Jason Kidd Admits To Sad Reality After Luka Doncic Trade

The Mavericks have lost four consecutive games, including a 122-111 defeat against the Grizzlies on Friday night. After the game, head coach Jason Kidd was asked about having a No. 1 scoring option given all the injuries the team has faced. Kidd responded by saying they currently do not have one.

“There’s no No. 1 option, it's team" Kidd said. "Everyone touches it. Whoever is open, shoot it. We don’t have a No. 1 or No. 2, we’re not built like that right now. We’re built on team. Someone has to sacrifice. Drive it, if you get a layup, take it, if not pitch it out. If you create a wide open three, you've got to take it. This isn't to run plays for one person."

Klay Thompson appears to be the player getting the most looks recently. He attempted 19 shots on Friday night and 27 on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks. However, he has only made 17 shots in total over those two games. Kidd mentioned that while Thompson is an all-time great player, the team needs to work on creating better shot opportunities for him instead of relying on him to create those opportunities himself.

"Klay’s one of the best, a future Hall of Famer, but we got to run plays, we got to set screens and create those opportunities for him," Kidd said. "So, to say we have a one or two, it's a group. No one thought B-Will (Brandon Williams) was going to have 31. He was our No. 1 (Friday). It’s going to be a group effort every night, it’s going to be someone different, and that can mean that we can be dangerous, because then no one can load up on one person, and we gotta take advantage of that.”

Williams has played only 22 games this season, averaging 5.5 points in 10.9 minutes per game. However, due to injuries on the team, his minutes increased to 34 on Friday night. He ended the game with an impressive 31 points, shooting 10-of-15 overall and 4-of-8 from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are facing the possibility of missing the play-in tournament.

To complicate matters, Doncic is thriving with the Lakers, averaging 23.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game. The Lakers have a record of 8-2 with Doncic in the lineup and are on an eight-game winning streak, which has propelled them to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

The Mavericks' next game is against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. The Suns are 2.5 games behind Dallas for the final play-in spot. This game will be on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET.