The flight back from New Orleans was quiet.
No highlight reels. No social media buzz. No reporters asking for interviews.
Zoran sat in row 18, middle seat, noise-canceling headphones on—but no music playing. Just silence. Data cycling in his head.
He'd played twelve minutes. Three assists. Zero mistakes.
And nobody outside the locker room noticed.
Perfect.
The Mavericks were 3–1 in preseason. But it didn't feel like winning. It felt like surviving.
Kyrie out for the year. Davis only playing in bursts. Klay on rest management. Half the bench was G-League swingmen or players signed mid-February.
Zoran wasn't here to break out.
He was here to hold the cracks together.
They landed in Dallas at 2:43 a.m.
Zoran skipped the car ride.
He walked from the terminal to the practice facility, hoodie on, bag slung over his shoulder, no spotlight. Just cold air and concrete under his feet.
Inside, the lights were off. But he knew the keypad code—Kidd had sent it after Game 2.
"Film junkies get access. Don't abuse it."
He wouldn't.
He loaded film.
Not his.
The next opponent: Portland Trail Blazers.
[SYSTEM SYNC – SCOUT MODE ENABLED]Opponent Analysis: Portland→ Guard-heavy rotations→ High PnR usage with Scoot Henderson→ Defensive Weakness: Secondary help late to rotate→ Exploitable Trigger: Late bump coverage on 45 cuts
Tactical Suggestion: Test-side stack screen into cut decoy.Efficiency Bias: 3-pass possessions, strong side shake.
Zoran paused the clip.
Scoot was fast. Twitchy. But too aggressive on closeouts.
Good to know.
He watched 90 minutes. Didn't write a single word.
Then walked out.
Didn't say a thing to anyone.
Next day.
Shootaround.
Christie pulled him aside.
"You're gonna see more minutes, right?"
"Probably."
Christie smirked. "Good. Means I don't have to play point."
Zoran just nodded.
That was friendship, in this world.
The game wasn't on national TV. It wasn't even on local. Just streaming.
Blazers came out running. Young legs. Fast hands. Scoot Henderson set the pace, flipping speed into space like a weapon.
Zoran checked in early.
Dinwiddie had three turnovers in the first quarter alone.
Kidd didn't say much—just pointed. Zoran stood, stripped his warmup, and walked in.
Mavs down six.
First touch.
Scoot pressed full court.
Zoran didn't force. Didn't shift gears.
He let the trap show, then passed ahead, walked it up behind the play.
The system whispered:
[Defender Tendency: Bite on hesitation → 67% jump rate after lateral delay]
Perfect.
Second possession, Zoran walked into a delay action, fake dribble handoff, kept it, watched Scoot freeze.
Inside pivot, cross, step-through—layup.
Mavs down four.
Crowd murmured.
Scoot came right back.
Tried to cook him one-on-one.
Crossover. Head fake. Burst.
Zoran didn't bite.
Stayed square.
Cut off the baseline. Forced him into a fade from 15.
Clang.
Rebound, Mavericks.
[SYSTEM LOG: Live Read Success]→ Defensive shadow angle: Optimal→ Contest Window: 0.6s (Fast decision trigger met)→ Read Reversal Trigger Progress: 67% to unlock
He wasn't just surviving the matchup.
He was managing it.
Zoran triggered a double-screen high set next play.
Powell rolled too early. No window.
No panic.
Zoran didn't pass.
Just kept the dribble alive, reset the action, walked it into a side slot curl.
Martin popped open—catch and shoot.
Bang.
Mavs tied the game at 48.
Timeout, Portland.
Zoran didn't sit. He stood near the edge of the huddle, watching rotations.
Kidd said nothing to him.
Didn't need to.
Second half. Mavericks up by three.
Klay out for rest. Dinwiddie cold.
Kidd let Zoran run the third.
Trail Blazers tried blitz coverage. It didn't work.
Zoran ran a delay flare into a slip. Then ran the same set again—but reversed the motion.
The defense shifted a beat too early.
Christie curled into space. Another assist.
Zoran barely looked.
[SYSTEM UPDATE – Reversal Trigger Achieved]✓ Full-read flip under active coverage✓ User Decision Score: 98.4%→ UNLOCKED: Read Reversal Trait Tier 1→ Bonus: +7% decision rate under pressure→ Floor Autonomy Access: 2 of 3 required benchmarks met
It wasn't just about decisions anymore.
It was about momentum control.
He didn't speed the game up.
He bent it.
Final minutes.
Mavericks up six.
Scoot pressed again—this time with a double.
Zoran slipped through the screen, bounced it to Martin in rhythm.
Foul. Two shots.
Zoran walked back to half court.
No stat padding. No trash talk. No headline moment.
Just numbers.
13 minutes. 2 points. 5 assists. 0 turnovers.
Mavericks win by eight.
Postgame.
Locker room buzzed. Reporters asked about Powell's alley-oop. About Christie's shooting night.
No one asked about Zoran.
And he preferred it that way.
[SYSTEM – Session Ended]✓ Team ORTG during play: 128.7✓ Opponent FG% vs User: 27%✓ Turnover Ratio: 0.0✓ Game Flow Authority Progress: 3 of 4 benchmarks complete
He walked out of the tunnel without a sound.
No flash.
No quote.
Just results.
Somewhere in the arena, a local beat reporter for the Dallas Morning News tapped a line into his tablet between plays."#59 – Vukic. Doesn't do much wrong. Who is this kid?"