By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving can successfully work because Kyrie knows it’s Luka’s team.
Cuban stopped by NBA Radio during the franchises’ Summer League campaign to discuss his star duo and settled any debate on who is the roster’s top dog.
“I think Kyrie is mature to the point now where he knows it’s Luka’s team. Lucas knows this. He knows, and that’s what’s important, and he’s willing to play more of a shooting guard role. When Luka is out, we have a point guard who can score and create for other guys, they’re both players who make their teammates better, and we didn’t have that before.
Once Luka went out we struggled, we struggled mightily, and Luka had to do too much we put a lot of pressure on Luka. We did struggle defensively after the trade but that was for a lot of reasons, it wasn’t Luka or Kyrie, but offensively you know we had one of the top lineups, we were the top two or three in the NBA,” he said.
Cuban’s comments are surprising, considering the front office just inked Irving to a new three-year, $126 million deal in free agency this summer, retaining him at the organization after trading for the talented point guard last season.
When diving deeper, his approach makes more sense when attempting to keep superstar Doncic happy, given he’s younger than Irving and was visibly upset when the team plummeted down the standings and missed the playoffs after acquiring Kyrie.
As a result, murmurs among NBA circles were the Mavs need to tread carefully to keep Luka happy, especially in an NBA environment when superstars seemingly have all the power in where they want to play during their careers.
Despite this, it’s clear Cuban believes in what the duo can grow into, and it’s evident the individual burden was too much for Doncic through a long and grueling NBA season. That is where Irving’s value is really felt, given he can score at will and keep the scoreboard moving when Doncic goes to the bench or takes a few plays off during a quarter.
There was reportedly very little interest in the market this offseason to commit to Irving long-term. Still, the Mavericks rolled the dice to keep him around, hoping it pays dividends with his exceptional talent and championship experience.
Only time will tell if Cuban’s faith in the pair pays off, but if it doesn’t, it could be the beginning of the end for Luka in Texas – and that would be the worst possible outcome for Cuban and the fanbase.