Dallas Mavericks: Examining the early 3-point struggles of Luka Doncic

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic is getting open

One of the key areas of improvement for Luka to become the best player in the NBA is his outside shooting. Doncic is a career 32.1 percent 3-point shooter over his first two seasons on 7.9 attempts per game. The 21-year-old is never afraid to fire away, but he has been a below league average 3-point shooter.

Last season, he shot 33.5 percent on 432 3-point attempts that were classified as open (defender at least four feet away) by NBA Stats. Doncic was better on step back threes connecting at 34.1 percent over 273 tries. For his career, Luka is a 35.0 percent on step back triples.

So far this season, the 21-year-old superstar hit two of ten step backs and is two of 14 on open threes. In short, it has been mostly bad luck. There may be no better example than this shot against the Lakers.

Fans have seen Doncic nail that 3-pointer countless times in his first two seasons, but it was an air ball on Christmas day. There is no difference in his form or mechanics. The abbreviated offseason could be playing a factor in his struggles. Luka is just not firing on cylinders quite yet. Owner Mark Cuban noted as much on The Ticket on Dec. 29. See his quote below.

The sample size is tiny too. Last season, Doncic had a five-game stretch where he was five of 29 and a four-gamer at five of 31. Such is how the cookie crumbles when part of a massive sample.

Next: Looking ahead