Luka Dončić is targeting Monday against Utah for his Lakers debut, @TheSteinLine has learned. He returned to 5-on-5 play in practice this week and is said to be progressing well in his ramp up from his left calf strain on Christmas. More NBA from me: https://t.co/IIIlAloJCf pic.twitter.com/6yLu7Q1dKz

Doncic, who had dragged an otherwise unremarkable Mavericks team through the Western Conference, became the face of their failure. Dallas coach Jason Kidd was forced to come out and defend his maligned star, even though without Doncic, the Mavericks were a faded Kyrie Irving and a bunch of role players.

Dallas built its team’s identity around Luka Doncic, on the court and off. Now that he’s gone, some supporters no longer feel a connection to the franchise.