Luka Doncic

To understand where the Dallas Mavericks have been and where they could be headed, it requires understanding owner Mark Cuban. Both of him.

"There are two Mark Cubans," a Western Conference executive says. "There's Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and there's Mark Cuban, the brand. The reality is, the brand is better than the owner."

The Owner may never catch The Brand at this point, but the potentially good news for Mavs fans is that Cuban the owner appears to be making a go of it. Credit that to Luka Doncic, the Mavs' sensational second-year point forward who has assumed the franchise superstar role relinquished after being held for 21 seasons by 14-time All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki.

"He's played this game before," Doncic's agent, Bill Duffy, says of Cuban's willingness to shoulder the cost of building a title contender. "He'll unload the wallet when he knows he has the right pieces. He's been renting. He's wanted to buy but he's been waiting. And when he buys, he will buy big."

Cuban actually introduced the idea of NBA owners doing more than just writing checks. He became the first to talk publicly about the moves he wanted to make and players he hoped to acquire, essentially playing fantasy-league basketball in real time with a real team. While Donnie Nelson is the Mavs' general manager—and has been since 2005—he is rarely in front of the cameras, and both rival GMs and player agents say they talk to Cuban when discussing deals.

"Mark changed the look and feel of what an NBA owner is," an Eastern Conference GM says. "He was the first owner to parlay ownership visibility into celebrity. Prior to him coming into the league, you didn't know who the owners were. They hired their basketball people, sat back and let them work. They weren't in the draft room, showing up at workouts and being interviewed all the time. Owners are hands-on now."

But as Nowitzki aged, so, seemingly, did Cuban's enthusiasm for sparing no expense to win another ring. The owner who made an immediate splash by outfitting every player's locker with a personal flat screen, sound system and plush bathrobe, as well as dropping $46 million on a new team plane that included a weight room, became frugal. The player perks never stopped—Cuban upgraded the locker room again in 2017—but in the last eight years, the Mavs' player payroll has been in the league's bottom third five times, including dead last two years ago. Their payroll has not come close to ranking as high as it did in their 2010-11 championship season, when the Mavs were third behind only the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic.

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30 teams, 30 days: The biggest story from each NBA team ahead of the league's return.

Atl | Bos | Bkn | Cha | Chi | Cle
Dal | Den | Det | GS | Hou | Ind
LAC | LAL | Mem | Mia | Mil | Min
NO | NY | OKC | Orl | Phi | Pho
Por | Sac | SA | Tor | Uta | Was

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"What Mark is good at is being first," the executive says. "He was the first one out on Twitter saying he would pay his employees during the [coronavirus] shutdown. A lot of owners paid their employees more than he did, but every time somebody announced they were doing it the story referred back to Mark because he was the first to do it."

The Mavs have been receiving positive reviews lately as well. After three consecutive seasons near the bottom of the Western Conference, they've composed a roster of dynamic young talent and proven veterans that produced the franchise's fourth-best winning percentage (.597) in the last decade, as of the shutdown. The transformation started with a bit of luck. In 2018, they targeted Doncic, but getting him in the draft at their fifth overall draft slot required several other teams who should've been acutely aware of his potential to look elsewhere. The Phoenix Suns had the No. 1 pick and a head coach, Igor Kokoskov, who had been head coach of the Doncic-led Slovenian national team. The Sacramento Kings had the second overall pick and are run by GM Vlade Divac and assistant GM Peja Stojakovic, both Eastern European-developed NBA stars with extensive international ties.

The Atlanta Hawks, in desperate need of a floor leader, actually took Doncic with the third pick, only to flip him to the Mavs for No. 5 pick Trae Young and an additional protected first-round pick.

"Mark fell ass backward into Doncic," the executive says. "But he's really comfortable with international players. He traded for [Kristaps] Porzingis. It has got him re-engaged. He's making calls to build the roster again."

Make no mistake, the executive admires Cuban, both for being a progressive voice in the NBA and fearless in speaking his mind on subjects outside the league's realm. It's just that Cuban The Owner, as the executive sees it, spent his first 11 years after purchasing the Mavericks creating Cuban The Brand by genuinely doing everything he could to win a championship. Since finally doing it in 2011, the Mavericks haven't come close to winning another one, making the playoffs four times over the next eight seasons and never getting out of the first round. "Mark won his championship and then took the next eight years off," the executive says.

Cuban The Brand has been far more aggressive and, arguably, more accomplished. His ownership of the Mavs is now relegated to the second line of his Wikipedia bio, preceded by him being identified as an "American entrepreneur, television personality, media proprietor and investor." His Twitter bio doesn't mention his ownership of the Mavericks at all.

Maybe for good reason. He has appeared as himself in four big-screen movies in the last five years. He is universally known for his angel investor role on the ABC reality program, "Shark Tank." Since 2012 he has appeared 19 times as himself in various TV programs. For the last five years he has contemplated running for U.S. president. Although he has sparred with the current president, Donald Trump, for years, he was invited to be part of a presidential advisory board to help restart the pandemic-undermined economy. He has offered to help small businesses secure federal payroll protection plan loans.

"I used to not like him but I've learned to respect him," an Eastern Conference scout says.

"I love that he's outspoken," an Eastern Conference team president adds. "Not all of the owners can be the same. He's the one who has the personality to pull it off. I think he's a genuine guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve. In the ownership circle they all stay away from anything controversial, but he's not afraid to put himself out there."

That Cuban has emerged as a thought leader is a far cry from what he was thought of as an owner just two years ago, someone gravely oblivious and potentially misogynistic. In February 2018, Sports Illustrated wrote an in-depth investigative piece that detailed rampant misogyny, sexual harassment and predatory behavior within the team's offices that had been going on for decades, as well as domestic assault by a staff member.

Cuban, who did not respond to an interview request, was not cited as a perpetrator but had to explain how a hands-on owner could be oblivious to such behavior occurring for so long within his organization.

"I was involved in basketball operations, but other than getting the financials and reports, I was not involved in the day to day [of the business side] at all," he said to SI. "That's why I just deferred. I let people do their jobs. And if there were anything like this at all I was supposed to be made aware, obviously I was not."

One former employee named Melissa Weishaupt responded in SI soon after that she didn't buy his reasoning, writing: "You own 100% of the team, Mark. The buck stops with you." 

Cuban responded to the controversy by hiring a former AT&T human resources executive, Cynthia Marshall, as his new CEO and creating new positions overseeing ethics and compliance and diversity and inclusion. He commissioned investigators to interview more than 200 employees and review 1.6 million documents, resulting in a 43-page report and several firings. When the report was released that September, the NBA announced that Cuban had agreed to donate $10 million to programs for women's leadership and domestic violence groups, surpassing the $2.5 million limit the NBA could have fined him. (The NBA also ordered the Mavericks to file quarterly reports on efforts to hire more female executives and establish a system for employees to report misconduct.)

"He's a smart guy," Duffy says. "He reacted immediately, addressed it and repaired it." For his part, Cuban told ESPN's Rachel Nichols: "I was tone deaf. And I have no excuse. I should have known better, or I could have done better. I've learned. There's just no other way to put it."

The Western Conference executive hopes that Cuban's re-engagement with his team will also inspire him to re-engage with shaping the league. Cuban spent much of his first decade as an owner publicly and abrasively complaining about various issues he had with how the league operated, resulting in more than $1 million in fines levied by then-Commissioner David Stern.

"He's matured," the Eastern Conference team president says.

The challenges the league is sure to face recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, the Western Conference executive says, are going to require Cuban's kind of progressive thinking.

"He fought for change and innovation," the executive says. "But the league browbeats you into the middle. Now is the time we need more leadership, and he's the ideal guy as someone who can connect with the old guard but is a forward-thinking innovator. The league is great on figuring out how to execute ideas, but they need someone to come up with them. The big question is, has Mark been beaten down too much to generate the momentum needed, or can he catch a second wind?"

Or maybe a third, considering that Mark Cuban The Brand isn't going anywhere and Mark Cuban The Owner has resurfaced. Is there room for Mark Cuban The League Savior?

"Mark has as much intellectual and physical energy as anyone I know," Duffy says.

As anyone. The challenge of recovering from this season would require the energy of any three. At this rate, Cuban is going to need a locker room all for himself. All three of him. 

   

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @RicBucher.

Bucher hosts the podcast Bucher & Friends with NFL veteran Will Blackmon and former NBA center Ryan Hollins, available on iTunes.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs shook not just the NFL but also the sports world Monday by announcing their 10-year, $450 million partnership, the richest deal in North American sports history, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Mahomes will be under contract through 2031, five years longer than any other athlete in the NFL. And yet, no other player is more deserving. He is an MVP and a Super Bowl champion, and he's already leaving his mark on the NFL record book.

But this got us thinking. Who in the NBA would be worthy of such an earth-shattering, maximum-level investment? Who can we expect to have a long career and to perform at an All-NBA level over the next decade?

Below are the names that came to mind. Hit the Bleacher Report app to share your list.

   

Zion Williamson

The 2019 No. 1 overall pick is an obvious candidate. At just 20 years old, Zion Williamson is the second player in NBA history to collect 23 points and six rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent—Shaquille O'Neal is the other.

But Zion isn't just a stat-stuffer. His impact was decisive, as he makes the Pelicans 12.2 points better per 100 possessions. He has taken center stage with force, regularly attacking some of the most renowned bigs in the game in Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo. And he still has plenty of room to grow.

Williamson's jump shot and handle are a work in progress, as is his recognition on the defensive side. In fact, he registered in just the 23rd percentile in rim deterrence and just the 52nd percentile in rim contests per 75 possessions, according to BBall Index.

Despite all this, the Pelicans rank in the 95th percentile on defense with Williamson on floor, holding opponents to just 103.9 points per 100 possessions.

Plus, he has made the Pelicans an international brand. From nationally televised games to deals with Mercedes, Nike, Gatorade and nearly a dozen others, Williamson has brought attention to a city that's lost two franchise icons to Los Angeles in the past 10 years.

His long-term health is a concern given the knee injury that kept him from debuting until late January and his 6'6", 284-pound size, but that is the only thing that could prevent Zion from being the next face of the NBA. But based on what we've seen so far, it'd be well worth the risk.

—Preston Ellis

   

Jayson Tatum

Relative youth is a prerequisite for any hypothetical 10-year contract. Jayson Tatum, 22, checks that box. A decadelong pact would take him through his early-30s, aligning quite nicely with his prime.

This is more so a question of whether that prime is worth being tethered to from start to almost finish. And it is.

So few players are as comfortable generating offensive looks out of nothing. Tatum's escape-dribble three has become one of the league's deadliest weapons on the more glamorous end, and he's recently reached the rim enough that his game no longer feels like it stalls before the basket. And while his defensive role isn't the most exhaustive, he provides help at an All-NBA level.

Tatum's next frontier is playmaking. Can he have that Kevin Durant-like awakening? We can't be sure. It feels like he can. He's shown the capacity to make more complicated passes.

Even if he never makes a significant leap as a facilitator, his game stands to age far better than those of Giannis Antetokounmpo or Zion Williamson. He spent a good chunk of his rookie and sophomore seasons gorging on assisted threes and buckets in transition. If his star at all burns out over the next decade, there's a layer of plug-and-play to him that many of his peers just don't have.

—Dan Favale

   

Trae Young

In 2013, LeBron James called Allen Iverson "pound for pound, the greatest player ever."

While Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young has about an inch and 15 pounds on the former Philadelphia 76ers All-Star, four-time scoring champion and 2000-01 Most Valuable Player, Young is a modern-day Iverson.

Already an All-Star in his second year, the 21-year old just needs a little more experience and a better roster around him. Young can power an offense by himself, especially impressive for a 6'1" guard who weighs in at 180 pounds. It took a handful of years before the Sixers found the right balance of defenders and complementary scorers around Iverson to advance to the 2000-01 Finals.

At a minimum, such an investment in Young would give the Atlanta Hawks their marquee name for the next decade and a chance to beat any team on a given night. With some wise roster moves, Atlanta and Young could be a perennial playoff contender in the Eastern Conference through the 2020s.

—Eric Pincus

   

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Whenever you're handing out a long-term contract, there's some worry the last few years will be dead weight. You want to pick a player who's old enough to have proved what he can be but young enough that a 10-year contract won't take him into the range when most players retire.

Giannis Antetokounmpo fits squarely into this time frame. At 25 years old, he is the reigning MVP and highly likely to win the award a second year in a row. That's the same age LeBron James was in summer 2010, after which he won two more MVPs and made eight straight Finals.

Giannis is not only arguably the best player in the world today, but he's also shown a consistent willingness and motivation to get better. That won't go away as he hits his physical peak over the next five years, and his playmaking ability will allow him to age gracefully much in the same way James has.

I'll take that bet every time.

—Sean Highkin

   

Ja Morant

A 10-year contract for Memphis Grizzlies phenom Ja Morant may not be long enough, as he'd be only 30 years old when it expires.

Running away with the Rookie of the Year award, Morant is already leading the surprisingly good Memphis Grizzlies in scoring (17.6 points per game) and assists (6.9) while posting an efficiency rating rarely produced by young guards. Before Morant this season, the only guards in history to average at least 17 points on 49 percent shooting or better before turning 21 were Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

Morant has the athleticism of a young Russell Westbrook and is able to break down opponents on the wing before driving into the paint and dunking on those foolish enough to try to block his shot. During the hiatus, he added 12 pounds of muscle on what was a 174-pound frame, making Morant better able to absorb contact.

There are plenty of young talented guards in the league, but few have made as big an impact on winning as Morant. While Memphis was thought to be one of the NBA's worst teams after it traded Mike Conley last offseason, Morant has the Grizzlies in eighth place in the loaded Western Conference. This is especially impressive considering they have the youngest roster in the NBA but zero players with All-Star experience.

At age 20, Morant already combines the talent, leadership and athleticism teams crave and would gladly pay for with a 10-year (or longer) contract.

—Greg Swartz

   

Luka Doncic

The term "generational talent" sells Luka Doncic short.

Here is a list of players 21 years old and younger who have averaged 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in a season with a true shooting percentage above 58: Luka Doncic.

That's it.

He's one and only. And when you expand that list to players of all ages, he and Oscar Robertson still stand alone.

More importantly, he's already having a massive impact on winning. His plus-4.4 on/off rating split (83rd percentile) suggests he is already making a good team better when he's on the floor, and through 67 games this year, the Mavericks have the best offensive rating of all time with Doncic serving as a lead ball-handler and offensive focal point.

Despite being only 21, Doncic is viewed as a finished product—a polished player without room for upside. While his game is mature, he has plenty of time to improve his shooting, pull-up shooting, defense and reads over the next five seasons.

Doncic is the kind of player who will have a 10-plus-year prime. His game is predicated on touch, feel and IQ rather than supreme athleticism. He's already perfected that old-man game, and it will carry him well into his 30s.

He has multiple MVPs, championships and Finals MVPs in his future and is on track to be one of the greatest players in history.

I'd give him a 20-year deal if I could.

—Will Gottlieb

Luka Doncic has gotten quite used to playing in front of packed houses with the Dallas Mavericks. 

As one of the league's rising stars, he's found joy in the show he puts on and the electricity the crowd brings to his game. Now that he'll be playing in the NBA's restart, where no spectators are allowed, he's not quite sure how the environment will feel.

"It's going to be weird, so I don't know how I'm going to feel," Doncic said during a media Zoom call (h/t Mavs.com's Dwain Price). "Obviously it's going to feel really weird without the fans, but I'll just do the same routine, same as always."

The weirdness has become a refrain for many around the league who are preparing to head to Orlando, Florida, for the restart. Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George has mentioned it. So have many others. 

Basketball has always been among the most intimate sports. In the best gyms, fans are right on top of the action, feeding into the pressure that comes with each moment and providing levity when needed. In just about every famous photo from an NBA game, there are thousands of fans in the background whose expressions illustrate the moment in ways that words can't.

As the league gets ready to crown a new champion, that won't be the reality this year.

Instead, fans will have to watch on TV—and potentially get the benefit of hearing more trash talking.

But it won't be the same. It can't be. And Doncic knows this. 

"I enjoy very much the fans in the gym," Doncic said. "As our opponents are playing at our home, there's always noise."

The Mavs will enter the restart with a record of 40-27 and should be secure in the seventh seed in the Western Conference, though there's still a chance they could move up over the remaining eight games before the postseason starts. 

If they win their second NBA title in 2020, they will have earned it as much as they did in 2011. But without fans there to see it in person, the league will have a tough time manufacturing the intensity that a packed house brings to an arena. 

As the Dallas Mavericks prepare for the NBA to resume, Luka Doncic's trainer wants to make clear the star guard is ready to play, contrary to previous reports. 

Tim Cato of The Athletic reached out to Doncic's Slovenian trainer, Jure Drakslar, who claims his previous comments were mistranslated. 

i talked to Luka‘s Slovenian trainer Jure Drakslar this morning and have a q&a with him coming tomorrow. in the meantime, he wanted me to share this statement on his “out of shape” quote that’s been going around — since the quote is inaccurate and a mistranslation. pic.twitter.com/kFMS7hqBGf

— tim cato (@tim_cato) June 11, 2020

"Originally my sentence in the interview was 'Luka is not in top game shape yet,'" Drakslar told Cato. "And 'game' is the word that was missed out here during translation of some international media right now." 

Drakslar added Doncic is in good physical shape and has been practicing hard every day. 

The trainer originally gave the quote to the Russian publication RIA Novosti, and it was apparently translated through multiple sites before making its way to the Dallas Morning News. 

Doncic returned to his native Slovenia shortly after the NBA went on hiatus March 11. The Mavericks were in seventh place in the Western Conference at the time and will challenge for a playoff spot once the league resumes the season with 21 other clubs in Orlando, Florida, come late July.

What does have Drakslar concerned, however, is that Doncic hasn't faced NBA-level talent since the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold across the globe. 

"It's impossible to be in top game shape because there are no games and there is no difference with all the NBA players at this moment," Drakslar told Cato. 

Last season's Rookie of the Year has already seen his stats jump up in his sophomore season. After averaging 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and six assists in 2018-19, Doncic entered the hiatus posting 28.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game. 

The Mavs will need him to maintain that level of play if they hope to make a run for a title this postseason. Fortunately, very few players have access to NBA talent to practice with during the break. Doncic is certainly in the majority there. 

The trainer for Luka Doncic is working to get the Dallas Mavericks star back into peak shape leading up to the NBA restart on July 31. 

Speaking to Russian news outlet RIA Novosti (h/t EuroHoops.net), Jure Drakslar explained that Doncic is "not in the best shape" right now, but isn't concerned about the All-Star guard being ready when games resume:

“We have been working together for the last three weeks. Luka was previously in quarantine and trained individually at home. The last three weeks we have been working hard to prepare him for the resumption of the NBA season. ... Most players struggled to stay in shape. Doncic is no exception. We understand his role in Dallas. Luka is improving every day. He puts in a lot of effort. He has completely dedicated himself to be ready."

Given the restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were questions about how NBA players were keeping up their training regimen after the season was suspended on March 11. 

Casey Smith, Mavs director of player health and performance, told Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News in April he set up a virtual system and maintained constant contact with players:

“Not necessarily always calling to say ‘Hey, are you working out? Hey, are you eating right?’. More from a personal standpoint just to try to make sure everyone's doing OK.

“While athletic conditioning is important, we don't want to overshadow the fact that they're also human beings with families and dealing with the issues that we're all dealing with."

Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle told Caplan before the start of this season that Doncic put an emphasis on conditioning last offseason to improve from his Rookie of the Year campaign:

“It's just a natural progression that every player needs to have going from Year 1 to Year 2, especially someone like Luka that had such a great first year. People are really going to be coming for him in his second year, and the continued work on body and conditioning and developing his game is going to keep moving him in the direction of becoming a really great player.”

The improved conditioning paid off, as Doncic was averaging 28.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists in 54 games before play was suspended. 

Dallas will enter the season restart as the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference with a 40-24 record. If the team is going to make a deep run in the postseason, Doncic has to be in peak shape and play at the MVP level he showed throughout the 2019-20 campaign.