Mavs’ Doncic and Porzingis Selected for ‘All-Bubble Team’ Honors

Luka Doncic was selected to the ‘All-Bubble First Team’, and Kristaps Porzingis was selected to the ‘All-Bubble Second Team’, as the Dallas Mavericks become the only NBA team to have two players on those lists.

The NBA announced its ‘Bubble Awards’ on Saturday afternoon, with Dallas Mavericks co-stars Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis being selected to the 'All-Bubble' first and second teams, respectively. Doncic came just shy of averaging a triple-double in the eight seeding games, finishing with 30.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 9.7 assists per game. Porzingis was impressive as well, putting up 30.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in the seeding games. Porzingis' points per game in the bubble were a full 10 points higher than what he averaged on the season overall (20.4).

The Mavs were the only team to feature two plays on the 'All-Bubble' teams. Damian Lillard, who was unanimously selected as the 'Bubble' MVP, Devin Booker, T.J. Warren and James Harden joined Doncic on the 'All-Bubble First Team'. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Caris LeVert and Michael Porter Jr. joined Porzingis on the 'All-Bubble Second Team. Doncic finished fourth in 'Bubble MVP' voting, ahead of both Harden and Antetokounmpo. After leading the Phoenix Suns to an 8-0 record in seeding play, Monty Williams was selected as the 'Coach of the Bubble'.

These awards obviously come with a much smaller sample size from the actual 2019-2020 season awards, but the Mavs having two young stars playing at such a high level bodes well for the future. Doncic, who was already spectacular as a rookie, has already gone far beyond even what some of the more optimistic analysts expected for him in his second season. He could very-likely be in the running for MVP favorite in 2020-2021 as a 21-year-old.

There were a lot of questions about how Porzingis would play this season after being out for more than a year and a half due to an ACL tear he suffered while with the New York Knicks. After getting off to a somewhat rocky start, Porzingis progressively got better throughout the season for Dallas, lifting his play to All-NBA levels since February. That progression continued in the 'bubble', and if he keeps trending up going into next season, the Mavs are going to reach title contender status sooner than most people realize, with or without a third star.

Before we think too much about the upcoming offseason or even next season, though, the Mavs and their two young cornerstones still have some business to attend to, as they prepare to take on Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and the daunting Los Angeles Clippers in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs on Monday night. We'll find out soon if Doncic and Porzingis are up to the challenge.