A few hours before its game against Chicago, Dallas surprised and announced that it decided not to dress five players, including Kyrie Irving.
In doing so, the Mavericks actually raised their hands in the fight for the play-in, which was also reflected in the game itself - Luka Doncic did dress as a partner for only 12 minutes, and from the bench saw his team lose 115:112, thus finally losing a chance to screw in the top ten in the West .
Will they get involved?
Cuban next to Irving and Hardaway Jr. (Photo: GettyImages, Tim Heitman)
The Mavs did this in order to keep their draft pick: if they can get a top 10 pick, they will keep it.
If they pick outside the top 10, they will be forced to send the pick to New York as part of the Kristaps Porzingis deal in 2019.
legitimate?
The league does not think so, and decided to open an investigation "around the decisions of the Dallas staff and the conduct of the game itself, including the motives behind these decisions", according to the NBA spokesperson.
It is not impossible that the Mavs will be fined, a bit like what happened in 2018, when owner Mark Cuban was fined $600,000 after publicly admitting that his team tried to lose, in order to improve its chances before the draft.
In addition to Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green and Christian Wood also did not dress for the same game - some were designated as injured, and some were simply rested.
"It's a decision of the system," defended Jason Kidd and said.
losing patience
Doncic (Photo: GettyImages, Tim Heitman)
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Now it's money time: Summary of Danny Avdia's third season in the NBA
Either way, Dallas is already looking ahead to next season.
ESPN claims that Luka Doncic is "tired of mediocrity this season, while he is playing at an MVP level. There is a great sense of urgency in the club, before Luka loses faith in the Mavs' ability to build a team around him that will compete for a championship. Club officials have expressed concern that Luka will demand a trade already In the summer of 2024, if there is no major improvement by then."
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