For Dallas Mavericks to keep Luka Doncic, Mark Cuban needs to get real about himself

Whatever Mark Cuban thought he was doing right this season has proven beyond any measure that he didn’t. This is the worst season in the history of the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks season ended on Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs, with the Mavs in full white flag mode.

Tickets for the game on the secondary market were going for as low as $18 in the nosebleeds, to $315 for the premium seats.

They paid this much to watch Mavs forward Markieff Morris take 17 shots in a 138-117 loss. The last time Morris took 17 shots in a game was November of 2018.

It’s insulting that NBA teams charge a full, regular-season ticket price knowing full well they aren’t trying. Of course, the NFL does that with its garbage preseason schedule, so ...

Of course, no one has to buy these tickets, or use them.

Two months after completing an all-in, go-for-it trade to acquire Kyrie Irving, the Mavs turned off the lights in the final week of the season. Seldom (never?) do you see a team that can make the playoffs try to avoid the playoffs.

The Mavericks should be embarrassed. The Mavericks should be embarrassed they are in the NBA lottery, along with the Spurs, Rockets, Wizards, Hornets and the NBA’s dregs.

Luka Doncic averaged 32.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists and his team missed the playoffs, and the play-in game. Only five teams in the respective conferences miss the NBA’s expanded postseason format.

The Mavericks offseason began on Friday afternoon, when they made the decision to lose. The Mavs were 8-18 after they acquired Irving. They finished the season 38-44.

After they tell Christian Wood they don’t want him back, the next order of business is the owner getting real with himself.

Does he know what he’s doing to prevent the most talented player he’s ever had from wanting to leave? He has a generational basketball talent on his roster, and unless significant upgrades are made he’s going to lose him.

Luka is not going to stick around to lose.

ESPN NBA reporter Tim MacMahon reported late last week that Mavericks officials fear Doncic could request a trade next summer. In fairness, any losing team that has a superstar player fears their departure.

On Sunday after the game, Doncic denied it. He said, “I’m happy here. Nothing to worry (about).”

He says that today. Superstar players leave winning teams; LeBron James, Kevin Durant and others don’t hesitate these days to bolt.

NBA stars request trades all the time. Doesn’t mean they happen. It all depends on the level of pouting the player exhibits in order to make that trade a reality. James Harden could have his own shoe line based on this.

All Luka would have to do is ask a teammate how to make this happen. Kyrie Irving was quite good at it, so Brooklyn sent him to the Mavericks back in February.

Technically, Luka’s contract with the team does not expire until the summer of 2027. He has a player option in 2026, which would pay him $48 million.

This is always about money. It’s also about winning.

Cuban said last week that he thinks Luka wants to spend his entire career here, but that the Mavericks “have to earn that.”

That starts by getting real about a roster that is inadequate on multiple fronts. The Mavs have two of the best scorers in the NBA, but no amount of offense can compensate for the sorry state of this team’s defense and rebounding.

Coach Jason Kidd’s ambition is to preach some level of defense, and he can’t with this roster.

BTW: It should be noted Doncic can defend better than his reputation, which his head coach knows. In the 10 days before the Mavs’ decided to quit, Doncic proved he can defend. He’s never going to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award, but there is a decent defender in there. He must do it more often.

The Mavs have no choice but to try to keep Irving, who can be a free agent this summer. He has not been a problem at all since the trade, but giving him giant money is a risk.

Maybe this southern living, where the pressure is a point-fraction compared to that of the Northeast, is what his personality needs. Irving is not a player who can deal with much heat, and the only people in this market who hear it are Cowboys, not Mavericks.

Irving, who upon his arrival to the team politely asked the attending media not to ask him about his free agent status until the season is over, did not talk to the media on Sunday after the game. This is simply on brand for The Thinker.

Crushing Cuban has become a favorite sport in the last 15 years, and there are plenty of instances when he earned a spot in an real shark tank with real sharks. Letting Steve Nash walk for nothing should have resulted in a 1-on-1 between Cuban and a Great White.

There is also the reality that since Cuban bought the team in Jan. of 2000, the franchise has enjoyed its greatest moments, and prolonged periods of success. A run of 50-win seasons. Two trips to the NBA Finals. One NBA championship.

The Mavs’ acquisition of Doncic on draft night in 2018 gave them the necessary player to believe another title is plausible.

Doncic has real power, and if he doesn’t think a title is possible with the Mavericks he will exercise that power to go elsewhere.

It’s up to Cuban to prove he knows what he’s doing.