Three areas Luka Doncic must improve

The Dallas Mavericks came up short against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Jason Kidd's team only won one game, and it was held to under 100 points in three of its five matchups. 

Luka Doncic was unquestionably the most talented player in the series. However, gaps in his skillset were exposed on the biggest stage of his career. As Doncic heads into the summer looking to take stock of another year in the NBA, he will need a clear blueprint on what he needs to improve. 

Here are the three main areas that can help Doncic become a more complete player.

1. Defense 

Doncic's defense was appalling during the opening two games of the series. He consistently allowed his opponents to blow by him on drives. He seldom sprinted into closeouts or rotated over to provide help defense. 

As the series got deeper, Doncic upped his effort level. Still, it was clear that Boston viewed him as a weak defensive link, and it looked to exploit him whenever possible. Doncic was switched onto Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown whenever the Celtics slowed the ball down in the halfcourt. 

Doncic has all the natural tools to be a viable defender. He must work on his positioning, use of angles and effort level when trying to get stops. Otherwise, he will continue to be exposed at the highest level, which puts more pressure on him to produce otherworldly offense. 

2. Conditioning

A key part of the Celtics' game plan was to wear Doncic out. They played physical defense on him, hunted him when he was defending and made him run by refusing to send double-teams his way. On every possession, Doncic was made to work.

As the games wore on and the series got deeper, Doncic faded. He couldn't sustain the effort required to break down the Celtics' resolve. 

Doncic shouldn't be schemed against due to his lack of conditioning. It's a fatal flaw that he must address. 

3. Playing off-ball

Doncic is a heliocentric player. That means the offense revolves around him. He is the sun, and his teammates orbit his gravity. 

What made the Celtics such a terrifying opponent this season is how all of their rotation could work off-ball. They cut, screened and spotted up around the perimeter. Even Tatum found ways of impacting the game without the ball in his hands.

Doncic has elite scoring gravity. Teams will always fear his presence. Learning how to manipulate a defense simply by moving without the ball has to be part of his developmental roadmap. 

It's easy to force Doncic to beat you by guarding up on the Mavericks' role players. It's much harder when Doncic is the one waiting to attack off the catch.