”I respect that kid, and how he goes about his business every day, and even if he’s on a bad wheel, he still plays. You have to really give credit to a guy like that.”

Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic are still developing as a team. Yamashita, Darren; USA TODAY SportsI provided color commentary for the Mavericks’ radio broadcast during their thrilling 111-105 victory over Detroit on January 30, which was the weakest team in the Eastern Conference. “It took Luka Doncic scoring 53 points for the Mavericks to win?” was the overwhelming thought that consumed me as I exited the building. Teammate scoring totals were 58 points. This could not continue. Everyone was aware of it. Doncic gave this team a respectable floor and consistently supplied cover. However, this Mavericks version’s ceiling didn’t rise far above the team’s floor.The Mavericks were a high-floor/low-ceiling team before Kyrie Irving arrived, and now they are a low-floor/high-ceiling squad. We’ll have to wait and see how far that change brings them. The West is wide open, the All-Star break is behind us, and these next two months might be the most crucial for this team since 2011.fter two games with Doncic and Irving together (Donving? ), the outcomes were pretty much what we anticipated: explosive offense, dubious team defense, and clumsy play in crucial situations. So what can we anticipate from this crucial last 22 games?The team’s collapse in non-Doncic minutes and double teams, two of the main problems prior to the trade, are now resolved. When defending Doncic, opponents might either let him cook or set up a trap to have the other players beat you. (Doncic has had the most doubles this season.) He could go for 50 and win if he can defend one-on-one, as he did against Detroit. But he became tired of playing that way. Regarding Doncic’s heavy usage, Jason Kidd remarked right after the deal, “Everyone’s making a big thing about how much he dominated the ball… we didn’t have a lot of other options.” Teams were forcing the ball out of his hands more and more to see what those “other options” could do. The Mavs had varying degrees of success when playing four-on-three, particularly in close games where they were up or down by three.And it brings us to those minutes without Doncic. The Mavs had the best offensive rating in the NBA prior to the deal when Doncic was playing. They were the bottom team while he wasn’t playing. When Doncic was in the game, the defense only dropped 0.6 points. Without Doncic, the Mavs are plus-7 after the trade. The fourth quarter of a defeat to Minnesota on February 13 was when that was most noticeable. Irving was on the court at the beginning of the quarter and went on a wild comeback that was narrowly unsuccessful, scoring 26 points as Doncic was enjoying his usual rest.Naturally, when both are involved in the game jointly, the potential is at its highest.The spacing is improved and the traps are gone when Irving is paired with Doncic. The pair’s offensive efficiency of 131.2 through two games is unheard of. The two just had their first session together on Wednesday, so Kidd has stated that it would take some time for them to get along. The first two games featured a “my turn/your turn” style that is characteristic of two ball handlers getting to know one another, especially in the closing seconds, but practices are scarce this time of year anyhow. Look no farther than the final play of the Timberwolves’ three-point loss, when Doncic and Irving engaged in a game of catch-up beyond the three-point arc as the shot clock was winding down. After the game, Doncic remarked, “I was trying to get him a shot, and he was trying to get me a shot.” “None of them got a shot in the end.”It made me think of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade’s first season in Miami, when the two superstars were still getting to know one another, even if Irving is the better player in isolation and Doncic is ranked eighth. Before the two efficiently played off one another and guided the Heat to a championship, Wade had to remind James that this was his squad. The good news is that this time around, no such clarification is required. Kidd has stated unequivocally that Doncic is the team’s leader, and Irving is making all the proper comments about filling in wherever necessary. The Mavs’ longest homestand of the season, spanning six games, begins after the break and is ideally suited to refine half-court sets. In the two games, the pair has set up three displays for each other; nevertheless, that number needs to rise significantly, as that interaction will reveal their full potential. Like Dirk Nowitzki did for Kidd so frequently, Doncic can screen for Irving. While Irving waits to drive or attempt a three-point shot, he may take advantage of the mismatch and pound the smaller player, or if help is called in, send the defense into disarray. Irving may flaring as the second back-screener, they can also run a stack pick-and-roll, which gives Doncic an open lane to the basket or, once more, can be a deadly outlet if the defender sticks with Doncic. The defense is unable to prevail. However, Dallas can only make so many improvements to what is currently the NBA’s best half-court offense. The Mavs rank worst in terms of transition points per possession and the percentage of possessions that begin in transition, thus their significant progress may occur during the break. In other words, they don’t try to run, and when they do, it’s not very often, and that was before Irving came around. When Irving played two games without Doncic, it was difficult to ignore the pick-up in speed. Ball movement resulted in body movement, which in turn produced made shots from open shots. At 270 passes per game, the Mavs rank eighth in the NBA in terms of pass efficiency. They have passed the most, at 320 per game, during the last five games. They won’t turn into the Showtime Lakers, but they may boost their already effective half-court offense with easy baskets by seizing running opportunities and long passes to players like Josh Green, who is now primetime ready.The eighth-ranked offense in the league should be boosted by these exchanges, which are necessary to offset a defense that is prone to mistakes as it allowed 40 points in the paint in the opening frames of both Doncic and Irving’s games. (Maxi Kleber is unable to return quickly enough.) A frightening attack aids your defense as well. The frequency with which opponents are removing the ball from the hoop causes them to feel under pressure to score every time they have a chance. That may result in poor possession and forced shoots.The following two months hold great potential. They’re a test as well. Irving wants to prove that he is capable of playing for a championship team and deserving of a long-term contract. According to high-ranking team sources, Irving has demonstrated excellent teamwork thus far, and he has every motivation to maintain this positive relationship. Doncic is also being tested by it. Irving is by far the best player he has ever played with; he asked for and received assistance. Doncic will now need to act faster, “trust the pass,” and give up the ball when there are still seconds remaining on the shot clock. He can learn how to play with it once he realizes he needs help. It will be more difficult to locate the next star to match him with if he doesn’t and this experiment fails.Kidd and general manager Nico Harrison have an obligation to see this through. Harrison will create the environment and culture that will make Irving feel at ease and ready to succeed. Kidd should give the test answers so that his two All-NBA players can perform well. The bond Harrison and Kidd had with Irving in the past ought to facilitate that change considerably. Additionally, the efforts made to strengthen Doncic’s trust in Kidd should provide simpler two-way communication. The trade’s benefits and drawbacks have been thoroughly examined, but Harrison said it all in two sentences during Irving’s news conference opening: “I don’t see any risk at all.” I do believe there is risk in not doing it. It’s no secret that Doncic is at the center of every Mavsland decision, and Harrison used this as an opportunity to convey to his superstar that the team will stop at nothing to provide the talent needed to win. The Mavs experimented with a variety of players to go with him. First, they traded big man Kristaps Porzingis for a capable ball handler named Spencer Dinwiddie, who Harrison later traded for superstar Kyrie Irving. Jalen Brunson, another ball-handling point guard with a ceiling that wasn’t nearly as high as Irving’s, was the closest thing they had to a real equivalent. Now that summer has become unmanageable. Even if it took a few important components to acquire, the near-max cap space will be a valuable safety net if Irving leaves or the Mavs decide to take a different approach. Harrison stated, “That goes into the calculated risk in making a move like this,” on The Ticket. But first, let’s see if we can all pull this off.The final 22 games will be a sprint since there are only six games separating 11 teams in the battle for the final eight playoff and play-in berths. The next several months will decide a lot of this team’s future composition. Doncic, Kidd, Mark Cuban, Harrison, and Irving pushed their chips to the middle of the table. Will they fall to a lower floor or touch the new high ceiling? To discover out, you must take a seat at the table. Like Cuban loves to say, there are no babies, no balls.