MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — The grind continues and the Mavericks are back on the road to play the Timberwolves tonight. Since the all-star break the Mavericks are 4-3 and have been even in their performances on the road recording a record of 2-2. As the clock is ticking on the season we will begin to see the better teams maintain, the middle teams vie for position, and the bad teams settle at the bottom.
Presently, the Mavericks are one of those middle ground teams vying for position with the Warriors and Grizzlies trailing not far behind with only two games separating them from 8th seed. The gap isn’t big and if the Mavericks find a way to lose anytime soon it could cost them their position.
Despite the Mavericks hanging on to the 8th seed by a thread, the good news is Dallas has played their best basketball over the last month. As the season winds down, two topics begin to gain traction, NBA Final favorites and the MVP discussion.
Mentioning the Mavericks and finals in the same breath right now is premature unless you’re reminiscing about the Mavericks championship they won in 2011. The MVP discussion on the other hand is an actual possibility for one of the Mavericks players and that player is Luka Doncic.
Over the years, the NBA MVP award has been one of the most polarizing awards in professional sports because a good majority believe that the clear cut MVP candidate each and every year should be Lebron James. To some degree this is true but if there is a player out there that is a close second, it’s Luka Doncic. Now that Lebron James is sidelined due to an ankle injury it’s possible the young superstar can throw his name in the hat and seriously be considered.
Lebron James himself has given Luka Doncic the King’s stamp of approval and even tried to sign him to a shoe deal before Jordan “came a knockin”. James has donned Doncic as a special talent that the league should watch out for when his run as king eventually comes to an end.
In 38 games played this year Doncic averaged 29 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds, which are typical numbers for Luka since he has entered the league, but has leveled up over the course of the past two months averaging 30 points in February and March. In the Mavericks win on Sunday Doncic tied his career best by making 8 three pointers in a single game and scored 37 points in the process.
In that span, Dallas has a record of 12-7 and has improved their offensive rating and defensive rating and much credit can be given to how well they have played as a team, but mostly because of how well the Mavericks offense plays when Luka is running point.
Right now, there isn’t as clear of a cut MVP candidate, but Luka should receive some nods especially if the Mavericks can find a way to surge and move up into the upper echelon of the playoff seedings. Only time will tell, but the Mavericks have a solid opportunity to do just that having the second easiest schedule in the league, which shouldn’t be an indictment against the team or Luka by any means since they played one of the most difficult opening schedules to begin the season.
MVP considerations or not, Doncic is in MVP form. If the Mavericks are able to increase their win total and move up the ranks in the western conference before we tie up the NBA season and affix a bow to it, Doncic should be a lead candidate for this year’s NBA MVP. It would be hard to argue especially after the start the Mavericks had to their season.
