How good is the Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving offense?

Luka Doncic has never played with another high usage score until now. At the trade deadline, Dallas acquired 8-time All-Star Kyrie Irving and that alone should be a minor upgrade from Jalen Brunson last year or Spencer Dinwiddie this season. I say minor because the Mavs offense is already really good with everything orbiting around Luka. Doncic is first in the NBA in time of possession, holding it nearly half the time Dallas has the ball, and his team's offensive rating when he's on the court is a whopping 121 in the 95th percentile for qualifying players across the league. Irving himself is obviously good enough to run offense through. His teams have been in the 80th percentile or better in offensive efficiency with him on the court for 5 straight seasons, including the 99th percentile last year in Brooklyn in the 29 games he played. But is there another level for them to hit together? Luka's never really played alongside another high usage score. Brunson and Dinwiddie scaled way back when Doncic was on the floor but it doesn't look like Kyrie's going to do that. First, Irving can give Luka a rest late in games or at the end of stints. He was gassed the other night in overtime after sitting out a few games, so Irving just went to work instead. Second, Kyrie's more active in transition, pushing the pace to score himself or drawing some attention so he can free up teammates. And third, and most importantly, is how dangerous Irving can be away from the ball. He's not really a movement-driven player like Steph Curry, but he's an incredible shooter when he's left open. And he's dangerous when he catches it on the move. The Clippers do everything to deny him the ball here, and he finally slips out the back door for a pull-up jumper. Dallas likes this very common action where the corner man receives a screen so he can fly up and attack off a dribble handoff action. Against the Clippers, Kyrie realizes they want to deny that handoff by switching and blocking the route, so he cuts it back himself, then he can rip the other way, collapsing the entire defense to set up a good look from three. This ability to immediately attack on the move or off the catch gives the Mavs an extra dimension while Doncic is on the court. This is pure Luka ball with a spread floor, he blows by his man and skips it to the corner, and Kyrie is wide open and that's incredible clutch offense. But Brunson and Dinwiddie weren't that far behind Irving as shooters. It's the more dynamic actions when Kyrie is a different animal, with the ball pinging around where he can attack a closeout like this and turn water into wine. In overtime, the Kings trapped Luka, Dallas's spacing is off so no one is really open, but Irving cuts his way into open space, and then he's good enough to make this bonkers drifting three on the other side of the screen. At the beginning of the year, we talked about how much Luka is posting up and how hard he is to stop down there, and this is yet another area Kyrie can naturally extend an advantage created by Doncic, either with a catch and shoot three, or in a more dynamic spot. Irving doesn't think the wing will have an open look here, he probably misses a deep entry pass to Dwight Powell, but he's so skilled he can stress the defense again and ends up finding Powell with a layup pass anyway. This one really captures how potent they can be, Luka's playing his typical spread ball screen style, Irving ends up with an attack, only to hit the wall of Gobert, so he playmakes, then he can relocate back out for an open triple. Obviously, when Doncic goes to the bench, Dallas can just play through Irving. He's not the same one man offense as Luka, I mean who is, but they can run essentially the same sets with him off the court, only with, in theory, slightly better results than Brunson or Dinwiddie. And when I say the same actions, I mean some of these are identical. Luka loves to come off screens and then blend a shot into a lob, and in his fourth game in Dallas, Kyrie works off a pick for a little floater into a lob. Earlier this year, we looked at Luka's behind the back pass in pick and roll when a second defender jumps at him, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery because Kyrie busted this out against the same coverage as well. I think Irving's quick actions are key to the ceiling of this offense, because Dallas has these beautiful game possessions where the ball hot potatoes around to find the best shot. Here's one where Kyrie and Luka both start off ball, Powell ends up recovering it and flipping it to Irving, who instantly moves it so he can find an even better shot, but instead of settling, Josh Green explodes into open space for an old-fashioned 3 point play. Green is a perfect fit in this offense to me because he's so good at making quick decisions that capitalize on the advantages created by Donchie Chen Irving. He's averaging 14 points and 3 assists per game as a starter, and is an extremely efficient scorer, and he's one of those guys who buzzes around the court doing little things that provide value. In a recent video we discussed cutting and attacking off the catch, and this is a big part of Green's game, which is perfect next to elite playmaking. Irving flows into a pick and roll, the wing defender stays home to help, so Green fires himself out of a cannon, then instantly skips it cross court to a shooter. This time it's Luka backing down a smaller guard, the help comes so he whips it over to Green, who touches it over to the corner, only for it to come back to him so he can attack the closeout and finish. This one's a Kyrie backcut that draws defenders, and Josh will also use ball fakes in these situations, shedding two men before bursting in to score. His explosive drives are helpful for Dallas because their other 3 and D players rarely get downhill, and spot ups are easier to defend, whereas Green adds another dimension, moving here, immediately looking for a shooter, but finding a layup instead. In addition to that filthiness, Josh uses that maniacal speed to get out in transition, and when Luka was injured last week, the Mavs played with far more pace because Kyrie is naturally dangerous when he's out and running. On the other hand, Luka doesn't really run that much, so it'll be interesting to see if they can play faster when they're both out there. Some of that is a lack of conditioning right now, which of course shows up on the defensive end, which is the big question for this team. Doncic can be flat-footed on the ball, and he doesn't offer much at the rim either, and last year Dorian Finney-Smith really helped protect Luka in the playoffs, but he's no longer with the team. Green could help a little here, because he's had really impressive possessions staying with smaller guards like this, but he's also big and strong enough to stick with some of the heftier wings in the Western Conference, like Kawhi Leonard. Maxi Kliba was also key last year in Dallas' playoff success, and he's been out with a hamstring injury, and he can provide some paint size in their small lineups, and with Irving, we've already seen lineups without any big men at all, pairing Kyrie with the 6'4'' Frank Nilekina in the backcourt in an attempt to outscore Rudy Gobert's Wolves. Coach Jason Kidd understands that this team is built to outscore opponents just by treading water on defense. We're here to outscore people. People come to see points, not 80 to 80. We're here to score. This is the new NBA. Interior defense, we'll figure it out. Personally, my fascination with Dallas is still about Luka, and whether he can expand his offensive game to make it faster and more dynamic. If Dallas is going to be historically great on offense, Doncic probably needs to cut out some of these difficult stepbacks. I also wonder if he can be quicker when the defense is scrambling. Here he relocates to the line, stops for a second instead of exploding off the catch, and that lets the defense recover, so the Kings are ready for this second drive. The pass is late, and it's a turnover. This kind of issue popped up at the end of the Minnesota game, where Dallas needed a three, and Luka should probably float toward this open space on the wing. He doesn't, and so the Wolves' athletic guards have less ground to cover going back and forth, and the play just dies out. Compare that to this play, where the Wolves are in rotation, Kyrie touches it to Luka who instantly attacks the closeout, and that gets him an easy layup. I also think the Mavs can run more actions, with Doncic and Irving screening and handing it off together, because I think this is how they unlock something truly great. As things stand, I'm not sure how dangerous I'd consider Dallas. But if Luka evolves and Kidd extends the playbook, we may be in for some basketball alchemy. Either way, I'm looking forward to just how far this offensive experiment ultimately takes Dallas in the playoffs. Let me know what you think of the Luka-Kyrie pairing down below, and to directly support this channel, check out patreon.com slash thinkingbasketball. That's where you can get the in-season stats and analytics that we use every day to help research these videos and make our podcasts. Hope you enjoyed this one, as always, and of course, wherever you are out there, I do hope you're having a great day.