Luka Dončić 'Happy' with Mavs Amid Trade Rumors: There's 'Nothing' to Worry About
Luka Dončić provided something of a sigh of relief for Dallas Mavericks fans.
"I'm happy here, so there's nothing to worry [about]," he told reporters when discussing the notion he might request a trade.
"I saw the report," he said when talking about the team having to "earn" his loyalty. "I don't know who, somebody said that I was going to request a trade. It was funny because I didn't know that was true. I didn't say it."
The comments come after Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported "fear exists" within the organization that Dončić "could consider requesting a trade as soon as the summer of 2024 if Dallas doesn't make significant progress by then."
The 2022-23 campaign was the first season of a five-year, $215 million supermax contract he signed with the only NBA team he has ever known.
Mavericks governor Mark Cuban previously said: "He'd like to be here the whole time. But we've got to earn that."
To say this season didn't go according to plan is an understatement.
Dallas looked like a potential title contender when it was sitting at 29-26 and added Kyrie Irving to its lineup via trade. However, the Mavericks went 9-18 after the trade and completely fell apart down the stretch.
They missed the playoffs entirely, and Dončić didn't seem too happy when he said during the freefall: "I think you can see it with me on the court. Sometimes I don't feel it's me. I'm just being out there. I used to have really fun, smiling on the court, but it's just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons, not just basketball."
Now Dallas could be in some trouble with the league after it sat Dončić for all but a quarter and didn't play Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, Josh Green and Christian Wood in Friday's game against the Chicago Bulls even though it was still alive in the playoff race.
The Mavericks' 2023 first-round draft pick will go to the New York Knicks if it falls outside the top 10, and the loss dropped them to 10th from the bottom in the overall standings.
It wasn't hard to assume the team was tanking for drafting purposes, and the NBA is now investigating the situation.
There may be a punishment coming for Friday's actions, but the team can at least take solace knowing Dončić doesn't seem like someone anxious to leave given his latest comments.
