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Luka Doncic is the face of the Dallas Mavericks franchise, but there are growing fears within the organization that he could leave. The latest NBA rumors suggest that Doncic could request a trade out of Dallas next summer.
ESPN's Tim McMahon cited sources within the Mavericks saying that people within the franchise are concerned about Doncic's frustration. The Slovenian superstar has been very vocal about the problems in Dallas, especially during their awful run in the last two months.
"Team sources have acknowledged to ESPN that fear exists that Doncic, who publicly and privately expressed extreme frustration this season, could consider requesting a trade as soon as the summer of 2024 if Dallas doesn't make significant progress by then," McMahon wrote.
The Dallas Mavericks still had a chance to make the play-in tournament before the front office made a call to sit out their best players against the Chicago Bulls on Friday. The Mavericks lost 115-112 to the Bulls, effectively eliminating them from playoff contention.
It has been a disappointing season for the Mavericks after making a run to the Western Conference finals last year. The Mavs failed to re-sign Jalen Brunson and eventually had to trade two key role players to make up for that by acquiring Kyrie Irving.
However, Dallas went from being a top-four team in the West to being out of the playoffs in a span of just two months. Their defense has been atrocious, so the Mavericks front office will have a tough task in improving their roster around Luka Doncic this summer.
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Bill Simmons' wild prediction for Luka Doncic and Dallas Mavericks
Bill Simmons of The Ringer made a wild prediction regarding the future of the Dallas Mavericks. Simmons revealed his "half-baked" idea of the Mavericks re-signing Kyrie Irving in the offseason and adding Draymond Green, who has a player option with the Golden State Warriors.
To top off his prediction, Simmons has LeBron James making his way to Dallas at some point in the season. It's a wild prediction for the future of the Mavericks, but it might be enough to make Luka Doncic happy.
However, the Mavericks will need to unload some contracts if they want to bring Irving back and sign Green in free agency. They also don't have the draft capital or asset vault to acquire an aging James. They could get lucky in this year's draft lottery, though, and have a young piece to trade for a star.
Doncic remains one of the best players in the NBA, and the Mavericks were lucky to have him right before Dirk Nowitzki's career ended. However, it would be daft for the Mavs to think that Doncic would stay loyal if they continue to fail in surrounding him with a better roster.
Guess the Bulls players in this quiz and it's not going to be easy!
