The Dallas Mavericks franchise has been in a shell shock ever since Nico Harrison traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers at the beginning of February, and rather than the franchise doing everything in their power to make things better and try to get fans back on their side, things are only going worse.
The most recent development of Dallas' Luka crisis was Harrison and Rick Welts participating in a secret press conference with hand-picked members of Dallas local media at the American Airlines Center yesterday, and the quotes coming out of this press conference have been mind-boggling.
From Welts comparing Doncic to Monta Ellis to Harrison showing he doesn't think he owes anything to Mavericks fans, this press conference didn't provide any new answers when it comes to the Doncic trade itself, but it did provide some context into what's next for Harrison and the Mavs.
With Doncic gone and Anthony Davis in, Harrison has his hands full when it comes to building around one of the best two-way players in the NBA. All of his moves leading up to this point have been to build around Doncic, one of the best offensive players in the NBA, but now they're going to have to pivot and put the best roster around Davis and Kyrie Irving to help give them their best shot at winning the NBA Finals.
Nico Harrison hints at Mavericks' next steps after Luka Doncic disaster
While Irving and Davis looked phenomenal in the three quarters they played together in February against the Houston Rockets before Davis got hurt, it's now Davis' turn to play without Irving, as Irving is set to likely miss a good chunk of next season after tearing his ACL next month. Irving going down for the year was a brutal blow when it comes to Dallas' chances of escaping the Play-In Tournament starting tonight, but Harrison already seems to be eyeing some help for Davis to help hold the team over until Irving makes his return.
"We’re going to have to make up a little bit of Kyrie’s production," Harrison said during Tuesday's press conference. "So that’s going to be kind of the goal going forward, not one person is going to be able to make up Kyrie’s production...And then that will be kind of our blueprint as we look for the draft and then free agency."
It's clear that a single player can't replace Irving's production until he returns, as Harrison noted, but it does seem like Dallas is going to be focused on adding some more offensive firepower this summer to pair with their defensive-minded frontcourt of Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and P.J. Washington.
As things stand now, the Mavericks don't have a good enough offense to be a contender, even when Irving is healthy, and that needs to be one of their biggest priorities this summer. It also isn't a secret that Dallas' guard depth is suspect, and it'll be in Harrison's best interest to sign another facilitator this summer to hold down the fort until Irving is back in the lineup.
The Mavericks can't afford to not sign a high-level guard who can create his own shot and run the offense until Irving returns, and if they don't, they'll be doomed. They are quickly having to make up for Doncic's lost offense, and they don't have many assets to do so.
The Mavericks can address this need for more scoring and guard depth through the NBA Draft and free agency, and one player they should consider in the draft is Egor Demin out of BYU. Demin is undoubtedly the best playmaker in this summer's draft, and his ability to facilitate while also playing some combo guard would be a perfect fit in Dallas.
He could play alongside Irving or on his own, and if he pans out, he would be a fabulous addition to the team's young core. Dallas needs some young talent to give them future insurance, considering how small their window to win a title is, and whoever they end up signing or drafting will need to make a big impact to help pull them out of this seemingly bottomless pit that they can't escape.
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