Quiet, mostly private rejoicing will commence across the NBA at 11 a.m. Friday when free agents are permitted to sign their contracts and some of the league’s biggest stars can sign their mega-dollar contract extensions.
Young Mavericks star Luka Doncic, too, is eligible to sign his much-anticipated designated rookie “supermax” extension at 11 a.m. Dallas time, but he’s otherwise occupied at the Tokyo Olympics, helping his Slovenian national team prepare for its bronze medal game Saturday against Australia.
Not to worry. Doncic’s moment is near and the Mavericks organization is making sure the day will be monumental — after the Olympics, of course, out of respect to Doncic’s desire to pour his heart and soul and energies into Slovenia’s medal quest.
Sources tell The Dallas Morning News that owner Mark Cuban, new team president of basketball operations Nico Harrison, new coach Jason Kidd, assistant GM Michael Finley and special advisor Dirk Nowitzki will fly early next week to Doncic’s hometown of Ljubljana, Slovenia to personally deliver his five-year, $207 million supermax contract.
Will Doncic, 22, sign it? Silly question. Of course he will. There’s no confirmation that he’s formally agreed to the contract terms, but the fact that the Mavericks trip has been days if not weeks in planning and that Doncic knows of the plans is a clear indicator.
Of course it was Doncic himself who provided the strongest clue back on June 7, the day after the Mavericks’ season ended, when upon being asked if he will sign the extension he said, smiling: “I think you know the answer.”
In the ensuing weeks, Doncic made it equally clear that his sole focus was helping his beloved Slovenia fulfill its Olympic basketball dreams. First he led Slovenia through a qualifying tournament and to its first Olympics berth.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, Doncic politely but firmly said he would not answer questions about the Mavericks’ hiring of Harrison and Kidd until after the Olympics. He led upstart Slovenia to an unbeaten run to the semifinals, where on Thursday it suffered a gut-punch 90-89 loss to France. Afterward an exhausted and injured (left wrist) Doncic sat utterly devastated on the sideline.
As for ironing out contract details, that’s what agents are for, and Doncic has one of the most experienced and respected in sports, Billy Duffy, founder and principal of BDA Sports Management.
Besides, there’s little haggling to be done on a supermax contract, for which Doncic qualified by making the All-NBA team the past two seasons. Under NBA collective bargaining rules, the maximum a qualifying player can get is five years in length with a starting salary that is 30% of that season’s salary cap.
And of course Doncic will get the maximum and not a penny less. His extension will go into effect after the 2021-22 season, for which he’s scheduled to earn $10.2 million. Earlier this week the NBA increased its 2022-23 season cap projection from $115 million to $119 million. As a result, instead of earning $34.7 million in 2022-23 Doncic will make close to $36 million; and the original five-year value increases from $201.5 million to $207 million.
The only element of suspense is whether the fifth year of Doncic’s extension will be a player option, but given Doncic’s considerable leverage as one of his sport’s brightest stars, it seems likely he’ll get that option if he wants it.
Fifth-year option or not, Doncic’s contract easily will be the largest in the Mavericks’ 41-year history, surpassing the five-year, $158 million deal that Kristaps Porzingis received in 2019 – with the fifth year as a player-option.
Above all, Doncic’s contract signing will be a celebration and a $207 million just reward for an electric three seasons that have produced a Rookie of the Year Award and averages of 25.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists.
Although Doncic briefly has communicated with Harrison and Kidd by Facetime and text, both new Mavericks leaders have been respectful of his national team priorities. So this visit not only will be the first time they’ve spoken to Doncic in person since their hiring; it will be their first extended time with him since Harrison and Kidd replaced, respectively, Donnie Nelson and Rick Carlisle.
This summer the Mavericks organization has lauded Doncic’s First Team All-NBA recognition with billboards and murals in Dallas and Ljubljana and with a full-page ad in The News. And Dallas County declared July 6 as Luka Doncic Day.
Early next week the franchise will celebrate and thank Doncic in a more personal and momentous way by flying 11-plus hours to his hometown to hand-deliver a life-changing contract. Franchise icon Nowitzki’s presence will be yet another passing-the-torch moment between faces of the franchise past and present.
If Doncic fulfills all five seasons of his extension, and does so in Dallas, he will be 28 by then and his career on-the-court earnings of $239 million will rival Nowitzki’s franchise-record career earnings of $251 million in 21 seasons.
Given Doncic’s shooting-star trajectory, there’s a good chance for many more milestones and celebrations along the way.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/QRIALCXS5JHEPOX32ENI3YXT3A.jpg)
Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
