The Dallas Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz on Wednesday 147-97 and Luka Doncic posted 40 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in the win. It was his 60th career triple double, moving him past Larry Bird into ninth place all time, and Doncic is now tied with Wilt Chamberlain for the fourth-most 40-10-10 games ever with seven. Is Doncic being overlooked for MVP?
Doncic Is Racking Up Crazy Stats
“Pretty amazing,” said Doncic, after the game. “I don’t know what to say, honestly. We all know who Larry Bird was, so it’s pretty special.”
It was a special accomplishment, and Doncic did it in way fewer games. It took Bird 897 career games to amass 59 triple doubles. Doncic passed him in 349 games. Of course different eras and Doncic is a heliocentric star, unlike Bird.
This is Doncic’s sixth NBA season. So far he’s been rookie of the year, four time first-team All-NBA, and a four-time All-Star. He’s averaging 31 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists per game on 49/39/76 shooting splits. He’s sixth in EPM at +5.9 and fifth in BPM at +9.3.
Those are MVP-type numbers and he’s only 24 years old. He finished sixth in MVP voting in 2021, and fifth in 2022.
Mavericks Need More Team Success
Despite his brilliant offensive play he and the Mavericks have not enjoyed a lot of team success outside of a run to the conference finals in 2022. When you examine that run closer they beat a Phoenix Suns team in the conference semifinals that despite having the best regular season record, was breaking down internally.
The main reason for the Mavericks’ lack of postseason success despite Doncic’s offensive brilliance is their poor defensive play. They are the 24th-ranked defense in the league this season, and Doncic is among the worst defenders in the league.
Along with Domantas Sabonis and Tyrese Haliburton, Doncic is one of the highest-ranked players in usage, and offensive EPM that is also in the 23rd percentile or worse in defensive EPM.
That’s not a recipe for team success, which you need to win MVPs, at least in the regular season. The Mavericks have won 50 games once in the Doncic era. That’s not good enough to get it done.
General manager Nico Harrison has some work to do to build out the roster around Doncic. He and head coach Jason Kidd, for as long as he has the job, need to find a way to get Doncic to buy in defensively.
Doncic is never going to be an All-Defensive player. But he can’t be a turnstile. At 6 feet 7 and 230 pounds-plus, his size alone should offer a level of resistance.
He’s a brilliant offensive player, a virtuoso. But until that brilliance translates into more regular season success, he’ll be in the MVP discussion but won’t have a shot at winning one.
