Luka Dončić Trade Rumors: Jazz Keeping 'Very Interested Eye' on Mavericks Star

If Luka Dončić ever wants to leave the Dallas Mavericks in the future, at least one Western Conference franchise may make a significant push to land the Slovenian superstar.

The Utah Jazz are "keeping a very interested eye" on Dončić's situation in Dallas, according to The Athletic's John Hollinger. He added that the Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder would be able to outbid other teams for the veteran point guard due to the draft capital they have available.

Given the fact Utah traded away two superstars in Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, it's not necessarily surprising to hear it may be interested in acquiring a player of Dončić's caliber.

The Mavericks potentially trading Dončić wouldn't have even been a question one year ago, when he guided them to the Western Conference Finals. But after a disappointing 2022-23 season, Dallas will need to have these types of difficult conversations moving forward.

The Mavericks' downfall began when Jalen Brunson signed with the New York Knicks in free agency last offseason. Mavericks governor Mark Cuban told reporters on April 5 that his team wasn't able to negotiate with Brunson before he put pen to paper on a four-year, $104 million deal with the Knicks.

However, Brunson told Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes in a March interview that he "loved" playing in Dallas. Sources told Haynes that Brunson would have accepted a four-year, $55.5 million offer from the Mavericks—the maximum he would have been able to get from the franchise at the time—had it been offered to him.

"There were two times that I thought we had offers on the table before the season, and then around, I think December or January, they looked the other way," Brunson said. "They had every right in the world to do so. I don't blame them for making any business decisions. That's on them."

Ahead of the February trade deadline, the Mavericks sent Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie and multiple draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris. However, Dallas finished 11th in the West with a 38-44 record and didn't even secure a spot in the play-in tournament.

After the Mavs' season came to an end, the NBA fined them for "conduct detrimental to the league" for resting key players during an April 7 game that was a must-win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Essentially, the Mavericks were fined for tanking to retain their first-round pick in the 2023 draft. The still owe a top-10-protected first-round pick to the Knicks as part of the 2019 Kristaps Porziņģis trade.

Dallas has a 79.8 percent chance of retaining its 2023 first-round pick following its disappointing finish to the season.

Dončić, who has spent his entire career with the Mavericks, is under contract with the franchise through the 2025-26 season. He holds a nearly $49 million player option for the 2026-27 campaign.

If the Mavericks don't turn themselves around quickly, Dončić might begin to grow restless. That's why they need to prioritize sorting out their future this offseason.