Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd latest comments regarding their plans with Luka Doncic have opened the floodgates for “tanking” talk.
The Dallas Mavericks were in the Western Conference Finals last season. This season, even after acquiring Kyrie Irving at the trade deadline to make a push for the playoffs, are sitting in 11th-place in the conference, just outside of qualification for the play-in tournament.
On Friday, the Mavericks played their penultimate game against the Chicago Bulls. Certainly, the team would go all out to make sure they would make a push for the playoffs, right?
Well.
The Mavericks announced that they would rest their starting rotation, including Irving. As for Doncic, he played in just the first quarter of the game, and the plan announced by the team was that he would be shut down for the rest of the season.
Head coach Jason Kidd was asked about how Doncic reaction to the decision by the Mavericks to essentially pull the plug on the rest of the season. Kidd talked about the team wanting to compete, and that the plan was to “play until they were told otherwise.” On Friday, Kidd said “and today was the day that we’ve been told that we’re gonna do something different”
The quote by Kidd comes courtesy of ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Jason Kidd talks Mavericks decision to shut down Luka Doncic
The Mavericks are in a position in which they needed to win their final two games of the season to have a chance at clinching a spot in the play-in. However, they would also need the Oklahoma City Thunder to lose to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday to officially secure the 10th seed and the final spot in the play-in.
There are not just playoff implications involving this decision. There’s also the fact that they owe a first-round pick to the New York Knicks for the Kristaps Porzingis trade. But, their 2023 first-round pick is Top 10 protected. So if the Mavericks are picking in the Top 10, they would keep it, and the Knicks would have to wait for their 2024 first-rounder, but that is also Top 10 protected.
Doncic did technically start the second quarter, but he was removed from the game after he made a basket and took a foul. As MacMahon described the situation, there was “a smattering of confused clapping” from the fans in attendance.
His night ended with 13 points scored (4-for-11 from field), five rebounds, and three assists in over 12 minutes of playing time.
Will the Mavericks’ plans change? That remains to be seen. As of now, the team looking to be waving the white flag on the season.