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Luka Doncic and Schottenheimer Create Brutal Week of Updates

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Mike Fisher | Last updated Feb 2, 2025 10:03 AM ET

DALLAS - In the span of just one week, in the category of "blockbuster moves,'' the Dallas sports scene has cratered in on itself.

On Monday, the Dallas Cowboys pulled a surprise out of Jerry Jones' imagination with the announcement of Brian Schottenheimer as the new head coach. ... his first such assignment of his career.

On Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks said "Hold Our Beer'' and out-Cowboy'ed the Cowboys by pulling off an even more shocking move in the trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

These two organizations have sort of Venn Diagram'ed their way to mistakes before.

In 1996 the Mavericks hired a head coach off a Chicago Bulls’ staff that won four NBA titles in six years. But without Michael Jordan and with a stubborn belief in Phil Jackson’s famed “Triangle” offense, neophyte Jim Cleamons ripped apart a talented core of Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn, going just 28-70 before being fired early in his second season.

And now? The Mavs have ripped themselves up because they don't like Luka's conditioning and they don't want to pay him another supermax deal.

But the Lakers - who send oft-injured star Anthony Davis to Big D while freeing Luka to team up with his idol LeBron James - aren't worried about the conditioning and aren't worried about the money.

Guess which team wins the trade?

The Cowboys' hiring of Schottenheimer? It can be accurately and fairly criticized as "inspiring.'' "Boring,'' even.

After all, Schottenheimer spent 25 years as an assistant on 10 NFL teams without ever getting a job as a head coach. His contract – like Mike McCarthy’s – expired after the Cowboys’ season-ending loss Jan. 5. Crickets.

Though a coaching free agent, Schottenheimer was never interviewed by another team, nor ever mentioned as a legitimate candidate for seven openings around the league.

So the Cowboys - who in theory could hand-pick Bill Belichick or Deion Sanders or most anybody else to be in charge - settled on the guy nobody else wanted who was already officing down the hall.

And the Mavs' response? Well, it ain't "boring.''

Behind the scenes at Cowboys HQ? The Cowboys wanted McCarthy back, but couldn’t agree on length of contract. The owner may have fantasized about Deion, but ultimately – according to Jerry – “he already has a job.” They talked to Pete Carroll but, again, couldn’t agree to terms of a deal.

That was the extend of their search.

And behind the scenes at Mavs HQ? Word is now leaking out that Dallas has spent the week shopping Luka ... and that this deal that essentially brings them a broken star on the wrong side of 30 is the best they could do.

The Schottenheimer move might end up ranking as the least inspiring coach pick in DFW history. But we'll predict it'll never look at stupid as the Luka move.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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