Can Luka Doncic usher a new era for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA and make them championship contenders?

It’s been almost nine months since Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks were kicked out of the NBA playoffs by the LA Clippers in the 2020 bubble. Fast forward to Tuesday night and the young Slovenian is showing he’ll be taking no prisoners in his revenge plans. While in Los Angeles, Doncic put up 70 points across the two fixtures and has placed the Mavs in a favorable position to advance to the Western conference semifinals.

In fact, 94% of teams who win their first two games in a series go on to advance to the next round. If they were to overcome the Clippers, it would be the first time the Mavs have progressed past the first round of the playoffs since 2011. Back then, franchise legend Dirk Nowitzki led the team to the NBA Finals and won them their first and only championship ring.

There have been a lot of comparisons made between the two players and while Luka Doncic’s game is quite different from Nowitzki’s, the expectations on what he could achieve for the franchise are quite similar to his predecessor.

Can Luka Doncic lead the Dallas Mavericks to another NBA championship?

Luka Doncic has wasted no time in his young NBA career in making sure everybody knows what he is capable of. On Saturday, in game 1 of the Mavs’ series with the LA Clippers, Doncic recorded his second postseason triple-double – becoming the first player to record more than one below the age of 23. Since the Clippers knocked Dallas out in his first playoff campaign last year, the 22-year-old has looked ruthless in their rematch.

Doncic has already proven in his three years in the league that he is a top-5 player. He can score, assist and rebound the ball and may even one day surpass Russell Westbrook’s triple-double record, having already recorded 36 thus far.

He shot a career-high 47.9% from the field this year and scores 73% of his free-throws. Most importantly, the Dallas Mavericks must hold onto to their star man in order to attract better talent to the franchise.

If they want to succeed in the coming years, they need to give Luka Doncic what he wants. Whether that is giving scorers new contracts, such as Tim Hardaway Jr., or finding him another superstar to replace the unreliable Kristaps Porzingis. He has the ability to dominate the game in so many ways that the Clippers are currently finding it difficult to stop him even when they double or triple-team him.

Luka Doncic is undeniably the face of the franchise and the key to their future success. He gained respect from Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki, who was in the stands at Staples Center for game 2 on Tuesday.

When Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to their only championship in 2011, he had hall-of-famer Jason Kidd alongside him, as well as former Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler. There were also veterans Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. Overall, it was a well-rounded team.

At the moment, the Dallas Mavericks don’t quite have that level of depth. There are signs of progression though. During the regular season campaign, the Mavs’ bench ranked 11th for points scored and fifth for field-goal percentage. As a team, they were ninth for offensive efficiency.

For Luka Doncic to take them to the next level, though, the squad needs to be filled out with some reliable two-way players. For all of their offensive plaudits, the Mavs ranked 17th this year on defense and ranked bottom for steals. Doncic also needs a more dominant center alongside him.

Porzingis is not really deployed at the five and has defensive, as well as fitness, issues. Meanwhile, Maxi Kleber is not good enough to cope with the NBA’s best big men. Especially when the West will continue to be dominated by the likes of Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, DeAndre Ayton and Anthony Davis. The Mavs need to unearth the next best center.

If they can do that and round out the team, the Dallas Mavericks could be a contending force for years to come. With Luka Doncic at the helm, there is no doubting that.