According to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Luka Doncic is adding something “insane” to his game this offseason. In an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Cuban said that we’ll know it when we see it:
Rooks: “When I spoke to you after the bubble, we were talking about Luka for a little bit and you said that you’d asked him, ‘OK, what are you going to add to your game this offseason?’ And at that time it was that he wanted a left hand and he wanted to be able to finish. And that was what he added in the bubble season. So have you asked him that question yet?”
Cuban: “Yup. But I can’t tell you.”
Rooks: “What? Why? You told me last time.”
Cuban: “No, I can’t tell you. But yeah, it was crazy what we talked about adding. And so we’ll see. I don’t want to jinx him. But if you see something, you’re going, ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ you’ll know that’s what it was.”
Rooks: “OK just tell me like is it a move, is it just a —”
Cuban: “Yeah. It’s a move. It’s a shot.”
Rooks: “OK, so what would you want to him to add?”
Cuban: “That shot. Because it’s insane.”
The full interview published on Wednesday. Hours later, playing for the Slovenian national team, Doncic made this running hook over Nikola Jokic:
Is this what Cuban was talking about? Is it Doncic’s secret weapon? Well, he pulled it out of his bag six weeks ago against Sweden, too:
Doncic has always been a master of trick shots. He made a running hook of sorts in Game 4 of the Mavericks’ first-round series against the Utah Jazz in April. One can only hope that he’s been spending his downtime studying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Zavier Simpson on YouTube.
If Doncic perfects the skyhook, his buddy Dirk Nowitzki will be proud. The future Hall of Famer tried to integrate it into his game at various points of his career, but it never became a go-to move.
In addition to what Cuban called “the move that will not be disclosed,” he told Rooks he’d like Doncic to use the backboard more often. And he’s not talking about bank shots.
“Like, ‘Luka, if you’re down in the paint and you don’t have what you want and you’re doing all your stuff, just toss it up against the backboard, get it back, reset the 3-second clock and go back to work,'” Cuban said. “And, you know, he kind of rolls his eyes, but we’ll see what happens.”
Cuban said that he likes to talk to Doncic about “stuff that is so bizarre that nobody else would really consider and do it.” And why shouldn’t he? Experiments can be abandoned if necessary. In a just world, Daryl Morey is encouraging James Harden to bring back his one-legged sidestep 3-pointer.
