One of the premier prospects in this season’s loaded NBA draft class, guard Luka Doncic has not disappointed through his first 28 games as a professional.
He has led his Mavs team to a 15-13 mark, and Dallas has to be ecstatic to have snagged a franchise centerpiece that already seems to be this polished of a threat. Drafted third overall, only two teams passed on Doncic on draft night: the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings.
When Kings head coach Dave Joerger was asked about Doncic prior to their matchup against the Mavs, he had nothing but praise for the 19-year-old. Following from ESPN’s Tim McMahon:
“He’s got a lot of different skills and I think he’s going to become a heck of a shooter,” Joerger said of Doncic before the Kings’ 120-113 road win over the Mavs on Sunday. “And when that happens, it’s going to make him quicker. He’s got good ballhandling and he knows how to play.”
“Perhaps there was an idea that there was a ceiling on him. I don’t see it, unfortunately for us. But he’s great for them and he’s great for our league.”
In less than 30 NBA games as a teenager, Luka Doncic has already cemented himself as one of the brightest young players across the NBA. His exceptional basketball intelligence combined with his multi-faceted skillset provide the blueprint for Doncic to turn into a full-blown superstar.
The Kings opted to draft Duke’s Marvin Bagley III second overall instead of Doncic, a big man who has plenty of upside. While Bagley hasn’t performed as well as Doncic has and is now sidelined with a knee injury, he has heaps of potential in his own right, something that was evident earlier in the season.
The praise from Dave Joerger is warranted for Doncic however, as he continues to play catalyst for a surprisingly solid Dallas Mavericks team in an unforgiving Western Conference. Doncic paces all rookies with a scoring average of 18.2 points per game to go with 6.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists through his first 28 appearances.
