Exploring the Starting Lineups Jason Kidd Will Experiment With After Luka Doncic’s Injury

With only a few days left to the start of preseason, the Dallas Mavericks announced that their star player Luka Doncic has suffered an injury. Luka picked up a calf strain in the training camp and his preparation for the upcoming season has come to a halt. Since the injury isn’t major, the Slovenian is set to miss one if not more preseason matchups.

While it’s not going to harm the Mavericks in a major way, it still has caused the team to start their campaign on the wrong note. Luka is expected to be reevaluated within a week and in the meantime, coach Jason Kidd is confident that it won’t shake their spirits and that Doncic will easily find his way in when he returns to the court.

Kidd said, “He got hit in the calf, reported it tight yesterday. So he went and got an MRI and saw that it was a strain… We will re-evaluate him in a week and see where he stands. But there’s no concern at this point about his availability.” As of now, it’s guaranteed that Doncic will miss the pre-season opener.

Mavericks’ roster and possible starting lineups

There’s no doubt that Doncic is the team’s backbone and the best player on the Mavs. Considering they’ll all keep their health in check, the most obvious starting lineup for the season would be Luka at PG, Kyrie Irving at SG, Klay Thompson at SF, P.J. Washington at PF, and Dereck Lively II at the center.

However, this combination can not be used in every game due to several factors, including injuries. But as per coach Kidd, there are at least three guaranteed starters on the team.

On media day, he said, “We’ve got a lot of starters…We’re gonna instigate competition in training camp…There’s two guys or three guys that are gonna start…Everything we’re doing is to win a championship and so we all have to sacrifice. We’re sometimes going to put our individual goals to look at the team goal first.”

The Mavericks have arguably the best offensive backcourt in the league with Kyrie and Luka leading the charge. However, they’re just as blessed with their centers. The Mavs have Lively and Daniel Gafford, both of whom would be starters on any team. In this case, Coach Kidd has the privilege to interchange between them.

In Luka’s absence, the team’s lineup can be Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, P.J. Washington, and Dereck Lively II. Marshall has been one of the Mavericks’ most improved players during the training camp.

After a practice, Klay said, “Naji played incredible. The guy was making floaters, pull-ups. I thought he played really well, I was impressed with Naji. He scored a couple of times on me. His jumper was fluid and his midrange was nice.” So, it wouldn’t be surprising if he earns himself a spot in the starting lineup.

In the 2023-24 season, he played in 66 games for the Pelicans averaging 7.1 points, and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 46.3% from the field and 38.7% from the three-point line. He signed with the Mavericks in July on a three-year, $27 million contract.

The Mavericks’ starting lineup with Luka Doncic

When Luka comes back to the team after his injury, the starting lineup will get a little more competitive. Players will be reshuffled, positions will be changed as coach Kidd will probably put those players on the court with him who complement his game better than anyone.

In that scenario, the lineup that the Mavericks preferred the most during their highly successful postseason run last season, where they made it to the NBA Finals, would stand a chance to return. Despite not having Derrick Jones Jr. on the team anymore, they have plenty of replacements.

The starting lineups in Luka’s presence could be Luka, Kyrie, Klay, Washington, and Gafford. They can also run the combination of Luka, Kyrie, Klay, and Gafford as a PF, and Lively as their primary center. Some may argue that Dereck has been working on his outside shot but it’s clear that this lineup with 2 bigs would have a bit of a pace and space issue.

The final team combinations will soon be in action and we will get to see who coach Kidd deems fit to represent his franchise. It’s undeniable that the Mavericks have built up an even stronger team as compared to the last season. Now, they have plenty of options in all positions as their players have improved a lot.