The story of the Dallas Mavericks this season hasn’t been a joy ride. The team faced a massive fall-off in the standings ever since the blockbuster Kyrie Irving trade. While the fans expected the team to make a deep run in the postseason, the Mavs failed to even qualify for the Playoffs. However, several fans raised their eyebrows at the questionable decisions made during the Friday night loss against the Chicago Bulls. Moreover, the league has launched a probe to investigate the decisions.
Since the Kyrie Irving trade, the Mavs recorded a poor win-loss record of 8-17 and failed to seal a playoff spot. The team showcased a dominant performance in the first half of the regular season. Notably, Luka Doncic recorded a scoring spree this season with multiple 40+ scores. He also produced a record-breaking triple-double of 60-21-10. Despite all the accolades this season, the team didn’t see the playoff light and rumors surrounding Doncic’s future in Dallas have shocked the NBA world.
Luka Doncic & Co could land in deep trouble
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In the Friday night game against the Bulls, the Dallas team still had a chance of sealing a play-in tournament spot. However, the team blew their chances and prompted the league to question their decisions in the game. Notably, Uncle Drew didn’t step on the court and Doncic barely played the game. He scored 13 points in his 13-minute gameplay. Eventually, the team succumbed to a 112-115 loss.
Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, Christian Wood, and Maxi Kleber were already ruled out ahead of the huge game. This decision left everyone baffled. However, things somehow got worse. Kidd announced beforehand that Doncic would play only in the first quarter, essentially squashing all hopes of staying alive in the playoff race. In response to these baffling calls, the NBA launched an investigation into the roster decisions to find the motivation behind the decision.
NBA has launched investigation into Dallas’ roster decisions in last night’s Bulls-Mavs game and the motivations behind those decisions pic.twitter.com/WV8oVOrs54
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 8, 2023
These decisions understandably disappointed the Dallas fans as the team had the chance to make it to the postseason. To make matters worse, Kidd revealed after the loss that many of the current faces on the roster won’t be coming back next year.
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Moreover, this decision came in after a shocking Luka Doncic rumor. Despite the star’s dominant performance, the team hasn’t been able to capitalize on it. However, following this season’s embarrassment, sources from Mavs’ team fear a massive announcement.
Doncic may be gone from Dallas soon
After the disappointing exit this season, several sources expect that Doncic could request a trade in the summer of 2024. According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, “[Doncic] Could consider requesting a trade as soon as the summer of 2024 if Dallas doesn’t make significant progress by then.” However, the hoops community has to wait for the official update for confirmation.
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What do you make of the Dallas Mavericks’ decisions during the last game against the Bulls? Will the investigation go in favor of the Mavs? Let us know in the comments below.