The 2020-2021 season is officially closed! And it was a bit of a mixed bag.

Mavs got off to a sluggish start due to a rampant COVID outbreak but fought back the second half of the season to secure the 5th seed (a marked improvement from last year's 7th seed).

Despite this improvement, we saw the end of the Donnie Nelson and Rick Carlisle eras. Regardless of how Mavs fans feel about these individuals, it cannot be argued that they were important cornerstones in the franchises' history. Donnie was largely responsible for scouting Dirk and convincing him to come to Dallas and stumping for Cuban to draft this kid named Luka Doncic.

Rick was a consistently elite Xs & Os coach for 13 years in Dallas and squeezed every ounce of talent out of his rosters, but more importantly, he helped deliver the only Larry O trophy to the Big D.

All things come to an end eventually, but we were lucky to have these guys. Now we look ahead.

In at GM, is Nico Harrison; a long time Nike exec who should, on paper, help the Mavs in Free Agency with his connections to Nike branded athletes. Accompanying Nico as Head Coach, is his personal friend and former Mav champion, Jason Kid.

Any change is uncomfortable but true growth can only be achieved through change. I'm willing to set aside my preconceptions and roll with whatever comes from this new regime. The future of the franchise (luka), hinges on their ability to grow.

So lets get this season started with our 2x ALL NBA 1ST TEAM player, Luka Doncic, and get this man some help! Free agency is only THREE WEEKS away!

Will JRich opt in?
Will we re-sign THJ?
What trades are we going to make?
How are we going to maximize the ~30ish million in cap space we could have?
Will Luka win MVP?
Find out next season, on DRAGONBALL Z.

Who tf is buying the WNBA version lol

Also, have to brag about the anniversary gift from the wife!

A Latvian Reddit user summarized Zinger's interview w Latvian media. Interesting. Hope he gets it going next season!

Quote:

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As a Latvian myself I will try to translate to the best of my abilities what porzingis said about his last season with Dallas.
[ol]

Started off by saying the last season and playoffs especially was very tough on him. He was asked to take a smaller role in the playoffs. It was hard accepting it, but as a professional he took on this role. The reason it was so hard is because he knows what he can bring to the team but it just wasn't his choice. In the end, he started accepting his new role and gave everything he could, because all he cared about was winning.

About being the one who is blamed after the series loss. He of course acknowledges the fact, that the media will ALWAYS find someone to blame for a loss. It's just the way how things work. "As a max contract player they view you differently and expect a lot from you". But he likes the critic (in a healthy positive way) because for him it gives him the motivation to work even harder this summer to prove he can work both in the regular and post-season while being a capable threat and not just a corner 3 shooter.

Smiled when asked about how things are off the court in the organization in the NBA in general. Didn't comment buch but said that each organization is different. Some built better, some worse, but you gotta adjust to the new situation.

First off-season where he is healthy. First time when he has been healthy in the offseason so he can put the work in. Works with his physio once a day and will start doing it twice a day starting soon (idk if this is much relevant).

Says his injuries have mostly been contact injuries and not non-contact and he is not concerned about injury risk but does say that it is hard staying healthy with how physical the game is. Is trying to find the balance between being quick and also having muscle mass to be more sturdier.

Is ready to help the Latvia national team (mentions this as one of his favourite things to do and wants to do in the future), but not this year due to him wanting to get ready for the NBA season.

Sets a goal of his stats that he wants to achieve before every season (but kept the specific stats to himself).

Was asked if he would rather be the best player on a mediocre team or a role player on a great team - said team always come first. Winning makes everyone look good. Said he now has no problem adjusting to a different role and will do everything he can to allow his team to win.

Is enjoying this moment of being doubted and wants to prove everyone wrong next season.

[/ol]Overall was very cool, calm and collected. Spoke like a true professional in his interview. Even though I am a Celtic fan, as a Latvian I am hoping to see some good things from him next season! Hope this is some content you guys wanted to hear!

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Man, it's gonna be tough to keep Luka, KP, Kawhi, and Dame all happy next year...I hope J-Kidd can keep all those egos in check for the good of the team.