The Dallas Mavericks have finally signed draft pick Luka Doncic to a contract, the Mavericks PR emailed out this evening.
Doncic, who the Mavs traded up from the fifth slot of the draft up to three to get him, will not play in Summer League. Dallas tips off their final scheduled game tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT and will play at least two more, depending on how they fare in the playoff tournament.
While Doncic was listed on the Mavericks Summer League roster before they headed out to Las Vegas so he technically could suit up tonight, it was believed he wouldn’t play after his heavy-duty schedule he’s played in Europe over the last two years. Rick Carlisle was non-committal the night of the draft and the Mavericks have been coy about his status ever since.
From a purely selfish standpoint, it’s a bummer we don’t get to see Doncic absolutely bust the asses of all these rookies and journeymen he’d face up with these two weeks. Doncic doesn’t need it though so we all get to daydream about him running wild with DeAndre Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki as pick and roll partners for a few more months.
UPDATE (7:08 p.m. CT): So, maybe Doncic is going to play after all?
"Now we’ve got to get him some live practice time and see if we can get him a game or two." -- @dallasmavs coach Rick Carlisle on the signing of rookie Luka Doncic
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) July 10, 2018
The Mavericks have been all of the place with their messaging around Doncic’s availability the last week, so who knows.