Luka Doncic and the Mavericks might be truly stuck with an unhappy Kristaps Porzingis

Uh-oh.

You would think all is well in Dallas despite the Mavericks losing a Game 7 to Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Luka Doncic is a superstar, and given the rarity of that in the NBA, it should be the focus of the Mavs’ offseason and future.

But because of the salary cap and the team’s contracts, there’s a problem brewing surrounding Kristaps Porzingis.

An ESPN story dropped on Sunday in which Tim MacMahon outlined Porzingis’s health struggles, disappointment at a reduced role and “a lack of on-court interaction” with Doncic.

That might be OK if Porzingis was a role-player on a 42-30 team that was the No. 5 seed in the West. But he’s not.

When the Mavs acquired him from the Knicks — hey, did New York actually win that trade? — the hope is he would be the No. 2 to Doncic. Porzingis’s playoffs proved that wasn’t the case. And if the Mavericks want to take the next step and find a true second guy to take the pressure of the do-it-all wonder that is Doncic, they might be stuck:

He is owed $101.5 million over the next three seasons, a contract that executives and scouts around the league view as an albatross.

If Porzingis isn’t a championship-caliber sidekick — and he isn’t likely to be a ticket to one in the trade market — it’s hard to see how the Mavs get a second star in the near future.

Kristaps Porzingis averaged 13 points, 5 rebounds and 1 three per game in this playoffs.

He is getting paid more than Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bradley Beal, Jrue Holiday, Julius Randle, Jamal Murray and Jaylen Brown this season. pic.twitter.com/N6HeWvT3Yl

— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 6, 2021

Yikes. That’s really bad. And Doncic might end up with a massive extension soon enough:

Here is the breakdown on what a Luka Doncic extension would look like:

2022-23 | $34.7M
2023-24 | $37.5M
2024-25 | $40.3M
2025-26 | $43.1M
2026-27 | $45.9M

This is based on a $115M cap in 2022-23

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 7, 2021

Will @luka7doncic sign an extension with the Mavericks?

He hinted at his plans for next season. pic.twitter.com/mGPmR9AYQ7

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 7, 2021

What’s the solution here? I honestly don’t know.

Maybe Porzingis needs a full offseason of recovery or a new training routine. Perhaps Rick Carlisle has some ideas about how to change up Porzingis’s role, and if Tim Hardaway Jr. re-signs, perhaps he’s a step away from being that second guy. Maybe the front office recognizes it needs to simply rid itself of Porzingis and his contract, and trades him for pennies on the dollar (for what it’s worth, that’s a bad idea. Porzingis did average 20.1 ppg, 1.3 blocks per contest and 2.3 threes in the regular season). But who’s taking that deal on?

Whatever it is, the Mavs need to figure it out.