Former NBA All-Star slams Mavericks’ strategy of building around Luka Doncic

The Dallas Mavericks forever changed on the night of the 2018 NBA Draft when the team traded up to draft Luka Doncic with the No. 3 overall pick. No one knew exactly how dominant Doncic would be in the NBA, and he quickly proved that he was the best player from that draft class.

After winning Rookie of the Year, Doncic has now been named to the All-NBA First Team five times in a row and just helped lead the Mavs to the 2024 NBA Finals. Dallas fell short against the Boston Celtics, but it was still remarkable that Doncic led his team this far considering the position they were in at the trade deadline.

Nico Harrison has done a great job of putting the right pieces around Doncic to compete in a loaded Western Conference. Still, one former NBA All-Star believes that Dallas is making one key mistake when constructing the roster around Doncic.

Arenas thinks Mavericks need to put a bigger lineup around Doncic

On the OGs Show, Gilbert Arenas dove into how in order to win with Doncic, the Mavs need to put a bigger lineup around him. Arenas talked about how considering that Doncic is 6-foot-7, the Mavs need to put bigger players around him to create tougher matchups on the opposing defense.

Arenas specifically talked about how Kyrie Irving being 6-foot-2 at shooting guard is too small, and having the 6-foot-6 Klay Thompson at small forward is too small. He didn’t name P.J. Washington by name, but he also alluded to him being too little for the power forward spot as well.

Arenas seems to think that the Mavs should have taken a different approach to building around Doncic, and while everyone is entitled to their own opinion, you can’t argue with winning.

Dallas just had one of the best seasons in franchise history, and the biggest reason for that was the improved roster construction around Doncic.

While Arenas is right that the Mavs could use some more positional size, it isn’t fair to say that they can’t win with the lineup they have right now. Dallas just went to the NBA Finals last season with a similar squad, and they got better over the offseason.

While Dallas building a bigger lineup around Doncic could create more defensive mismatches for him, he is going to get his buckets regardless. No one in the NBA can consistently stop Doncic, and with the way the Mavs play, he is going to get everyone else on the floor involved as well regardless of the defensive matchups.

Irving and Doncic have proved that they are one of the best duos in the NBA, and the addition of Klay Thompson is going to make everything easier for those two. They now have a solidified third option who can knock down open shots, and the Mavs are motivated to get him involved in different ways.

Thompson is likely going to be a key component of Dallas’ offense, and the Mavs are poised to be one of the heavy hitters in the West once again through the dominance of Doncic and the potential of the new-and-improved roster.