Most of the NBA is already enjoying their offseason as only four teams remain in the playoffs to fight for a championship. That’s very true for players on the Dallas Mavericks, who missed the postseason entirely.
Mavs’ rotational option Theo Pinson had the time to call Nets’ star Mikal Bridges and ask him who has a deeper bag between Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant. Bridges went with the man that had one of the most dominant playoff performances against him in Doncic.
“Who has the deeper bag? The guy that makes you switch directions with every dribble. Luka.
Mikal Bridges says that between KD and Luka… Luka has the deeper bag out of the two pic.twitter.com/4ojqUSkRTo
— Coopz (@Coopz___) May 18, 2023
Mikal Bridges was looked at as a perennial DPOY contender after finishing second in the award race in 2021-22 but he was dominated by Doncic during the 2022 playoffs. Luka missed the playoffs so we haven’t been able to see him play in the playoff environment this season, but Bridges has and that generated a healthy level of respect for Doncic’s game.
Durant has an incredible bag at his size and is generally impossible to stop, but Doncic has tremendous on-ball skills that can lead to an assist or a basket from all three levels on the court.
Dallas Hoping To Pull An Offseason Miracle
Everyone thought that Phoenix and Dallas would continue their 2022 rivalry this season but the Mavs shockingly missed the playoff entirely. Their missing the playoffs did allow them to keep their 2023 draft pick, as they will be selecting 10th. The Fadeaway World mock draft has them picking Anthony Black, but they’ll be hoping either Taylor Hendricks or Jacare Walker falls to them to bolster their frontcourt.
The Mavericks will be exploring trade options with their pick, with recent rumors linking Myles Turner to his home city in a possible trade. A more ambitious rumor has linked them to Deandre Ayton. Just adding a player or two will not change their fortunes, as they had a generally flawed roster around two high-volume scoring guards.
They also need to worry about retaining Kyrie Irving, so the list of to-do’s in Dallas is quite long. They’ll hope they can get some to most of it done, even if the fans are hoping for a complete revival.
