Name: Luka Doncic’s 3-point rain was clutch, and may help Mavs extinguish still smoldering Kristaps Porzingis trade rumors
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Luka Doncic’s 3-point rain was clutch, and may help Mavs extinguish still smoldering Kristaps Porzingis trade rumors

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9:59 AM on Feb 23, 2021 CSTEditor’s note: This story has been updated.The smoke appeared as puffs late Monday night. By Tuesday morning it was billowing nationally, and probably in Europe, but especially so in North Texas.The Mavericks, according to a Bleacher Report story that cited anonymous league sources, were alleged to be “quietly” gauging the trade market for Kristaps Porzingis.Except there was nothing quiet about the story’s combustible effect, on Twitter, on talk radio but, especially, the tellingly strong rebuts by owner Mark Cuban and the Mavericks organization.The fire, such as it was, seemed to be largely doused by Tuesday night, when Luka Doncic’s late heroics gave Dallas a 110-107 victory over Boston in American Airlines Center, despite the absences of injured starting big men Porzingis and Maxi Kleber.This 21 year-old is DIFFERENT 🪄🪄🪄 — Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs)First Doncic made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 15.8 seconds left. Then after Boston’s Jaylen Brown tied the score at 107 with 9.5 seconds left, Doncic drained a step-back 28-footer with one-tenth of a second left.Unlike in the Disney World bubble, when his 3-pointer from virtually the same spot on the floor beat the Clippers in Game 4 of the playoffs, there were fans, wildly celebrating ones, in AAC, albeit only about 3,000 in the 19,000-seat arena.“Right after the game, I said ‘Imagine if the whole crowd was here; it would be an even better feeling,’” Doncic said. “But today we really felt the fans and ‘Thank you, everybody, for coming.’”Luukkaaa — Brad Townsend (@townbrad)Doncic’s verbal thank you wasn’t needed. He’d already done so with his 31 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and heroics after the Mavs lost an 11-point lead in the final 2:59.“He’s just a very unique player; a very unique person,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “The wiring of Luka Doncic, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, guys that have this laser-like focus in these situations, it’s difficult to explain how their mind and their brain works.“But from what I’ve seen over the years, over three decades now, as the game gets tighter and the moment gets bigger, their focus is only on one thing: And that is succeeding with whatever the team needs.”The electric victory, Dallas’ sixth win in its last seven games, brought the Mavericks to .500 (15-15) for the first time since Jan. 23. And it was a needed finish to a strange and unfortunate day surrounding Doncic’s sidelined franchise co-star, Porzingis.The Bleacher Report story was damaging, though how extensive remains to be seen.At the least, a month and a day before the March 25 NBA trade deadline, fairly or not, a seed has been planted that the Mavericks might not have as much faith in 7-3 Porzingis as his $158 million max contract implies.Which probably explains Cuban’s reaction.“It’s not accurate,” he direct-messaged The Dallas Morning News when asked for his reaction to the story. “We have not discussed him in a trade at all. Has not happened.”Minutes later, Cuban, unprompted, amplified his and the franchise’s denial and annoyance, taking dead aim at one source cited in the story.“And BTW, we are not happy that there is a supposed ‘Western Conference exec’ ripping on one of our players. ... I think they just used it as a way to put out there what they think of KP.”The unnamed executive described Porzingis as a scarecrow on defense, unable to get into a posture due to his ongoing efforts to return to 100% physically after having right knee meniscus surgery in October.The reality is that Porzingis grinded to return, missing the season’s first nine games, while Memphis’ Jaren Jackson, who had meniscus surgery two months before Porzingis’ surgery, has yet to return to action.The reality is that trading Porzingis any time in the near future, but especially now, would be a monumental mistake — an assessment that was seconded by several key members of the organization I spoke to Tuesday.I was told that Mavericks president and general manager Donnie Nelson has pat answer for any fellow GMs who even consider engaging Dallas in trade talks.“Draw a line under Luka Doncic and Porzingis as not available, then another line under several players that would require an over-the-top offer to acquire.”I was emphatically told that the Mavericks have never initiated discussion with any franchise regarding a trade of Porzingis, but that on one occasion a team did inquire about Porzingis.“The answer was a quick no,” the source said.Perhaps that inquiring team was Golden State. On Tuesday, Ian Begley of New York-based SNYtv reported that the Mavericks had reached out to the Warriors to gauge their interest in Porzingis.That narrative is ignoring the fact that trading a less-than 100% Porzingis anytime between now and next month’s deadline would net Dallas 60 cents on the dollar, if that.It’s also ignoring the fact that the Mavericks franchise spent the better part of a decade trying to acquire a second star. Initially the search was for a co-star for Dirk Nowitzki in the years after the Mavericks’ 2011 NBA title. Then the quest became to find Doncic’s co-star.Years of the Mavericks striking out in free agency are evidence that Dallas’ best hope of getting that second star was via trade, and on Jan. 31, 2019, the Mavericks landed a then-23-year-old All-Star, albeit an injury-damaged one, in Porzingis.Last season, after a roller-coaster start to his Mavericks career, Porzingis averaged 26 points and 10 rebounds during the season’s final two months.Then during seeding play in the Disney World bubble both Porzingis and Doncic averaged more than 30 points and were the only teammates named to the 10-player All-Seeding team.And had Porzingis not torn the meniscus in the first game of the playoffs (and played nearly three full games on the injured knee) the Mavericks might well have toppled the Clippers.So now, after an admittedly subpar (for him) first two months of this bizarre COVID season, we’re supposed to believe that the Mavericks are “sniffing around” about trading Porzingis, as an unnamed assistant GM told Bleacher Report?In some respects, the Bleacher Report story and its timing are not surprising. This is what happens when a team and one of its stars underachieves, regardless of circumstances that caused the underachieving.Rumors swirl. Vultures circle. Hard questions get asked. Certainly it’s a disappointment to Mavericks fans that Porzingis on Tuesday missed his 13th game. And that he missed 18 regular-season games last season.For a comparable NBA example, the Mavericks didn’t need to look far Tuesday. It was the team with which they shared the AAC court.Boston, like the Dallas, was supposed to be an upper-echelon team in its conference. The Celtics, like the Mavericks, were hit hard by COVID.The Celtics brought to AAC records of 15-15 overall and 5-7 in February, on a night in which their young standouts, 22-year-old Jayson Tatum and 24-year-old Jaylen Brown, were named All-Star reserves.A few days ago, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge offered a blunt assessment of his team while speaking on a Boston radio station.“Our roster obviously is not good. ... There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. That’s who we are. ... If there’s somebody to blame, Danny Ainge is to blame.”Before next month’s trade deadline, the Mavericks brain trust, too, might conclude that the roster isn’t good enough, that the offseason defensive enhancements weren’t enough to make Dallas a Western Conference contender this season.But a give-up trade of Porzingis? Now? Anytime soon? Seriously? And when the Mavericks finally seem to be turning their season around, even with Porzingis missing the last two games?“There’s nothing that’s been explored,” Carlisle said. “I know Mark’s denied it. I’m denying it. He’s a Maverick and we expect him to be here.”Related:Related:.Get the latest news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox.By signing up you agree to our

9:59 AM on Feb 23, 2021 CSTEditor’s note: This story has been updated.The smoke appeared as puffs late Monday night. By Tuesday morning it was billowing nationally, and probably in Europe, but especially so in North Texas.The Mavericks, according to a Bleacher Report story that cited anonymous league sources, were alleged to be “quietly” gauging the trade market for Kristaps Porzingis.Except there was nothing quiet about the story’s combustible effect, on Twitter, on talk radio but, especially, the tellingly strong rebuts by owner Mark Cuban and the Mavericks organization.The fire, such as...

Luka Doncic’s 3-point rain was clutch, and may help Mavs extinguish still smoldering Kristaps Porzingis trade rumors

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