Report: Mavs 'Were Never Going to Offer' Luka Doncic a Max Contract in 2025

The Dallas Mavericks "were never going to offer" star Luka Dončić a five-year, $345 million supermax extension, according to The Athletic's Christian Clark, Mike Vorkunov and Fred Katz.

Prior to his blockbuster trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, pretty much every NBA fan assumed Dončić was in line to get a supermax deal from the Mavs as soon as he was eligible for one.

Through his seven seasons with Dallas, he averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game and earned five All-NBA nods. Trips to the 2022 Western Conference Finals and 2024 NBA Finals showed the Mavericks could make deep playoff runs with him at the fore as well.

However, it's abundantly clear now general manager Nico Harrison and the front office had serious misgivings about Dončić's long-term value. ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported on Feb. 2 that the franchise was "motivated to move" the 25-year-old and that "there had been significant frustration within the organization about Dončić's lack of discipline regarding his diet and conditioning."

Team governor Patrick Dumont alluded to those concerns in an interview with the Dallas Morning News' Brad Townsend.

"If you look at the greats in the league, the people you and I grew up with—[Michael] Jordan, [Larry] Bird, Kobe [Bryant], Shaq [O'Neal]—they worked really hard, every day, with a singular focus to win,” he said. "And if you don't have that, it doesn't work. And if you don't have that, you shouldn't be part of the Dallas Mavericks.

“That's who we want. I'm unwavering on this. The entire organization knows this. This is how I operate outside of basketball. This is the only way to be competitive and win. If you want to take a vacation, don't do it with us."

The implication was pretty clear without Dumont specifically referencing Dončić.

During his introductory press conference with the Lakers, Luka pushed back against the narrative surrounding his conditioning.

The thing with Dallas' stance on a supermax contract for Dončić is that it could've committed $345 million to the dynamic playmaker and still traded him at a later date.

It's hard to see how his trade value would've declined dramatically between now and the 2026 deadline or another year or two beyond that. If anything, having him locked in for multiple years might've actually improved the Mavs' leverage.

In an open bidding war, teams from smaller markets wouldn't have been incentivized from dealing for Luka because they might've had a hard time re-signing him in 2026. That's no longer a consideration in a scenario where he's signed through 2030-31.

But Harrison thought the time was right to make a trade and didn't want to wait on adding Anthony Davis to the current roster any longer.

Only time will tell whether giving Dončić a supermax extension would've been a mistake. For now, the fanbase is still having a hard time getting behind the Mavericks' messaging.