Mavericks Are Out Of The Playoffs And Now Of Course, The Kristaps Porzingis Rumors Begin

[Herbert]

At the end of the day the Clippers were the better team.

They have a roster full of veterans that have a history of performing and they won.

But of course with Luke Doncic dominating the ball the way he did this year, and the mavericks losing in the first round its inevitable that the Kristaps Porzingis rumors would start to swirl.

Porzingis is a great player that has an unfortunate injury history. After getting through his latest major injury I think he will be healthy enough to really train over the summer and comeback better than ever.

He's tall, he's long, he can shoot it and he's still extremely young. It's way to early to break these guys up unless Porzingis verbally demands a trade from the front office. Mark my words, Porzingis is going to prove many of the doubters wrong.

If I were the Mavs I'd begin scheming of a way to add some proven veteran talent to the roster. Two names jump out immediately, Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan. I bet those two would love to play together again.

The Mavericks could use a lot of what they bring. The Mavericks do not need to chase a bunch of 3 and D players. What these playoffs have proven is that the Mavs need some guys that are a little tougher, that drive into the paint, that draws fouls and shoot free throws. Guys that can get the tough points. Right now the Mavs have a lot of players that can shoot and get hot from three but nobody else outside of Luka that is known for putting their head down and driving to the basket to suck the defense in.

The Mavs don't need Luka breaking more usage records. If Mavs were able to snag Lowry and Derozan on 2-3 year contracts they will have signed guys that can handle the ball and make plays for their teammates.  This will give Luka plenty of time to rest on offense so he's not gassed in the 4th quarter. That style of basketball is unacceptable.

So of course Porzingis is frustrated, athletically he's not yet back to what he used to be. But in addition to this Mavs are seemingly running their offense through one guy over 75% of the time. He likely feels like he's not getting the opportunities that he needs to be successful. 

Watching the Mavs play this year makes you understand why Phil Jackson installed the triangle offense and used it for Jordan, Kobe and Shaq. Some players are just so gifted offensively and have such a high basketball IQ that left to their own devices they just completely take over the game. They're gonna put up some great numbers but its going to be extremely difficult to win with one player dominates the ball to such a degree. And it's only natural that some of his teammates may feel left out. Of course while you're winning nobody is going to complain the rumors only start to swirl when you lose.

Fortunately for the Mavs its a good problem to have two very talented players that are extremely young. They just need to figure out how they are going to build the team out from here.