Luka Dončić Thought Mavs Would Be Among NBA's Best Teams After Kyrie Irving Trade

Luka Dončić may have significantly overestimated the Dallas Mavericks' ceiling this season.

The Mavs suffered a 129-122 defeat to the Miami Heat on Saturday, dropping them to 37-41 and one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the final play-in tournament spot.

After the loss, Dončić reflected on how he envisioned the team's season being "way different," including after the acquisition of Kyrie Irving.

"I thought we were going to be up there," he told reporters. "But we obviously aren't, so it's way different than I thought."

Nobody expected Dallas to struggle this much after adding Irving. The team has one win in its last seven games.

However, many considered the trade to be a desperation move as soon as it was completed. The Mavericks leveraged a lot of their remaining assets for a player who can leave as a free agent in the offseason, and they didn't address what had been one of their biggest issues.

Jason Kidd's squad ranked 24th in defensive rating (114.9) through Feb. 5, per NBA.com, which is the day before the Irving trade was made official. Not surprisingly, Dallas hasn't improved on that end of the floor after losing its best perimeter defender, Dorian Finney-Smith. It's 23rd in defensive rating (118.2) since then.

"It's every time the same problem," Dončić said Saturday. "The offense is fine. But if we give up 130 points in four quarters, that's hard to win."

Even if the Mavericks qualify for the play-in tournament and advance to the playoffs, it's almost impossible to envision them matching last season's trip to the Western Conference Finals.

Should the franchise miss the play-in altogether, it will be fascinating to see how ownership and the front office manages the fallout.