When the Dallas Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving in February, many thought they had just made themselves into dark-horse contenders in the Western Conference.
Instead, they came apart at the seams and didn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament.
The Mavs gave Irving a contract extension this summer, and they’re hoping that a full training camp together will result in a very competitive team.
But some are skeptical that head coach Jason Kidd will get the Irving-Luka Doncic experiment to work, and one of those skeptics is Byron Scott, who coached Kidd when he was an All-Star player with the New Jersey Nets, via Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.
Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic together in Dallas is going to be difficult for Jason Kidd’s Mavs says Byron Scott: “I think that Dallas has a really good team but I still think that it’s going to be hard for J-Kidd to use Kyrie and Luka together. Both guys are very dominant with the… https://t.co/f4TtRY191v pic.twitter.com/JGLrqVSFUw
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 29, 2023
Scott’s argument, which is an argument many would make, is that Irving and Doncic are both ball-dominant guards, and neither is known for being productive off the ball.
On the other hand, Irving does have some experience playing and succeeding with one of the most ball-dominant players of all time.
He spent three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside LeBron James, and even though James controlled the ball much of the time, he was still able to grow and improve his production.
Irving and James reached the NBA Finals in each of their three seasons together, and they won the world championship in 2016 after trailing the 73-win Golden State Warriors three games to one in the title series.
But Doncic is a different animal, and the Mavs have the potential to turn into a disaster unless Kidd gets creative with the offense he will run this coming season.
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