Welcome to the NBA Luka Doncic. His rookie year has lived up to all the hype. He’s averaging 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists as the season reaches the quarter point. Doncic has been the best player on the Mavericks who are currently ninth in the Western Conference standings with a 10-10 record.
In his first year, Luka Doncic is already one of the most entertaining players to watch. He is a 6’7” and 218 pound primary ball handler for the Dallas Mavericks. In addition to ball handling, he can shoot the three and make plays for others. With his skill set and physical attributes, it’s like he was made in a lab to play in the modern positionless pace and space NBA. He also has these frequent jaw-dropping moments that make you wonder why three teams passed on him in the draft (more on this later). He had a step-back three over the step-back king himself, James Harden, he had a buzzer beating three from the logo to end the first half, and he stuffed LeBron James at the rim twice. Did I mention that these are just things he did in the last two games?
Luka is ahead of the pack in comparison to his fellow NBA rookies. When it comes to NBA rookies this season, Doncic is averaging the most points, the fourth most rebounds, the second most assists, the second most steals, and he has made the most three-pointers. It’s already been said ad nauseam that Luka Doncic at 19 was the MVP of the EuroLeauge where he played against grown men as opposed to college kids. Who would have thought the best player in the second best professional basketball league would be good in the best professional basketball league especially when you take into account he is only 19 with room to improve?
It becomes more and more mindboggling by the day that three teams passed on Luka Doncic in the 2018 draft. Phoenix has Doncic’s former coach Igor Kokoskov, and they still didn’t draft him. Between not taking Doncic and Phoenix’s 4-18 record, I’d be worried about Kokoskov if I were a Suns fan. Sacramento decided to pass on Doncic in favor of having Marvin Bagley sit on their bench. Vlade strikes again with another genius move!!! Then there is Atlanta who hasn’t had a true star since Dominique Wilkins in the 80s. They had Doncic fall to them at three, and they decided to trade down because their GM, who worked for the Warriors, seemingly wanted his version of Steph Curry in Atlanta. The Warriors are an all-time great team and Steph Curry is an all-time great player. The two of them are not replicable. Trae Young has had some good moments to start his career, but he hasn’t been on the same level as Luka Doncic. Unless Young surpasses Doncic which probably won’t happen or the Hawks draft someone with the pick they got from Dallas who turns out to be better than Doncic which also probably won’t happen since that pick won’t be in the top five, then this trade will be a failure for Atlanta. They should have just taken the surefire future star in Luka Doncic when they had the chance instead of trying to get cute.
The stats and the exciting highlights are noteworthy, but the most impressive thing about Luka so far has been that his play has resulted in wins for the Mavs. He’s not putting up empty stats on a bad team like DeAndre Ayton and Trae Young. Dallas could make the playoffs in the west. The fact that Luka as a rookie is the best player on a potential playoff team in a conference where thirteen of the other fourteen teams (sorry Phoenix) can all also realistically make the playoffs is actually unbelievable.
It’ll be interesting to see how Dallas builds around him in the future. They probably won’t have their 2019 draft pick to add another piece because of the trade with Atlanta. Wesley Matthews and DeAndre Jordan are on expiring deals, and Harrison Barnes could opt out of his contract after this season. The Mavericks will have a lot of cap space to use to build around Doncic. Dallas hasn’t had much success when it comes to landing all-star free agents, but maybe Doncic’s presence can change that.
Through twenty games, Luka Doncic has been one of the most fun and entertaining players to watch. The fact that he’s a rookie only adds to the excitement since we’ve never seen him play at this level before. We will probably say some of the same things about Zion Williamson next season when it comes to excitement level. For now, let’s kick back and enjoy the Luka Doncic experience.