The Mavericks wanted to tank at the end of March… but Doncic and Irving said no

After picking up a $750,000 fine from the NBA for openly discussing tanking following a gross loss to the Bulls, here we learn that the Mavericks would have liked to do more. According The Ringerthe franchise had anticipated from the end of March that it smelled bad for the Playoffs… and would have liked to rest its executives earlier.

Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic said “No”. Well done to them, because accepting the Mavericks’ proposal to let them rest to recover the Draft pick sent to New York would have been a terrible admission of failure. But, what was the plan actually? Well, during a meeting with the players, the management of the Unicorns raised the possibility of considerably inflating the playing time of certain members of the group, such as Markieff Morris and JaVale McGee.

“At the end of March, the Dallas coaches met with the players to discuss a plan for Markieff Morris and JaVale McGee to have more minutes of play. That’s when the tanking was supposed to start, but Luka and Kyrie got annoyed that the team was waving the white flag and refused to give up. -Kevin O’Connor

“In late March, Dallas coaches met with players to discuss a plan for Markieff Morris and JaVale McGee to play heavier minutes. That is when the tanking was supposed to begin, but Luka and Kyrie were agitated that the team was waving the white flag and both refused to sit.”

Since grandma shouldn’t be pushed too far into the nettles, Kyrie and Luka have expressed their disagreement. At that time, the Mavericks could still mathematically qualify for the Play-in, and therefore dream of the Playoffs. The rest of the events will unfortunately be different, Dallas finally failing to qualify. At stake, this tenth Draft choice therefore, that Dallas is eyeing very hard to help the group a little next season and above all to reassure its executives. Whether it is kept or exchanged, it can only be added value for the team… if we close our eyes to the disgusting way of recovering it.

Source : Kevin O’Connor via The Ringer