NBA Update: Wembanyama Sweepstakes and Luka Doncic – The 2023 Fall of the Dallas Mavericks

Victor Wembanyama Sweepstakes: 

Victor Wembanyama has been the obvious number 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft for months now. The NBA Instagram Account has constantly been posting about Wembanyama, hyping him up as the player to watch out for in this Draft class. The following teams are in the Draft lottery (along with their percentage chance to win the lottery and select the first pick of the NBA Draft: the Dallas Mavericks (3.0% chance at the first pick), Utah Jazz (4.5%), Indiana Pacers (7.5%), Washington Wizards (7.5%), Orlando Magic (9%), Portland Trail Blazers (10.5%), Charlotte Hornets (12.5%), Houston Rockets (14.0%), San Antonio Spurs (14.0%), and Detroit Pistons (17.65% – 14.0%). I understand that there’s no way to guarantee that a team will win the lottery, but if I had to guess which team would do so, I believe that it would be the San Antonio Spurs. Why? Because for the past 2 years, the team that had the odds of second place in the lottery has won the lottery. I believe the streak will continue and the San Antonio Spurs will pick their next franchise player, Wembanyama. Also, I believe the Spurs are the best fit for Wembanyama because of the Spurs’ history of being successful, Hall of Fame, and big men. Players such as David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Pau Gasol developed into better players due to Spur’s coaching staff – mainly, head coach Gregg Popovich (who remains the team’s head coach to this day). Though Gasol isn’t known for his time in San Antonio, it is important to note that he averaged career-highs in points and assists in his final years as an NBA player while on the Spurs. The Spurs have a chance to truly develop Wembanyama into a generational player, assuming they win this year’s Draft lottery.

Luka Doncic – The 2023 Fall of the Dallas Mavericks

In other league news, fans and NBA insiders are beginning to question whether the Dallas Mavericks will move on from Luka Doncic and rebuild the team, due to the team’s failure to make the playoffs this season. The Dallas Mavericks went into a disastrous freefall after the trade deadline this season. Acquiring Kyrie Irving at the deadline seemed like a good move to provide Luka Doncic (the Mavs’ star player) with a supporting star that could lift the Mavs into the playoffs for a long postseason run. Instead, the Mavericks fell out of playoff contention and even, arguably, started tanking games near the end of the season to avoid giving up a draft pick to the Knicks (as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trades a few seasons ago). Doncic is reportedly not happy about the situation (obviously) and some experts are projecting that Doncic may request a trade sooner than later. Will Doncic be leaving? Will Mark Cuban, the owner, sell the Mavericks? No … the answer is no to all of these questions, for now. The Mavericks aren’t going to move an elite, MVP-caliber player like Doncic. Mark Cuban isn’t going to sell or try to move the team. Instead, during the offseason and the NBA Draft, the Mavericks are going to make some moves. Jason Kidd, the Maverick’s Head Coach has even publicly stated that there will be a lot of new faces at the beginning of next year. Luka Doncic is the center of the Mavericks organization and the reason why the Mavericks have been so successful for the past few years. Without Doncic, their best players (excluding Kyrie Irving will be a free agent after this season ends) are Christian Wood and Tim Hardaway, Jr. Mark Cuban and the Mavericks, however, have to fix this team quickly, because if they don’t, I expect Doncic will not re-sign with the Mavs once his contract expires in 2027.