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Luka Doncic, Slovenia Fall to Germany; Mavs 'Interested' in Dennis Schroder?
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With EuroBasket 2022 set to tip off on Thursday, teams are getting warmed up with World Cup qualifying matches.
On Sunday, Slovenia, led by Dallas Mavericks' star Luka Doncic, lost their first game of the calendar year to Germany, 90-71. Despite enduring an ankle injury that he was able to return from, Doncic finished with a team-high 23 points, six rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes of action. He shot 7-16 from the field, including 3-7 from deep. The only other Slovenian to score in double figures was Mike Tobey with 12 points on 6-9 shooting.
Germany was led by NBA unrestricted free agent Dennis Schroder and Orlando Magic's Franz Wagner. Schroder finished with a team-high 17 points and 10 assists in 27 minutes, and Wagner pitched in with 16 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes as well.
Slovenia will open EuroBasket group play in Germany, and the two countries are set to meet again on Sept. 6 at Koln Arena. Mavs' owner Mark Cuban, GM Nico Harrison and coach Jason Kidd are all expected to be in Germany as the German national team will retire Dirk Nowitzki's international No. 14.
While all of this exciting international basketball is taking place, the Mavs still have some decisions to make with their roster, considering that they still have an open spot on their 15-man roster. Given the need for secondary playmaking and ball-handling off the bench, we've discussed the ideas of Dallas taking free agency fliers on players like Kemba Walker and Dennis Smith Jr.
According to HoopsHype's Sam Amico, perhaps Schroder, who just gave Doncic a firsthand look at what he's capable of doing, is a name to keep an eye on.
"Along with the Lakers, (Dennis Schroder) is drawing interest from the Jazz and Mavericks, sources told Hoops Wire," writes Amico.
The only problem with this is that the Mavs have never seemed to have much interest in Schroder in the past. Last summer, NBA reporter Marc Stein wrote that the Mavs "zero interest" in Schroder, who shockingly turned down an $84 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers. Dallas also had little-to-no interest in potentially acquiring him from the Boston Celtics before last year's trade deadline, even though he was on an expiring $5.9 million contract.
Is the Mavs' need for backup point guard depth enough to ignore Schroder's reputation of being a not-so-great locker room presence? Is it enough to ignore how Mavs' legend and special front office advisor Nowitzki might feel about his fellow German?
We're skeptical, to say the least, but crazier things have happened in this league. If the Mavs are going to fill their final roster spot before the season begins, we'll find out soon with training camp just a month away.
You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg
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