DALLAS — All-Star guard Luka Doncic attempted to ease concerns about his long-term commitment to the franchise after the Dallas Mavericks‘ disappointing season ended Sunday.
“I’m happy here, so there’s nothing to worry [about],” Doncic said after sitting out the Mavericks’ 138-117 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Mavs finished 38-44 and 11th in the Western Conference — the franchise’s first losing season since Doncic’s rookie year in 2017-18 — to miss the postseason despite making a blockbuster midseason trade to acquire All-Star guard Kyrie Irving.
Doncic recently acknowledged that he was more frustrated than he had ever been during his five-year career, pointing to the Mavs’ struggles and issues in his private life. He said Sunday that such frustration was “normal” when a team is losing as often as the Mavs were.
Dallas went 7-18 in the final two months of the season to fall from fourth place in the West standings to out of the postseason picture. The Mavs opted to sit several starters and key players the last two games — including Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls, which eliminated Dallas from play-in contention — despite Doncic declaring earlier in the week that he would play as long as the team had even slim postseason hopes.
By losing the last two games, the Mavs finished with the 10th-best lottery odds, an important development with Dallas owing the New York Knicks a top-10-protected pick. The NBA is investigating the Mavs’ “roster decisions and game conduct” against the Bulls, league spokesman Mike Bass said Saturday. Doncic played only 12 minutes and 35 seconds against the Bulls on Friday, then sat out Sunday’s season finale.
“I didn’t like that decision,” Doncic said. “That’s it.”
Mavs governor Mark Cuban said on Wednesday that while he believes Doncic wants to spend his entire career in Dallas, the franchise has “got to earn” that kind of loyalty from the superstar.
ESPN reported after the Mavs were eliminated from play-in contention that there is fear within the organization that Doncic, who just finished the first year of a five-year, $215 million supermax contract that has a player option for the final season, could consider requesting a trade as soon as summer 2024 if significant progress is not made next season.
“It was funny, you know, because I didn’t know that was true,” said Doncic, who averaged a career-high 32.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.0 points per game this season. “I didn’t say it.”
While Doncic pushed…
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