related blows than at any point in the Doncic era.
After a lukewarm initial look in Dallas, Irving re-upped with the Mavs ahead of last season and ended up having one of the best seasons of his career at the tender age of 31. His time in Dallas has retconned his reputation, and he is playing for a coach who absolutely loves him.
Thanks to the reciprocated appreciation, Irving quickly reminded the league of why he was such a feared ball handler, and his work in the playoffs before the Finals was a revelation. There were often nights where Irving took over on offense, and that will be needed once again as Dallas looks to give Doncic a decrease in his insane minutes load from last year where possible.
The triumvirate of the best point guard of the 2000s coaching the best guards of the 2010s and 2020s on the same team can’t be undersold. Irving won his championship at age 23. Jason Kidd cashed in after a storied career at age 38. There are different paths to greatness and now Irving and Kidd are trying to help get Doncic to the finish line.
Doncic experienced his first playoff series win at age 23, the same year that he made his first conference finals. Winning his first Western Conference championship at 25 shouldn’t be understated. Doncic’s Mavericks joined the 2020-2021 Phoenix Suns in breaking the Steph Curry-LeBron James-Nikola Jokic stranglehold on the league’s toughest conference from the last ten years.
The fact that Doncic has yet to actually enter his prime bodes well for the odds of earning his first Most Valuable Player distinction during his continued pursuit of his first championship. As each new year passes, more gaps in the Mavs’ roster are plugged as they search for the right formula to make good on Doncic’s time in Dallas. In return, Doncic’s game continues to go above and beyond what was thought possible as he annually eliminates weaknesses and adds tricks to his trade.
Doncic’s three-point shot climbed in effectiveness last season, and the deep playoff showing featured the Slovenian sensation overtaking teams seemingly on his own at times before running into the Celtic juggernaut. With Irving and now Thompson installed next to him, and with Lively expected to show more growth in his sophomore campaign as a rim-running lob option, the 2023-24 scoring champion and triple-double machine could very well lead the league in assists as well this season.
Individual accolades are surely on the horizon for Doncic, but those are surely not his focus as the goal remains for the franchise to secure its second championship, an accolade that is the true test of a complete team. For Dallas, after coming tantalizingly close last spring, the search for a few more wins starts with 82 games.
Do you believe the 2024-25 season is Dallas’ year to win it all with Luka Doncic? Share your thoughts with Irvin on X (formerly Twitter) @Twittirv.
