NBA Rumors: Top 3 potential landing spots for Luka Doncic if he decides to exit Dallas Mavericks in 2024 summer

Imagining Luka Doncic somewhere beside Dallas seems hard. After the young Slovenian star was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2018 NBA Draft, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, where he has spent his entire career. Despite what has been a great relationship between Doncic and the Mavericks brass, there's some uncertainty.

With the team's loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday, the Mavericks now find themselves forced out of Play-In contention. According to reports, Doncic even looked somewhat relieved after the loss, which confirmed to many what he had said earlier in the week.

The way Doncic tells it, he just simply isn't having as much fun as he was in the past. After three years of playing nothing but basketball with little more than a few weeks to rest, he seems to be burned out. Now, as the Dallas Mavericks speculate as to what the future may hold for Kyrie Irving, Doncic's future feels uncertain.

According to Mark Cuban, Luka Doncic wants to be with the team long-term, however, if the franchise wants that, they have to earn his loyalty going forward. After the loss to the Bulls, head coach Jason Kidd spoke to media members about Doncic's decision to play minimal minutes, saying:

"It's not so much waving the white flag. Decisions sometimes are hard in this business, and you have to make hard decisions. We're trying to build a championship team, and sometimes you got to take a step back.

"Understanding with this decision, this is maybe a step back, but hopefully it leads to going forward."

With sources close to the franchise acknowledging that the team needs to make improvements, let's look at some potential landing spots for Doncic.

3 potential landing spots for Luka Doncic

With Luka Doncic completing the first year of his new supermax contract, it will take quite a bit for teams to both entice the Mavericks and match salaries. Any team looking to trade for Doncic would likely have to give up several picks, as well as some top players.

1: Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets racked up a truckload of draft picks this year by trading both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. In the Durant trade alone, the Mavericks managed to secure four first-round picks and a pick swap. At the same time, they managed to land Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges, who have been notably balling out.

With plenty of picks, valuable pieces, and a familiar face in Dorian Finney-Smith, Brooklyn could be a suitable landing spot for Doncic.

2: New York Knicks

The New York Knicks have impressed this season, jumping up to fifth place in the Eastern Conference. At the same time, the team has also notably relied on Jalen Brunson, who has been sorely missed in Dallas. As he revealed post-game this month, he misses Brunson an awful lot, both as a person and a player.

Dallas Mavericks v Portland Trail Blazers

If the Knicks manage to make waves in the postseason, they could end up on Doncic's radar. Of course, they would have to sacrifice a large number of assets in order to land a generational talent like Doncic.

3: Utah Jazz

What the Dallas Mavericks were attempting to create by pairing Luka Doncic with Kristaps Porzingis seemed to be the right move, just with the wrong players. As Kristaps has admitted since parting ways with the Mavericks, the two men just weren't going to fit together well long-term.

Doncic and Lauri Markkanen, on the other hand, could be a match made in heaven. With the Jazz sitting on a large number of picks and proving this season that they can compete despite not having a superstar, the team could be on Doncic's radar. The question, of course, is what it would take for the Mavericks to accept an offer.