Is Luka Doncic to blame for why the Dallas Mavericks do not have a second star?

The Dallas Mavericks want to build a title-contending team around Luka Doncic. They are fresh off a surprise run to the conference finals in their first season under head coach Jason Kidd, but Dallas was dominated by the Warriors when they got there.

Do the Mavericks need a second star to be true title contenders? The 2011 Mavs won the championship with Dirk Nowitzki surrounded by a cast of elite role players, but the teams hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season since have featured multiple All-Stars nearly every year.

Given truth serum, the Mavs would tell fans they want to add a second star to put around Luka Doncic, but acquiring one is never easy. They tried in 2019 by trading for Kristaps Porzingis, but the fit just never worked. Dallas still owes a first-round pick to the Knicks from that trade. They moved off KP at the deadline to improve their flexibility, but the Mavs only added Christian Wood and JaVale McGee this summer. Why don’t they have another star?

Is Luka Doncic to blame for why the Dallas Mavericks do not have a second star?

The NBA is in the midst of the player empowerment era. Star players get traded on a whim, and nearly always to the destination of their choosing. Look at James Harden. He wanted out of Houston to join the Nets, so the Rockets traded him for a massive haul of draft picks. Less than one year later, Harden wants to leave Brooklyn for Philadelphia and the Nets dealt him there.

Stars go where they want, so is Luka Doncic to blame for why the Dallas Mavericks have not acquired a second star?