Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic reveals his goals for this season

Dallas Mavericks rookie and European sensation Luka Doncic revealed his two goals for this season during media day on Sept. 21.

The Dallas Mavericks drafted EuroLeague MVP and Slovenian phenom Luka Doncic with significant hopes for the future.  The organization saw Doncic as a star and potential franchise-player replacement after the retirement of the legendary Dirk Nowitzki.

His time in Dallas so far has done nothing to stop that.  Doncic arrived less than three weeks ago and players and coaches alike have raved about his game.  From his special passing ability to the fact that he plays like a vet, the Mavericks have been impressed with Doncic.

Luka’s two goals for the season

The Dallas Mavericks official began their season with media day on Sept. 21.  Luka Doncic was in high demand.  The 19 year old shared his two goals for the season with Tim MacMahon, and fans can see them in the Tweet below.

Doncic has won individual awards each of the last two seasons with Real Madrid including MVP of the EuroLeague and Liga ACB last season.  He is always bringing home hardware, so it is no surprise he has his sights set on both individual and team success.  How attainable are those goals, though?  Let us take a look.

Favorite to win Rookie of Year

Luka Doncic is at worst the co-favorite to win Rookie of the Year.  Given the history of winners, fans should give him a slight edge.  The two rookies in line for the most minutes at this juncture are DeAndre Ayton and Doncic.  In the last ten seasons, only two trophies have gone to big men.

Doncic should play a similar game to last season’s winner Ben Simmons.  He is two inches shorter, but Luka will guard the four on the defensive end and play point guard when the Mavs have the ball at times.  He gives the team a whole new dimension, and one Mavericks fans should be excited about enjoying.

Playoffs are attainable but difficult

Doncic’s second goal is a bit less likely to happen.  Dallas should make a massive improvement as a team, but they won 24 games last season.  The Mavs finished 23 games behind Minnesota for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  That is a steep hill to climb.

That goes without mentioning the difficulty of the Western Conference too.  LeBron joined the Lakers, and the Grizzlies should have a healthy Gasol and Conley this season.  Every team in the conference will be pushing for a playoff spot making the competition extremely fierce.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle had this to say about the Western Conference at media day courtesy of Dwain Price.

Coach Carlisle did a fantastic job of summing up the competitiveness right there.

Final thoughts

Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic has two goals for this season.  Do not bet against Doncic.  He has an impressive list of accomplishments on the basketball court already and continues to wow everyone at the Mavs facility.  There is a chance Dallas has an exceptional talent on its hands.  Stay tuned.

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