Luka Doncic

[Johnny Firpo]

My preliminary research into the 2018 draft...

Watch on YouTube

You clearly have no clue about European basketball, or actually NBA basketball in general. There are plenty of examples for pure skill players becoming superstars, stars, All-Stars in the NBA without being elite athletes. Mullin, Bird, Pierce (definitely older Pierce), Nash, Gasol, Dirk, Kukoc, Stojakovic, NBA Sabonis, Andre Miller, etc, etc. You could go on and on. Your problem is of course is not unusual, you think athleticism equals jumping the highest and being the most explosive imaginable, even though fluidity and coordination are actually much more important.

Btw:

Watch on YouTube

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Doncic is TWICE the athlete Gallo is, who has ZERO problem scoring in the NBA at a very high efficiency.

[SportsGuy8]

There are plenty of examples for pure skill players becoming superstars, stars, All-Stars in the NBA without being elite athletes. Mullin, Bird, Pierce (definitely older Pierce), Nash, Gasol, Dirk, Kukoc, Stojakovic, NBA Sabonis, Andre Miller, etc, etc. You could go on and on. Your problem is of course is not unusual, you think athleticism equals jumping the highest and being the most explosive imaginable, even though fluidity and coordination are actually much more important.

I completely agree with you in general, however, some of these guys are actually extremely athletically talented, just in different ways. For example, Gasol, Dirk & Kukoc are/were capable of doing some pretty remarkable things for their heights. You could also argue that Nash had great athleticism, just not the things that usually stand out.

Pierce can be used as a very nice example, Doncic is quite similar to him, same for Mullin. Doncic is basically a Pierce-Mullin mix.

Andre Miller is interesting also because Doncic already appears to be extremely strong, posting up grown men at 17. He's also crafty under the basket, so if he can perfect this in a way Andre Miller did, it can become his bread and butter. Imagine Andre Miller with a very nice shooting ability ... absolutely deadly.

That's also why I don't think there's any real chance (disregarding injuries, obviously) of Doncic being a bust. His strength and body control are always going to allow him to bully himself to points (or nice passess), one way or another. He's not going to be overpowered (something that happened to otherwise skilled players who ended up being busts).

[UcanUwill]

Sorry to burst your bubble Euro guys...that league is trash. You could take the best starting five and they might not win a single game all year long in the NBA.

Real Madrid on a good day can beat number of NBA teams. I am not saying the gap between ACB and NBA isn't huge, but you greatly underestimate the Euro talent here.

[Johnny Firpo]

I completely agree with you in general, however, some of these guys are actually extremely athletically talented...

Oh, I agree, I think all were. But none of them were very explosive, and none of them jumped out of the gym, ever. My point was that, it's dumb to identify athleticism as vertical or even horizontal explosiveness, it's much, much more than that, and based on that, Doncic is actually very athletic.

[XTraderXL]

His athleticism will improve by quite a lot. The guy is still growing, his body is still adapting. When he stops growing, he will put on effective muscle mass and become more explosive. Even now he is a better athlete than some think and with added strength, this will become more obvious. I am not worried about that at all. He will never be an elite athlete but hes going to be plenty athletic to thrive in the NBA.

[SportsGuy8]

His athleticism will improve by quite a lot. The guy is still growing, his body is still adapting. When he stops growing, he will put on effective muscle mass and become more explosive. Even now he is a better athlete than some think and with added strength, this will become more obvious. I am not worried about that at all. He will never be an elite athlete but hes going to be plenty athletic to thrive in the NBA.

Don't forget about the "magic potions" ...

I'm actually being serious. Only extremely foolish and naive players are actually completely clean, especially in a sport/league with such extreme schedules.

[kayath]

His athleticism will improve by quite a lot. The guy is still growing, his body is still adapting. When he stops growing, he will put on effective muscle mass and become more explosive. Even now he is a better athlete than some think and with added strength, this will become more obvious. I am not worried about that at all. He will never be an elite athlete but hes going to be plenty athletic to thrive in the NBA.

Don't forget about the "magic potions" ...

I'm actually being serious. Only extremely foolish and naive players are actually completely clean, especially in a sport/league with such extreme schedules.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/george-karl-accuses-nba-stars-steroid-abuse-new-book-article-1.2925397

This article talks about George Karl book in which the coach confirms what you just typed about, not believing in completely clean players. And it is clear that for NBA drug enhancement issue is like tabu topic. Meaning they give suspension for marihuana but nothing for real life damaging drugs. Like they don't exist with and so much money on the line for those players fighting for their spots on the roster it is just unbelievable that it doesn't exist. I apologize for going little bit off topic here.

[Stackey]

There is a chance we will see him together with G. Dragic in Slovenian team for the Eurobasket 2017.

I belive he can become better player than prime Dragic, also as much as I know, Dragic is ass****, rude, evil, bad person...while Doncic is one good-natured kid.

#MakeDoncicPickNo1

[jolbin]

As far as i have heard and seen Goran is just the complete opposite of what u wrote. But you never know

Dragic-Klobučar
Doncic-Prepelic
Dragic-Blazic
Muric-???
Vidmar-Omic

This could be fun..

[UcanUwill]

As far as i have heard and seen Goran is just the complete opposite of what u wrote. But you never know

Dragic-Klobučar
Doncic-Prepelic
Dragic-Blazic
Muric-???
Vidmar-Omic

This could be fun..

Strong guards, but frontcourt leaves much to be desired.

[Apollo64]

Soo, after 15 Euroleague games (10 starts) he's shooting at a 42/53/90 clip. Not bad percentages for a kid who doesn't turn 18 until February.

[jolbin]

As far as i have heard and seen Goran is just the complete opposite of what u wrote. But you never know

Dragic-Klobučar
Doncic-Prepelic
Dragic-Blazic
Muric-???
Vidmar-Omic

This could be fun..

Strong guards, but frontcourt leaves much to be desired.

Its sad how 0 PFs progressed enough in the last 5 years after we had Matjaz Smodis, Erazem Lorbek, Marko Milic, Marko Tusek,... in the past..
Now the PF has to be handled by Edo Muric, a natural SF. C position in decent with Vidmar and Omic, but PF is disastrous.

[Mirotic12]

My preliminary research into the 2018 draft has it being an outstanding draft with some special players in the lottery. I just don't see how he can be taken before these kids. Especially the top 8 or so players. If he's truly 6'7" with shoes on he'll have a tough time playing in the NBA. He doesn't have the fast twitch that Manu had at that size and he's definitely not the defender Manu was. He won't be able to play either guard position nor SF. His only hope is to grow 3 inches and keep his athleticism. That might give him a chance at being a Toni Kukoc type player. I'm sure some dumb G.M. (please don't let it be you Danny!) will take him at the end of the lottery though. They can't help themselves. They want to be the smartest guy in the room and ignore athleticism. Whatever his agent does, he needs to keep him away from combines or anywhere they will take measurements and times. Some poor fan base will see him be drafted by their team and for years they'll be calling for him to start or get major minutes and questioning the wisdom of the coach/G.M. for not doing so. Years later, he'll get some play as a savvy role player off the bench who might play point forward and that might be his niche. Can you imagine him going up against starting SF in the NBA. I'm a Celtic fan, so let's use Jaylen Brown. If Jaylen guarded him he wouldn't be able to put the ball on the floor. He wouldn't be able to get his shot off either. And Jaylen doesn't even start in this league.

Sorry to burst your bubble Euro guys...that league is trash. You could take the best starting five and they might not win a single game all year long in the NBA. Now, I'm not saying they aren't better than college. You'd have size and experience differences that would be hard to overcome. You'd have a hard time beating the top teams though. Doncic will be just like all the other overrated European guys. There's dozens of these good to great players that excel at a certain level but once you try to translate that to the NBA you can't.

Now, if some team wants to draft him and let him develop physically, get him in the weight room, work on his explosion..then in a few years there's a possibility he could start and be a decent but not great player. But he has to work his butt off and not mind being on the bench. Something tells me he'd opt to star in Europe over riding a bench in the NBA.

I didn't want to post in this thread anymore, because of some of the truly over the top exaggerations about Doncic here....and not being able to even have a serious discussion about him because of that.

But I am sorry, this post above...............I have to respond. This is just too much. Please, seriously, jrob23, next time please remember to use the green font. Thank you.

Soo, after 15 Euroleague games (10 starts) he's shooting at a 42/53/90 clip. Not bad percentages for a kid who doesn't turn 18 until February.

Wrong numbers.

Doncic's EuroLeague shooting percentages are:

46.8% Overall Field Goal Percentage
52.8% 2 Point Field Goals
41.9% 3 Point Field Goals
90.3% Free Throws

EuroLeaue official numbers right here:

http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=005929&seasoncode=E2016

So it should 47/42/90 as his correct shooting percentages in EuroLeague, not 42/53/90.

[BoardCrusher]

Soo, after 15 Euroleague games (10 starts) he's shooting at a 42/53/90 clip. Not bad percentages for a kid who doesn't turn 18 until February.

Wrong numbers.

Doncic's EuroLeague shooting percentages are:

46.8% Overall Field Goal Percentage
52.8% 2 Point Field Goals
41.9% 3 Point Field Goals
90.3% Free Throws

EuroLeaue official numbers right here:

http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=005929&seasoncode=E2016

So it should 47/42/90 as his correct shooting percentages in EuroLeague, not 42/53/90.

Shouldnt it be 52/42/90?

[CalL]

Its ridiculous to say that Doncic is all hype, he is the best young player in europe since Ricky Rubio about a decade ago. He is getting tons of minutes at the best european team and is certainly among the 30 best players in europe at the moment. By 2018 he should be even better and could very well make the all-euroleague first team.
I agree that he hasnt as much upside as Giannis or Porzingis, but he for sure has the potential to be starting for a lower level NBA team before turning 20 and i am almost sure that he will become a top 10 player at his position in the NBA sooner or later.
He has the body and the BBIQ to immediately start for a NBA team after getting drafted, unlike most other european prospects (Hartenstein, Bender, Bonga and so on).
He is a lock for the top 5 in 2018 and i would be pretty surprised if he wouldnt go top 3.

[UcanUwill]

Its ridiculous to say that Doncic is all hype, he is the best young player in europe since Ricky Rubio about a decade ago. He is getting tons of minutes at the best european team and is certainly among the 30 best players in europe at the moment. By 2018 he should be even better and could very well make the all-euroleague first team.
I agree that he hasnt as much upside as Giannis or Porzingis, but he for sure has the potential to be starting for a lower level NBA team before turning 20 and i am almost sure that he will become a top 10 player at his position in the NBA sooner or later.
He has the body and the BBIQ to immediately start for a NBA team after getting drafted, unlike most other european prospects (Hartenstein, Bender, Bonga and so on).
He is a lock for the top 5 in 2018 and i would be pretty surprised if he wouldnt go top 3.

Good post. Altho I wouldn't be surprised he drops outside top 5 due to his limited upside. If he had Ntilikina's body (for example), he would probably be a number one pick.

[Goon]

There is a chance we will see him together with G. Dragic in Slovenian team for the Eurobasket 2017.

I belive he can become better player than prime Dragic, also as much as I know, Dragic is ass****, rude, evil, bad person...while Doncic is one good-natured kid.

#MakeDoncicPickNo1

Damn, never heard anything bad about the guy, plus my little brother has a great experience from his basketball camp. He was just 9 years old when he attended and got very homesick after the first day, so Dragic came to pick him up and took him out for some juice and had a long chat with him, telling stories how tough it was for him to leave home for Spain when he way young. Despite everything he stayed humble and grounded. He drove past a few Slovenian fans in Miami some time ago (came there for some boxing match) and he stopped and went there, chatted, took pictures and so on.

Don't know where you read that about him but it's utter BS.

Back to Doncic ... I think what will make him slide down the draft board a bit will be Real Madrid persuading him to stay in Europe until 2020.

[Johnny Firpo]

I'm not sure if I agree that Doncic doesn't have a big upside. I mean, he will never be an upper echelon athlete, but why do we associate upside with physical gifts? Did Nash or Bird not have a huge upside? Did Curry not have a huge upside? They obviously had, people just probly failed to see it because they were concentrating on everything else, other than their immense skills. I'm obviously not saying that Doncic will be nearly as good as these guys, but why should we limit his upside if he has absolutely elite skills and understanding of the game? What if his upside is a crazy combination of Nash and Curry? Just asking, not stating.

[jrob23]

My preliminary research into the 2018 draft...

Watch on YouTube

You clearly have no clue about European basketball, or actually NBA basketball in general. There are plenty of examples for pure skill players becoming superstars, stars, All-Stars in the NBA without being elite athletes. Mullin, Bird, Pierce (definitely older Pierce), Nash, Gasol, Dirk, Kukoc, Stojakovic, NBA Sabonis, Andre Miller, etc, etc. You could go on and on. Your problem is of course is not unusual, you think athleticism equals jumping the highest and being the most explosive imaginable, even though fluidity and coordination are actually much more important.

Btw:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Doncic is TWICE the athlete Gallo is, who has ZERO problem scoring in the NBA at a very high efficiency.

triggered

[jrob23]

I'm not sure if I agree that Doncic doesn't have a big upside. I mean, he will never be an upper echelon athlete, but why do we associate upside with physical gifts? Did Nash or Bird not have a huge upside? Did Curry not have a huge upside? They obviously had, people just probly failed to see it because they were concentrating on everything else, other than their immense skills. I'm obviously not saying that Doncic will be nearly as good as these guys, but why should we limit his upside if he has absolutely elite skills and understanding of the game? What if his upside is a crazy combination of Nash and Curry? Just asking, not stating.

you lost me with your idiotic comparison using Bird who was 6'10"..and plenty athletic...Nash who was cat quick with good size, elite passing, BBIQ and handle, and Curry who has elite size, shot and handle for a PG. The way you fanboys talk you think he's a top 3 or even #1 overall pick lmao. He's got a long ways to go to being as good as you believe. It's very possible he transforms his body like Hayward did...gains explosion/quickness and can be a 2nd tier SF. It's possible he grows 2-3 inches and becomes a legit 1st tier stretch 4. It's also possible he remains a 6'7" SF who won't be able to put the ball on the floor and get his shot off to justify the high draft pick. Hit the pause button and stop putting so much pressure on him. Let him be a mid/late lottery pick and develop for a few years. You really need to lower your expectations. The jump to the NBA is massive. You sound like you haven't watched basketball except for the Euroleague lmao.