Date: November 6, 2024 — Dallas, Texas
The Dallas Mavericks were 4–1.
Zoran Vranes was averaging 17 points per game on over 60% shooting from the field and nearly 50% from three. He led the team in plus-minus per 36 minutes. His turnover rate was microscopic.
And yet, nothing had changed.
No contract offer. No extension talk. Not even a meeting.
Instead, Zoran was still penciled in as a placeholder on the injury report — a fill-in for Derrick Jones Jr., who'd been sidelined since late preseason with a left ankle sprain. According to reports, Jones was close to returning. And when that happened, Zoran's roster spot? Gone.
He had done everything right.
And somehow, it still might not be enough.
The morning began quietly.
Zoran skipped the team breakfast and went straight to the practice gym. He liked the solitude. The ball echoed sharper in an empty facility. Every bounce, every squeak of his sneakers on hardwood—it felt amplified.
He went through his shooting routine on autopilot. 300 makes. Catch-and-shoots from the corner. Pull-ups from the wing. Stepbacks just outside the elbow.
SYSTEM"Practice Efficiency: Excellent. Confidence Boost Activated — Mild shooting accuracy boost (2 hours)."
Zoran didn't react. He barely noticed the buff. He wasn't thinking about stats.
He was thinking about silence.
Later that morning, team film study was quieter than usual. Coach Kidd rolled through clips of the last win against the Heat, pausing to highlight defensive rotations and blown assignments.
"Watch the help here," Kidd pointed at one freeze-frame. "Zoran's the only one reading the low tag. Rest of you? Ball watching."
Some players laughed lightly. Zoran didn't. He wasn't here for moments. He was here to build something real.
But every time he glanced at the whiteboard in the room, the depth chart still had Jones Jr. listed at SF1. His name wasn't even there.
In the Mavericks' front office, General Manager Nico Harrison was watching clips of Zoran too—just from a different perspective.
He leaned back in his chair as Zoran's latest possessions ran across the screen: a transition pull-up three, a weakside steal, a laser skip pass out of a double. All clean. All sharp.
"He's efficient," muttered assistant GM Brad Townsend. "Too efficient to ignore."
"But he's not explosive," Nico replied. "Not vertically. Not defensively. His guy still gets by him too easy off the bounce. And when Jones is healthy…"
"He's not better than the other guy, " Brad said. "But what the other guy was giving us was giving us 6.7 points a night and half a block."
Nico didn't argue. But his tone stayed flat. "I need more defense. More size. We know what Zoran is. A hot streak. We can't rework the whole wing rotation for a hot streak."
"He's not a streak," Brad said, quieter this time. "He's a system player. We need system players."
But Nico was already looking at his laptop, tabbing over to a scouting report on Jones' progress.
Practice scrimmages weren't intense. They were tight.
That kind of low-burn intensity where everyone was watching everyone.
Max Christie and Jaden Hardy took turns pushing pace. Dinwiddie was oddly quiet. AD, still rehabbing, shot midranges in sweats from the baseline, occasionally nodding at Zoran after good possessions.
Kyrie wasn't there. Rumors said he was getting an advanced scan on his meniscus.
Zoran felt it — not hostility, but distance. Guys respected his play. But they knew the clock was ticking. One injury return, and he was gone.
Mid-scrimmage, Kidd pulled him aside. "You've got Brooklyn again in three days. Stay sharp."
"That a hint?" Zoran asked, serious.
Kidd shrugged. "That's a compliment. Don't read too deep."
Zoran just nodded. He wouldn't ask for clarity anymore.
He'd just take it.
That evening, the media wasn't silent.
It was escalating.
Podcasts had turned the situation into a minor storm:
"If Dallas doesn't keep Zoran, another team will. You don't find 17 PPG scorers on 10-days growing on trees.""Efficiency doesn't lie. He's like Malcolm Brogdon meets Jose Alvarado.""Look, I like Derrick Jones. But Zoran's impact? That's not noise. That's signal."
Zoran didn't listen to all of it, but he caught snippets on Instagram. Memes. Side-by-side graphs. Fan art of him in a Mavericks jersey that read 'Unheard of. Unstoppable.'
But none of it meant anything if the front office didn't act.
SYSTEM"Alert: Contract Review Inconclusive."Player Likelihood of Roster Retention: 38%Suggested Action: Maximize next 2 games. Focus: Playmaking, Defensive Activity, Leadership Presence.
Temporary Buff: 'Locked-In Mentality' – Slight boost to performance under uncertainty. Duration: 1 Game.
Zoran leaned back in his chair. Stared at the ceiling of his apartment. Let the system's feedback sink in.
Thirty-eight percent.
It wasn't just numbers anymore.
It was leverage.
And the Mavericks were choosing not to use it.
He called his uncle that night. Put it on speaker while reheating rice and chicken.
"Look, Z," his uncle's voice crackled. "If they don't sign you, someone else will. That's the league. But you gotta play like you don't care about them. You play for your game. Not their permission."
Zoran didn't say much. He just listened.
"I mean it," the voice continued. "Even if you want to stay—don't beg. You play like a star and let them beg you next time."
The next morning, Zoran woke up earlier than usual.
No dreams. Just resolve.
He wasn't going to ask. He wasn't going to wait.
And if this team thought he was just a spark off the bench?
He'd burn a hole through their entire rotation if they let him.
Zoran Vranes Season Stats (through 5 games):PPG: 17.0APG: 5.2RPG: 3.8FG%: 62%3P%: 48%+/-: +8.6