Three New Year’s resolutions for the Dallas Mavericks

By Kohl Rast | Jan 5, 2019

DALLAS, TX - DECEMBER 26: Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks celebrates after play against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 26, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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1. Luka needs to be the go-to in crunch time

I would not be totally sold on handing the reigns over to a rookie if he had not already proven to us that he is more than capable of delivering under pressure. Luka already appears to be a top 10-20 player when it comes to crunch time, thanks to the lethality of his step-back three, his off-balance finishing and his excellent court vision.

Last year, Dennis Smith Jr. got the green light from Coach Carlisle to take over in the late game. He wasn’t bad at it at times, but the Mavs ended up with only 24 wins despite having a lot of close games throughout the year. Even if he was able to deliver more consistently, Dallas was ready to approach crunch time in a different way.

Harrison Barnes has proven to be a pretty reliable scorer during his years here in Dallas, but he has lacked the killer instinct that is necessary to really dominate in the last minutes of a close game. Dirk Nowitzki is too old to take over at this point and no one else on the team has the ability to do it regularly like Luka.

Even if the Mavericks don’t end up finishing the season strong and instead falter in the second half, the fact is that this is Luka’s team now and everyone knows it. Although this season is looking like a good one for the Mavs, it will still be used as the year to get Luka Doncic ready for his future role.

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