Dallas Mavericks fans will forever be heartbroken by the Luka Doncic trade, one of the worst in franchise history. But Dusty May gave an interview revealing his philosophy, and it sounds like the complete opposite of Doncic's playing style.
May gave an interview to WFAA-TV in Dallas. He talked about the privilege of coaching the Dallas Mavericks and how he would coach the team. May's philosophy is up-and-down the court, and Doncic, being the slower guy that he is, doesn't do that often.
"We obviously play with great pace and get up and down the floor and be exciting to watch, but also just to be the most unselfish team in the NBA, to be the best passing team in the NBA will be a goal of ours...You're not going to be at a championship level, ever, unless you have a really strong unit on both sides of the ball. Our goal will be top five in defensive efficiency and top five in offensive efficiency."
Dusty May's all-around coaching philosophy sounds like it doesn't fit Luka Doncic
In the early years, Doncic looked like a fast athlete, that was, until he developed some bad off-the-court habits like drinking beer and smoking hookah. Now, of course, if someone wants to have fun in their downtime, that's their life, but Doncic's body in 2024 looked vastly different from when he came into the league in 2018.
For the past three seasons, Doncic has played at a slow pace. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that, but he isn't quite up to speed as he used to be, which doesn't make him suitable for May's team. Luckily, May's plan works now, without Doncic.
Let's just be clear here. No NBA general manager is going to pass up on Doncic solely because of this. Well, scratch that. Nico Harrison did, but he may be the only GM to feel that way. After all, one Eastern Conference team said they would've offered everything to get him. That doesn't mean the Mavs' fast-paced offense still can't make it work. He's still one of the greatest players in the game today.
The Mavericks already have defensive pieces working around Cooper Flagg, even though he can cover his own in that department. Morez Johnson Jr. can fill the gap defensively in the paint. Flagg can already cover his own and make chase-down blocks, an art that takes years to grasp.
In terms of pace, Sergio De Larrea looks mature for his age and can handle the ball well. Max Christie has become the perfect 3-and-D player of today's NBA, and it makes sense why May wants to run-and-gun with this crew.
If the Mavericks' master plan is to bring him back in 2028, May can add more defensive-heavy pieces around him, but Mavericks fans shouldn't think that far down the line.
There's Flagg to look forward to, and he's already proven to be a three-way player who fits May's philosophy perfectly.
Add us as a preferred source on Google