Spencer Dinwiddie Speaks on How Mavs' Luka Doncic Can Take Next Step
DALLAS — Much of the success the Dallas Mavericks achieve is determined by how far Luka Doncic can take them. When he's healthy and firing on all cylinders, he can achieve things like leading an improbable Western Conference Finals run as he did during last year's playoffs.
Doncic's former teammate, Spencer Dinwiddie, was a guest on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast during a recent episode. Among the topics was how the four-time All-NBA First-Team talent can take his already incredible game to an even further level.
Before diving into specifics, Dinwiddie expressed that Doncic is "my guy," but did acknowledge that defense is certainly an area that the Slovenian superstar can grow. Dinwiddie feels as though if Doncic was longer being targeted, it would help the Mavs to improve defensively.
“Defense, obviously. He does give effort to a degree on that end, but it can be [at] a higher level, and you want to get to a space where they aren’t hunting you, obviously,” Dinwiddie said. “It’s never good when your best player is getting targeted on defense."
Dinwiddie did acknowledge that the Mavs still need to put together the "right roster" around Doncic and when that occurs, he'll likely have to adjust his play style.
“Whenever the right roster gets around him he’s probably going to have to change play style a tiny bit,” Dinwiddie said.
Allowing Doncic to play a less taxing style throughout games is a key reason why the Mavs acquired Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets —the trade that moved Dinwiddie. However, not having training camp or early season games and instead being thrusted into high stakes games immediately proved challenging to install more ways to shake things up involving Irving.
Another element to Doncic's defensive growth that Dinwiddie sees is for him to go from just being in general shape to being in elite condition, comparing the ideal circumstance to Giannis Antetokounmpo or LeBron James.
“I think he’s in shape, but if you’re talking about that elite-level, I can be at the rim every single time, when we talk about Giannis, Bron-type of shape? No," Dinwiddie said. "He can hoop, though.”
Doncic did enter last season in the best shape he's had to begin a season. It resulted in him scoring 30 or more points in nine consecutive games, which is second to only Wilt Chamberlain to start a season. The issue was the play style became too taxing, which raised concerns within the organization about Doncic hitting a physical wall.
"There are possessions [the Mavs] have to help Luka on defense because he's doing so much on just the offensive end," Kidd said. "We've got to be able to find that balance for him to participate defensively, so that helps us win games. But the usage rate is so high, so sometimes there are going to be some situations where he doesn't participate. It happens. Been there, done that."
"But the one thing is we're only 10 games into this, so we'll figure that out," Kidd explained. "But the big thing is understanding who's going to help, who's going to be consistent being that second, third, fourth player."
Keep in mind, Doncic has played a ton of basketball in recent years. Not only is the NBA season long, but he led a lengthy Western Conference Finals run in addition to playing internationally for the Slovenian men's national team annually since COVID-19 restrictions. Couple all of that with a condensed NBA calendar after the NBA Bubble and it's a taxing outcome, which can result in challenges.
Doncic was not healthy to end the season and dealt with a quad injury that wasn't caused by contact shortly after the NBA All-Star break. He ultimately had to undergo an MRI and missed five games in addition to having his night ended early against the New Orleans Pelicans after 28 minutes.
"I just woke up the next day and it was hurting you, but I didn't get hit and I obviously don't think so, but I don't know," Doncic said.
For some players, it can be a struggle to sustain elite physical condition throughout the course of an 82-game season. Not to say this is Doncic's particular case, but long road trips and just general lapses in discipline can set in for even the greatest of athletes. There are just some players more suited to naturally overcome it.
Simply put, Doncic will need to be more disciplined with off-court habits than the typical NBA player to sustain excellence. While Doncic will participate with Slovenia this offseason, he will have a longer NBA offseason than he's ever had as a result of the team missing the playoffs.
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here. Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.
