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Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Trademarks, EuroBasket, Ntilikina

September 10th, 2022 at 11:57am CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic is in a legal battle with a family member regarding trademarks, Marc Stein reports in a Substack article.

On Tuesday, Doncic filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office seeking to cancel the registration of the trademark “LUKA DONCIC 7” currently owned by his mother, according to his representative, the firm Brown Rudnick.

Doncic faced a Tuesday deadline with the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to file the petition. He’s been trying to regain full control of trademarks that bear his name, including several owned by his mother, Mirjam Poterbin.

We have more on Doncic and the Mavericks:

  • Doncic led Slovenia past Belgium in EuroBasket 88-72 on Saturday with a game-high 35 points. Slovenia advanced to the quarterfinals. As noted by Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), Doncic has played 197 minutes in the tournament and produced 168 points and 39 assists.
  • Not everyone is impressed with Doncic’s scoring rampage. Belgium center Kevin Tumba complained to Donatas Urbonas  of Basketnews.com that Doncic has benefited from favorable treatment by referees. “We tried to be focused on ourselves. But sometimes referees need to be fair with everybody,” Tumba said. “It’s not because he is Luka and can talk to the referees like he wants. When the other guy tries to talk with the referee very calmly, he responds, “Don’t talk to me.”
  • Despite the big output, Doncic was asked about his weight during the postgame press conference, Eurohoops.net relays. Doncic responded, “If I cared about what people I don’t hang out with say, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t mind at all.”
  • Frank Ntilikina could benefit from Jalen Brunson‘s departure but only if he can hold his own offensively, Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com writes. Ntilikina is a skilled defender but has been a liability offensively during his career. He averaged under 12 minutes per game last season and even fewer minutes during the postseason.
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International Notes: Schröder, Bogdanovic, Lithuania, Bosnia

September 4th, 2022 at 4:15pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Veteran point guard Dennis Schröder, still a free agent, served as the primary force behind the German national team beating the Bosnian national team in EuroBasket play on Saturday, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

MacMahon notes that two high-ranking Mavericks front office executives, team president Nico Harrison and vice president Michael Finley, watched Schröder’s performance from court side seats. MacMahon adds that Harrison and Finley are present at EuroBasket to cheer on Dallas All-Star guard Luka Doncic, playing for Slovenia.

The 6’3″ Schroder, still just 28, split his time between the Celtics and Rockets last season on a one-year, $5.9MM deal. Cumulatively, he averaged 13.5 PPG, 4.6 APG, 3.3 RPG and 0.8 SPG across 64 games, including 29 starts.

The Mavericks currently have 14 players signed to their 15-man standard roster, as well as four training camp invitees and one two-way player.

Here are more notes from around the international basketball scene:

  • Following the conclusion of this year’s EuroBasket competition, 33-year-old veteran Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic will retire from playing for the Croatian national team, per FIBA.basketball. “I would like to leave something behind me,” Bogdanovic said of his hopes to medal this year. “So this EuroBasket is a perfect chance for me and my teammates to do something special… It’s going to be pretty hard. I’m trying to help my young teammates to grow pretty quickly – and to make an impact on the game, right here, at this tournament.”
  • After officials penalized German national team head coach Gordon Herbert with a technical foul in the final minutes of the third quarter of their EuroBasket game against the Lithuanian national team on Sunday, those referees failed to award a free throw to the Lithuanian national team. Germany would go on to win the game, 109-107, in double overtime, and Lithuania has opted to file a protest, per Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. “I don’t know, we should’ve won the game before [the overtime] just like the last two,” [Lithuanian team forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas] told BasketNews. “It’s tough. That one shot that we weren’t given cost us in the overtime. There’s nothing you can do now. Maybe we paid too much attention to it.”
  • In a surprising upset, Doncic, Goran Dragic and the Slovenian national team fell to Bosnia 97-93 today in EuroBasket play, per Eurohoops. The loss moves Slovenia into a tie with Bosnia due to an identical 2-1 record. Doncic had won all 11 of his prior EuroBasket contests.
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EuroBasket Notes: Notable Absences, Top Players, Saric, Schröder

September 1st, 2022 at 9:23am CST by Luke Adams

Italian forward Danilo Gallinari tops the list of the most disappointing and impactful absences for EuroBasket 2022, writes Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. Gallinari injured his knee in a World Cup qualifying game last week and was diagnosed with a torn meniscus, sidelining him not only for the European Basketball Championship but likely for the start of his Celtics career as well.

Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia), Ricky Rubio (Spain), Nikola Vucevic (Montenegro), Paolo Banchero (Italy), and Victor Wembanyama (France) are among the other most notable EuroBasket absences, as Barkas details — some of those players will be absent due to injuries, while others opted out of the tournament as they prepare for the upcoming 2022/23 season.

Here’s more on EuroBasket, which tipped off today:

  • Eurohoops identifies the top 10 players participating in EuroBasket, while ESPN (Insider link) ranks the top 25 to watch. Eurohoops has Giannis Antetokounmpo at the top of its list, followed by Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, and Rudy Gobert — ESPN moves Jokic up to No. 1, sliding Giannis and Luka down one spot each.
  • Within that ESPN Insider story, Kevin Pelton says Suns forward Dario Saric and free agent guard Dennis Schröder are among the players he’ll be keeping a close eye on at EuroBasket. Saric hasn’t played since 2020/21 due a torn ACL, while a strong EuroBasket showing could help Schröder secure a spot on an NBA roster in time for training camp.
  • In his latest Substack article, Marc Stein explains why this year’s EuroBasket is the most anticipated version yet. In addition to the high number of NBA players participating, the race for the gold appears more wide open than usual, Stein writes.
  • In another Eurohoops article, Barkas makes his predictions for which teams will come out of each EuroBasket group and what the knockout round will look like.
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And-Ones: Doncic, International Prospects, Playoff Contenders, Bluiett

August 18th, 2022 at 9:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic is hoping to win it all at EuroBasket this year, per Eurohoops. The 6’7″ guard is playing for his native Slovenia in the competition. Led by Doncic and countryman Goran Dragic, the Slovenian national team won EuroBasket in 2017. Dragic retired from international play after the event — but unretired in time to suit up this year’s event.

“We are going to Germany [the locale for the event] to win gold,” Doncic told reporters. “In every competition where we compete, the goal must always be the first place. We will do everything for it, but we will see if we make it. In 2017, no one took us seriously when we announced our attack on the gold medal, today is different. It’s nice when you see that everyone will make an extra effort against us to win.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The 2022 FIBA U18 European Championship in Izmir, Turkey featured several intriguing international NBA prospects, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link) writes. Givony, evaluating the best candidates among the young talent, considers two French players – versatile shooting guard Sidy Cissoko and defensive-oriented small forward Rayan Rupert – to be the most exciting players at the event.
  • With NBA training camps just a month away and many of the summer’s big transactions in the rear view, Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton of ESPN assess which clubs have fully committed to succeeding in the present, and how much of their future leverage they have surrendered to get to this point.
  • Former Pelicans two-way player Trevon Bluiett has agreed to terms on a deal with Polish club MKS Dabrowa Gornicza, a source informs our own JD Shaw (Twitter link). The 27-year-old wing went undrafted out of Xavier in 2018 before joining the Pelicans via a two-way contract. He toiled with NBAGL clubs the Westchester Knicks and the Salt Lake City Stars until 2021, but never ended up making his regular season NBA debut. The 6’6″ swingman subsequently went overseas, playing for clubs in Turkey and Germany.
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Mark Cuban Suggests Mavericks Don’t Need A “Second Star”

August 18th, 2022 at 12:50pm CST by Rory Maher

Asked by Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report (video link) whether Luka Doncic has enough talent surrounding him to win a title, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban suggested Dallas already has the pieces in place to accomplish that goal.

“We hadn’t been out of the first round in 10 years and so a lot of it was execution and talking to our guys during the series, that was the thing that kept coming up,” Cuban said of the Western Conference Finals matchup against the Warriors (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net). “… So I think for us it’s not so much we need that second star or whatever, it’s more, let’s just get some time and experience in crunch time situations in the playoffs and that will pay off.”

As we relayed last night, Cuban also credited Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins as a difference-maker in the series, and said Golden State’s combination of execution, experience, and adjustments made the team too difficult for the Mavericks to handle.

Cuban’s comments are noteworthy for a few different reasons. After trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, the Mavs found success with lineups featuring multiple shot creators and floor spacers, as well as more versatile defenders. Obviously Porzingis was pegged to be Dallas’ second star, but things never really worked out with the 7’3″ big man for a variety of reasons.

He didn’t state it outright, but Cuban’s comments give the impression the club didn’t view Jalen Brunson as a star, and the Mavs were reportedly unwilling to match — or exceed — the contract he received in free agency from the Knicks. Brunson had a strong playoff run for Dallas, averaging 21.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 3.7 APG on .466/.347/.800 shooting in 18 games (34.9 MPG), so losing him will sting.

Along the same lines, it could be interpreted that Dallas doesn’t view offseason acquisition Christian Wood as a star either. The Mavs traded the No. 26 pick of the 2022 draft and four players on expiring deals to Houston to land Wood.

Of course, how a team perceives players doesn’t matter nearly as much as the on-court product, and the Mavs are coming off their most successful season since winning the championship in 2011. The question is, have they done enough to keep progressing toward another ring? With the Clippers and Nuggets getting healthy, potential improvement from the Timberwolves and Pelicans, and the Warriors, Grizzlies and Suns still in the picture, the West is going to be stacked with talent in 2022/23, so winning the title certainly won’t be easy.

Rooks’ interview with Cuban lasts over an hour and is worth checking out in full for any Dallas fans.

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More Than 30 NBA Players On Track To Suit Up For EuroBasket

August 18th, 2022 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The first EuroBasket tournament in five years will tip off in two weeks and there are currently 34 NBA players on track to participate in the event, representing 17 different countries, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net.

EuroBasket is a 24-team international basketball competition also known as the European Basketball Championship. It historically took place every two years, but that gap was recently adjusted to four years, emulating the FIBA World Cup schedule.

The last EuroBasket tournament was played in 2017 — the next one had been scheduled for 2021, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. As a result, after being played every two years since 1947, it has now been five years since the last EuroBasket tournament, easily the longest layoff since World War II.

It’s possible that some NBA players will be cut from their teams’ rosters or will have to drop out due to injuries or personal reasons before the event begins on September 1, but in general enthusiasm to participate in the long-awaited event appears high.

Here’s the list of NBAers currently set to play in EuroBasket, per Eurohoops:

There are also multiple NBA free agents on EuroBasket rosters, including French swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and German guard Dennis Schröder.

A number of young NBA players, such as 2022 draftees Jeremy Sochan and Nikola Jovic, have dropped out to focus on getting ready for the 2022/23 season, while others, including Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) and Frank Ntilikina (France), were ruled out due to injuries.

Round robin play will begin on September 1, with each team facing the other five clubs in its group once. The top four teams in each group will advance to a 16-team bracket that begins on September 10. The final will take place on September 18, just over a week before NBA training camps get underway.

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Mavericks To Add Marko Milic To Coaching Staff

August 10th, 2022 at 7:41am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks intend to hire former NBA wing Marko Milic to their coaching staff in a player development role, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link). Martin Pavcnik of SportKlub first reported that the move was expected to happen.

Milic, the 33rd overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, became the first Slovenian to play in the league, appearing in 44 games for the Suns from 1997-99 before spending the rest of his playing career overseas. He was a four-time Slovenian League champion and also won a Spanish League title before eventually retiring in 2015.

The Mavericks obviously already have an important existing connection to Slovenia, in All-NBA guard Luka Doncic, who knows Milic well, according to Stein.

Additionally, Milic played alongside current Mavs head coach Jason Kidd in Phoenix.

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Southwest Notes: Popovich, Spurs, McGee, Williams, Williamson

July 3rd, 2022 at 10:59pm CST by JD Shaw

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is facing a long rebuilding process if he remains with the team, Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News writes. The Spurs recently traded Dejounte Murray to the Hawks in exchange for Danilo Gallinari‘s expiring contract, three first-round picks, and a pick swap, choosing to further shift their focus from the present to the future.

As Finger notes, Popovich has expressed reservations in the past about the idea of coaching a losing team, most notably when his former – and newly re-hired – assistant Brett Brown left San Antonio to coach the “Process” Sixers.

“I couldn’t do it,” Popovich said in 2015 when asked about Brown’s new job in Philadelphia. “I’d last a month.”

However, in recent years, Popovich seems to have embraced the concept of coaching a young team without realistic championship aspirations. He recently helped orchestrate the re-hiring of Brown as an assistant coach and appears motivated to return to the sidelines in San Antonio next season.

Here are some other notes from the Southwest Division:

  • Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News examines the fit between Luka Doncic and JaVale McGee, who agreed to sign with the Mavericks and can serve as a rebounder, rim-protector and lob threat for Doncic. McGee reportedly expects to start for Dallas, but Caplan isn’t sure the coaching staff has made that decision yet.
  • The Grizzlies‘ two-way deal with Vince Williams Jr. covers two years, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Edwards, who was drafted No. 47 overall by Memphis last Thursday, averaged 14.1 points per game at VCU last season, shooting 38.7% from three-point range.
  • While it’s a massive investment, Zion Williamson‘s maximum-salary extension with the Pelicans was something the team simply couldn’t pass up, Scott Kushner of NOLA.com writes. Williamson has only played 85 games in his three NBA seasons, but he has shown in his limited NBA action that he’s a special player, says Kushner. It’s still unclear how much of Williamson’s new five-year deal will be fully guaranteed.
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Western Notes: McGee, Doncic, Brunson, Mavs, Williamson

May 28th, 2022 at 9:33am CST by Dana Gauruder

Veteran center and unrestricted free agent JaVale McGee said he’s interested in re-signing with the Suns this offseason, according to Kellan Olson of ArizonaSports.com.

“Definitely consider it, definitely consider an opportunity,” McGee said. “At this point in my career, I’m definitely focused on myself and what’s best for me and my situation and my family. I know what I bring to a team if it’s any organization that I go to. For me, that’s what it’s all about. Make sure I’m valuing myself as much as the team (is) valuing me.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • Luka Doncic will be informed of potential roster moves via frequent contact with head coach Jason Kidd, owner Mark Cuban, GM Nico Harrison and assistant GM Michael Finley, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News reports. Doncic will not be taking it easy this summer. He’ll start practicing with the Slovenian National Team on June 15 ahead of World Cup qualifying matches against Croatia (June 30) and Sweden (July 3). He’ll re-join the national team in August to prepare for EuroBasket, which begins Sept. 1 in Cologne, Germany.
  • Doncic wants free agent Jalen Brunson to remain his backcourt partner, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News writes. “The step – the huge leap – he took this year was unbelievable,” Doncic said. “And he’s going to deserve all the money he gets.” The Mavericks have made their desire to retain Brunson known but they also want to acquire a quality big man — a rebounder and rim-protector. “That’s no secret. We know we got beat up on the boards,” Harrison said after the conference finals.
  • Zion Williamson no longer has any restrictions from his foot injury. So how will he fit in with a Pelicans team that showed vast improvement in the second half of the season? Will Guillory of The Athletic takes a closer look at that topic.
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Mavs Notes: Gobert, LaVine, Brunson, Doncic

May 27th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks remain focused on acquiring another All-Star caliber player to complement Luka Doncic after tacitly acknowledging by trading Kristaps Porzingis in February that he wasn’t the right fit, sources tell veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein. The Mavs won’t have salary cap space to sign a player of that caliber outright anytime soon, so if they’re going to try to acquire a star this summer, it will probably have to be via trade.

Dallas has been linked to Jazz big man Rudy Gobert, but Stein’s sources say the Mavs’ interest in the three-time Defensive Player of the Year has been overstated. As Stein explains, the team knows it needs to improve its rim protection and rebounding, but had success with a five-out approach this postseason and will likely pursue a more “cost-efficient” option at center.

According to Stein, Bulls guard Zach LaVine is a potential target that intrigues the Mavericks, who apparently like the idea of adding another wing slasher and scorer, particularly after seeing how effective Spencer Dinwiddie was this season alongside Doncic.

However, LaVine is a free agent this summer and it would be a challenge for the Mavs to sign-and-trade for him and re-sign Jalen Brunson, since team salary would be well beyond the projected tax apron — any club that acquires a player via sign-and-trade becomes hard-capped at the apron for the rest of that league year. If acquiring LaVine isn’t realistic, Dallas will likely pivot to other options on the wing, Stein says.

Here’s more on the Mavs, whose season ended on Thursday in Golden State:

  • President of basketball operations Nico Harrison downplayed the need to bring in another All-Star caliber player. “There’s teams … that have a bunch of All-Stars, and they were sitting at home watching us play,” Harrison said during his end-of-season presser on Friday (Twitter link via Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News). “Yeah, you need to keep upgrading the roster, but I don’t think it’s just about getting a bunch of All-Stars. It’s about getting people that fit.”
  • Harrison said that re-signing Jalen Brunson will be the Mavericks’ “top priority” this offseason (Twitter link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype). “We want to re-sign him. He knows it,” Harrison said. “We want him back. He’ll be a big part of our future.” Mavs owner Mark Cuban also spoke about the team’s desire to retain Brunson, as we outlined earlier today.
  • As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News relays, Cuban admitted that he didn’t know what to expect entering the 2021/22 season after the team underwent front office and coaching changes. He was pleased to see the Mavs establish an identity over the course of the year. “Hard-playing. Physical. Multi-talented, able to complement Luka,” Cuban said in describing the type of player that fits that identity. “Knowing how to play with Luka. That probably is number one. But yeah, you saw how we played it. Guys like Reggie Bullock. Spencer, when he came, got it. Davis Bertans. (Dorian Finney-Smith). Dwight (Powell). Everybody. There’s nobody that you can name that that wasn’t just playing as hard as they possibly can and knew their role.”
  • An Eastern Conference executive who spoke to Tim MacMahon of ESPN believes the Mavericks are “one player away” from being a legitimate title contender. According to MacMahon, that opinion is shared by other rival coaches, executives, and scouts he has spoken to about Dallas’ outlook. For his part, Doncic said after Thursday’s loss that he thinks the Mavs are “on a great, great path.”
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) and Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype have published their offseason previews for the Mavericks, while Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report and SI.com’s Chris Mannix and Howard Beck also took a closer look at the team’s roster situation going forward.
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