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Report: Luka Doncic ‘really upset’ about Mavericks ousting Donnie Nelson

Donnie Nelson, Luka Doncic and his mother along with Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Donnie Nelson Draft Pick Luka Doncic and his mother along with Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle pose for a photo at the Post NBA Draft press conference on June 22, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)

NBAE via Getty Images

After Haralabos Voulgaris reportedly gained power within the Mavericks front office and bothered Luka Doncic…

Dallas parted with longtime team president Donnie Nelson.

Marc J. Spears of ESPN:

Donnie was fired. Let’s just be real. Donnie was fired.
I’ve heard that one guy that’s really upset about it is a guy you don’t want to upset about it, the one guy, Luka Doncic. They were really, really close.
Also being told, in terms of the 200 million-dollar extension, how are talks going? People close to him are saying: “What talks?” There’s no talks right now.

One possible reason there are no talks right now: There’s nothing to talk about.

Doncic has already qualified for a super-max contract extension this offseason. He can probably command the full 30% starting salary, max raises and a player option. This likely isn’t a negotiation.

If there’s even a little noise about Doncic actually not signing the extension, that’d be a huge deal. But an absence of talks alone isn’t much cause for concern.

That said, because the stakes are so high, it’s still worth watching closely. The Mavericks reportedly ousted Nelson after Doncic indicated he’d sign his extension.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN:

Doncic probably really liked Nelson, who was instrumental in bringing the young star to Dallas. Obviously, the Mavericks want to keep Doncic happy. But the best way they can do that is building a better team, which the next lead executive could do.

Dallas will have several years to make progress around Doncic – unless he takes the unprecedented step of rejecting his super-max rookie-scale extension. Right now, I just don’t see enough reason to fret about that possibility.