While Dallas has other elite players such as Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, Doncic is the one who keeps the Mavericks ship sailing.
He has been dominating the league ever since he was drafted in 2018, and his domination has turned into five straight All-NBA First Team appearances, an NBA Finals appearance, and a Western Conference Finals MVP trophy.
Doncic was unstoppable for most of the 2024 NBA Playoffs despite battling multiple nagging injuries, and he is poised to have another stellar season in 2024-25, as he has already been predicted to lead the NBA Cup in scoring.
While Doncic’s scoring is what everyone thinks of at first when discussing his skills, his passing is also elite. Last season, Doncic averaged 9.8 assists per game, and his elite passing makes everyone around him better.
Doncic is an artist in the pick and roll, and Dallas’ deadly one-two punch at center with Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford benefits massively from Doncic’s passing. According to BBall Index, Lively II and Gafford were both in the top five in “roll man impact” which is a measure of how effective a player is when rolling to the basket (Gafford was ranked No. 2 while Lively II was ranked No. 5).
While Lively II and Gafford both deserve credit for their finishing around the rim in the pick and roll, Doncic’s elite lob passing is the main reason that these two players are on this list. Doncic is an elite scorer and passer in the pick and roll, and his expertise in this area has helped Lively II and Gafford tremendously.
Doncic helping these two young bigs become elite in this area has been huge for the Mavs, and this is going to help them both get paid big bucks once both of their contracts expire. Gafford is under contract until after the 2025-26 season while Lively II is under contract until after the 2026-27 season.
Both of these players will continue to develop offensively with the help of Doncic, and at the end of their contracts in Dallas, they’ll both be due for big paydays. Lively II could be someone who nears max money due to his immense potential on both ends of the floor and Gafford’s elevated play will definitely help him command more than the $13.39 million annual salary he is earning on his current contract.
The Mavs’ second-half turnaround last season was largely due to the addition of Gafford, and his impact must not be overlooked. He was inches away from breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record of most consecutive field goals made without a miss last season, and his energy and effort proved to be pivotal for the Mavs down the stretch.
Doncic helped both of these young bigs reach new heights, and they are only set to become even better as neither center has entered their prime yet.
This isn’t to take away anything from Gafford or Lively II’s games, as both of them are excellent rim protectors and Lively II is morphing into a great passer out of the short roll and has his eyes set on becoming an effective 3-point shooter, but Doncic helps bring the best out of both of them.
Doncic’s on-ball gravity is like no other, and as long as Gafford and Lively II are his pick-and-roll partners, they are going to be getting great looks at the rim. While the Mavs won’t have to worry about paying Gafford or Lively II anytime soon, they may have to throw big contracts each of their ways one day due to their brilliance in the pick and roll with Doncic.
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