4 ways Luka Doncic can improve to win his first NBA MVP

Luka Doncic has had one of the best starts to a career of anyone in NBA history. From a team perspective, he’ll be looking to lead the Dallas Mavericks to an NBA title, which would be his first career ring. Individually, Doncic has brought home many of the greatest honors in the NBA, but has not yet won MVP. We’ll look at four ways he can change that during the 2024-2025 NBA season. All statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

As noted by Bleacher Report in March 2023, Luka Doncic was once called “the worst transition defender in the history of basketball” by an NBA scout. During the 2024 NBA Finals, SB Nation wrote that “Doncic’s terrible defense in an anchor weighing down the Mavs.” It suffices to say that this is one area of Doncic’s game that could use considerable improvement.

While Doncic may not be the most physically gifted player in the NBA, he’s still mobile enough to become an adequate defender. Playing defense involves tapping into a mindset that creates a hunger and a pride to stop opposing teams from scoring. Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said during the NBA Finals, “There’s going to be times Luka has to guard someone, and that’s just part of being the best in the world. I don’t think he’s going to run from that.”

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Even if Doncic isn’t the best at keeping speedy players in front of him, there are other ways he can make a difference. Former teammate Jalen Brunson has made a habit of taking charges with the New York Knicks, which has been a huge help to their team defense. Doncic could take a page out of the same book by finding other ways to contribute.

Kidd told ESPN in October 2024, “I think Luka’s tied in, and we’re at a really good place of being honest with one another. He wants to be great, has goals—individual and team—and we want to help him get there.

There’s no questioning the type of ability Doncic has as a scorer. During the 2023-2024 campaign, the Mavericks superstar led the NBA in scoring average with 33.9 point per game. There’s not much a defender can do to stop him, and he’s a walking bucket. Doncic is already an excellent facilitator, but focusing on this area of the game can help his case for MVP.

During the first six seasons of his NBA career, Doncic averaged 8.3 assists per game. That’s an impressive figure no matter how you look at it, but it’s even more noteworthy when you consider that he averaged a career high 9.8 dimes during the 2023-2024 campaign. Doncic is going to need more of that in order to raise his MVP profile.

Doncic will be amongst the league leaders in scoring as soon as he walks out of bed. However, there’s a realistic compelling narrative involving Doncic leading the league in scoring and assists, which has only been done twice in NBA history according to Hoops Hype. There’s reason to think he can achieve it on the passing side.

This might be the best team Doncic has ever played on, which boosts his potential to lead the league in assists. New Maverick Klay Thompson is one of the best shooters in NBA history, and Doncic now gets to play a full season with Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington, two players the Mavericks acquired at last year’s trade deadline.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Of course, while it’s important for MVP candidates to have eye-popping statistics, it’s also crucial for them to lead their teams to a boatload of victories. Doncic and the Mavericks have made the playoffs more often than not since he entered the league, but an emphatic, dominant Dallas season would further help Doncic’s case to be league MVP.

That’s not going to be an easy task, as the Western Conference is loaded with strong teams. The Mavericks won 50 games in 2023-2024, which led them to a five-seed in the West. In order for Doncic to have an optimal MVP case, Dallas would ideally need to win 55 games, with something closer to 60 being a preferred target.

While that’s not an easy threshold for any team to reach, it’s possible Doncic could take Dallas to those heights. He’s arguably in the prime of his career at age 25, and did not have to play the full summer since Slovenia did not qualify for the Olympics. He might be as well rested as ever to help Dallas finish with one of the best records in franchise history.

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps believes that the Oklahoma City Thunder are the best team in the West by far, and they are a formidable roster without question. With that said, the Mavericks’ potential ascension up the standings would be all the more impressive considering the stiff competition they would face. While the number one seed would be ideal for Doncic’s MVP candidacy, a top three seed would also work just fine.

Perhaps more than any other league, the race for NBA MVP is narrative driven. CBS Sports wrote a piece in March 2023 detailing how voter fatigue and other factors have driven the results of the tally over the years. Doncic has never won the award, which in some ways gives him an advantage this season, as the basketball consciousness hopes for new blood in this area.

While it’s not always a great look for players to openly campaign for individual accomplishments, it would be helpful to Doncic’s MVP candidacy if he brought up the award every so often throughout the season. This would keep the conversation and his name relevant for several months, which is important at the end of the season.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

If Doncic isn’t comfortable mentioning this throughout the course of the year, then Kidd and other Mavericks teammates should help campaign for their star teammate. The story is almost as important as the production on the floor, and it’ll take a team effort in this regard to assist Doncic’s quest for an MVP trophy.