With the benefit of hindsight, Luka Doncic’s slip to the third overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft is absurd. The Atlanta Hawks, who drafted him, even chose to trade him to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the picks that would eventually become Trae Young and Cam Reddish. As close to an unstoppable offensive creator as there is in the modern NBA, Doncic has emerged as one of the league’s finest players.
Back in 2018, when Doncic was merely a 19-year-old forward who the Mavericks weren’t sure how to fully utilize, a few NBA players weren’t quite convinced of the value of his game. Among those guys was Jeff Teague, who acknowledged that Doncic was “lazy” and that he wasn’t “doing enough” to be among the top players in the NBA on the Club 520 podcast (via Sporting News).
Former Mavericks enforcer James Johnson is another guy who had to witness Luka Doncic’s dominance before he could believe it. During an interview on The OGs Show, Johnson said he wasn’t quite persuaded by his former Miami Heat colleague Goran Dragic, who was adamant that Doncic was “going to be the best player one day.”
I think that’s right. What is his height? At the time, I believe Rick Carlisle had him at four. There were no excellent games for him at the four. I believed you mentioned your boyfriend was kind when we spoke with Dragic once again. Johnson remarked, “He claimed he’s just not playing the correct position.
“Pow. That dude went crazy as soon as Rick [Carlisle] put him at the one. He had 30-point games and something like four straight triple doubles. Johnson said, “I was like, ‘Your boy is a maestro.'”
Luka Doncic combats European stereotypes to blossom as the Mavericks’ franchise cornerstone
Luka Doncic had plenty of game left in him; after all, he had won the MVP award in the EuroLeague and the Final Four MVP award while leading Real Madrid to the 2018 EuroLeague championship before he ever signed a contract to play in the NBA. Even though he had only turned 19 at the time, he was competing against adults and still doing well.
At the time, it was perplexing that the Phoenix Suns would choose Deandre Ayton over Doncic despite the fact that Igor Kokoskov, the franchise’s head coach at the time, was leading the squad. Furthermore, the Sacramento Kings turned into the league’s laughingstock the moment they selected Marvin Bagley III over Doncic in the draft. This was due to previous general manager Vlade Divac caving in to doubts about Doncic’s defensive prowess and agility.
Naturally, the Mavericks organization would have the highest confidence in Doncic and his ability to guide the group to new heights. After all, their confidence in Dirk Nowitzki paid off handsomely. Even though Doncic has to improve on his fantastic 2023–24 season, he won’t be too far off from matching Nowitzki’s legendary status for the team.
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