The 2019-20 Luka Dončić Thread

[MisterHibachi]

The game is moving fast and even eras like the 2000s are starting to look prehistoric

Forgot the 2000s, as late as the 2012 season LeBron and Wade decided to take less 3s because they wanted to be aggressive and more efficient (judging off FG%). Wanting to be more efficient and choosing to not take 3s for that purpose would be a terrible offensive approach today.

[MisterHibachi]

I'm still shocked it took Luka just 6 minutes into game 1 to figure out the Clippers defense and he hasn't looked back since.

[zonedefense]

I'm still shocked it took Luka just 6 minutes into game 1 to figure out the Clippers defense and he hasn't looked back since.

To be honest. There isn´t a lot to figure out. Except for a few minutes in game 2 where they trapped him before he could even cross half court they have tried to play him 1 vs 1. Really difficult to double or play agressive help defense when every single guy in the Mavs rotation except for Boban is an above average 3-point shooter.
Last game they at least figured out that instead of switching after every single screen they can try a hard hedge and recover approach. That worked for 3-4 minutes at the end of regulation. Obviously Luka figured out what the Clippers tried to do and in OT he adjusted.

There are some things that cannot be taught. I think RC said it best. Luka sees things before they even happen. He looks at the opposing defense. Reads the situation and makes the right decision. It´s just amazing to watch

[70sFan]

What are your thoughts about Luka's overall performance? To me it's nothing short of incredible how mature he looks on the court. He destroyed Clippers defense in that series and we're talking about one of the best perimeter trio you can imagine in Kawhi/PG/Morris. This guy is special and I can see him doing remarkable things in the future.

Not only he gives vibes of Magic/Bird, but he's reached their level at such a young age. I mean, he's much better offensive player than any version of Magic before 1985. He's the first one I've ever seen that makes me believe that we might find smarter and more dangerous offensive player than Johnson. I don't think he's already better than the best version of Magic, but he's getting close.

[Homer38]

Read on Twitter

[B-Ball Freak]

What a series by Luka facing 2 elite wing defenders, its just the beginning for him, what a talent.

[leolozon]

Hot take: Top 15 player in the NBA by the end of the season.

Looking back at this thread, this wasn't such a hot take.

[MyUniBroDavis]

What are your thoughts about Luka's overall performance? To me it's nothing short of incredible how mature he looks on the court. He destroyed Clippers defense in that series and we're talking about one of the best perimeter trio you can imagine in Kawhi/PG/Morris. This guy is special and I can see him doing remarkable things in the future.

Not only he gives vibes of Magic/Bird, but he's reached their level at such a young age. I mean, he's much better offensive player than any version of Magic before 1985. He's the first one I've ever seen that makes me believe that we might find smarter and more dangerous offensive player than Johnson. I don't think he's already better than the best version of Magic, but he's getting close.

Tbf, he wasnt really scoring against kawhi outside of ballscreens (which is fair, kawhi is the best perimeter defender in the league) but hes destroyed morris and george which is kinda wild

I dont know if id go as far to say hes at that tier yet, but offensively hes pretty clearly a top 5 guy in the league, and hes definately seperated himself from that tier 2 superstar status (lillard and jokic level) and is, at least offensively, in that Lebron/Kawhi/Harden/Curry/Durant tier

(Id have him at 6th personally, behind those guys on offense) and he definately runs the offense better than some of the guys ahead of him.

I dont really get the magic or larry comparisons in general though, i havent seen either that much but when it comss to luka i dont think hes an otherworldly passer although obviously hes among the best in the league, but i feel its more hes able to use change of pace exceptionally well, and make reads off of screens prolly as well as anyone not named lebron or harden, and his finishing is actually kind of ridiculous.

I think averages overstated his performance a bit, because tbf of the 6 games he had 3 fantastic games 2 bad games and 1 decent game.

I dont wanna make it sound like im hating because I do think he was great, and did better than pretty much anybody except maybe 3-4 players in the nba would have done against this clippers D given the circumstances, and he def does have top 10 all time career trajectory based on how his careers been shaping up so far, (his first two years are probably the best start ever)

[GSP]

What are your thoughts about Luka's overall performance? To me it's nothing short of incredible how mature he looks on the court. He destroyed Clippers defense in that series and we're talking about one of the best perimeter trio you can imagine in Kawhi/PG/Morris. This guy is special and I can see him doing remarkable things in the future.

Not only he gives vibes of Magic/Bird, but he's reached their level at such a young age. I mean, he's much better offensive player than any version of Magic before 1985. He's the first one I've ever seen that makes me believe that we might find smarter and more dangerous offensive player than Johnson. I don't think he's already better than the best version of Magic, but he's getting close.

Tbf, he wasnt really scoring against kawhi outside of ballscreens (which is fair, kawhi is the best perimeter defender in the league) but hes destroyed morris and george which is kinda wild

I dont know if id go as far to say hes at that tier yet, but offensively hes pretty clearly a top 5 guy in the league, and hes definately seperated himself from that tier 2 superstar status (lillard and jokic level) and is, at least offensively, in that Lebron/Kawhi/Harden/Curry/Durant tier

(Id have him at 6th personally, behind those guys on offense) and he definately runs the offense better than some of the guys ahead of him.

I dont really get the magic or larry comparisons in general though, i havent seen either that much but when it comss to luka i dont think hes an otherworldly passer although obviously hes among the best in the league, but i feel its more hes able to use change of pace exceptionally well, and make reads off of screens prolly as well as anyone not named lebron or harden, and his finishing is actually kind of ridiculous.

I think averages overstated his performance a bit, because tbf of the 6 games he had 3 fantastic games 2 bad games and 1 decent game.

I dont wanna make it sound like im hating because I do think he was great, and did better than pretty much anybody except maybe 3-4 players in the nba would have done against this clippers D given the circumstances, and he def does have top 10 all time career trajectory based on how his careers been shaping up so far, (his first two years are probably the best start ever)

What do u make of Lukas defense? In the Rs and the series?

[leolozon]

What are your thoughts about Luka's overall performance? To me it's nothing short of incredible how mature he looks on the court. He destroyed Clippers defense in that series and we're talking about one of the best perimeter trio you can imagine in Kawhi/PG/Morris. This guy is special and I can see him doing remarkable things in the future.

Not only he gives vibes of Magic/Bird, but he's reached their level at such a young age. I mean, he's much better offensive player than any version of Magic before 1985. He's the first one I've ever seen that makes me believe that we might find smarter and more dangerous offensive player than Johnson. I don't think he's already better than the best version of Magic, but he's getting close.

It wasn't perfect, but I think it far exceeded what everyone expected from him against an elite team. The story was that he would struggle and the Mavs would lose in 4 or 5.

31/9.8/8.7 on 59.6 TS%

He would have gotten a 30pts triple-double if he didn't foul out in game 2 and didn't get hurt in game 3.

After 11 TOs in the first game and 5 TOs in the first 4min, he managed to average 5.2 for the series, which is okay for a guy with his usage rate against a great defense.

He has to work on FTs and 3s, but that's the same thing we said last year. I think it's a bit concerning that he didn't get that much better at either. I hope he can get to at least 80% from the FT line and 35% from 3. Anything over that is going to be awesome and could well make him the best player in the league.

His defense looked okay in that series. At times he was even good at it.

[MyUniBroDavis]

What are your thoughts about Luka's overall performance? To me it's nothing short of incredible how mature he looks on the court. He destroyed Clippers defense in that series and we're talking about one of the best perimeter trio you can imagine in Kawhi/PG/Morris. This guy is special and I can see him doing remarkable things in the future.

Not only he gives vibes of Magic/Bird, but he's reached their level at such a young age. I mean, he's much better offensive player than any version of Magic before 1985. He's the first one I've ever seen that makes me believe that we might find smarter and more dangerous offensive player than Johnson. I don't think he's already better than the best version of Magic, but he's getting close.

Tbf, he wasnt really scoring against kawhi outside of ballscreens (which is fair, kawhi is the best perimeter defender in the league) but hes destroyed morris and george which is kinda wild

I dont know if id go as far to say hes at that tier yet, but offensively hes pretty clearly a top 5 guy in the league, and hes definately seperated himself from that tier 2 superstar status (lillard and jokic level) and is, at least offensively, in that Lebron/Kawhi/Harden/Curry/Durant tier

(Id have him at 6th personally, behind those guys on offense) and he definately runs the offense better than some of the guys ahead of him.

I dont really get the magic or larry comparisons in general though, i havent seen either that much but when it comss to luka i dont think hes an otherworldly passer although obviously hes among the best in the league, but i feel its more hes able to use change of pace exceptionally well, and make reads off of screens prolly as well as anyone not named lebron or harden, and his finishing is actually kind of ridiculous.

I think averages overstated his performance a bit, because tbf of the 6 games he had 3 fantastic games 2 bad games and 1 decent game.

I dont wanna make it sound like im hating because I do think he was great, and did better than pretty much anybody except maybe 3-4 players in the nba would have done against this clippers D given the circumstances, and he def does have top 10 all time career trajectory based on how his careers been shaping up so far, (his first two years are probably the best start ever)

What do u make of Lukas defense? In the Rs and the series?

RS it was pretty bad, this series it was fine. He plays good D on bigger wings without elite quickness, he has decent iq, kinda dies in screens a bit and doesnt close out well at times

Hes laterally slow and thats probably never gonna change, so he prolly wont ever be able to guard smalls in a switch defense.

On lukas potential, while i think his career could be in that top 10 range i dont see his ceiling as high as some others do. I think he could be to lebron like what a kobe was to jordan, although i think that oversimplifies it (in both ways really, i dont see kobe as a strictly inferior version of jordan on offense either tbh)

Doncic lowkey has a better touch than lebron, although athletcism makes up for that, and his ball handling is better. I dont really think hes smarter or will be smarter than lebron is, given playoff lebron was prolly peak bball iq in that type of role

I think in terms of on ball prowess peak doncic, assuming he goes how wed expect him to (gets smarter through experience, altho hes already top 3 in that in the nba, shot gets better, defense becomes average or above average) would be about current lebron, better ball handling and jumper but lower athleticism and D, which isnt really a knock on him (personally I dont think current lebron is that far off of 2018 lebron, hes just in a different role. For the most part i think he could still replicate most of what he did in that playoff run)

Box scores being inflated means we kind of have to start looking at players skillsets rather than stats when we compare them.

I realize this might come off as hating on doncic, but id like to make it clear i probably would rank his ability to run the pick and roll at an all time level already. He, bron, and harden are all prolly top 10 ever at it when it comes to making scoring reads off of it as well, which guys like nash didnt do as much because of era and role differences (no im not saying theyre better than nash at running te pick and roll though lol)

[70sFan]

I do think he's an overworldy passer to be honest. Not as good as Magic or Bird, but among the very best in the league. His reads are remarkable, he sees the court 2-3 steps ahead of the rest.

He's so good that I wouldn't be surprised if he reach LeBron's offensive peak at some point (although it's far from given). His defense will always prevent him from being GOAT-level player though.

It's true that Luka had some weaker games in that series (game 1 and 5 weren't hot) but he's just a kid that plays against some of the best perimeter defenders in the league. After first game I was concerned that he'd have a lot of problems with turning the ball over against Clippers agressive pressure, but he adjusted to that very quickly. Games 4 and 6 were just offensive masterpieces.

It all just happened, so it could be a recency bias but does anyone feel that Doncic is already harder to contain than James Harden? He's more unpredictable passer and he uses more diverse package of scoring moves.

[Yuri36]

I do think he's an overworldy passer to be honest. Not as good as Magic or Bird, but among the very best in the league. His reads are remarkable, he sees the court 2-3 steps ahead of the rest.

To me, he's already a better passer than Bird ever was and almost as good as Magic.

[70sFan]

I do think he's an overworldy passer to be honest. Not as good as Magic or Bird, but among the very best in the league. His reads are remarkable, he sees the court 2-3 steps ahead of the rest.

To me, he's already a better passer than Bird ever was and almost as good as Magic.

I disagree - he's more dynamic playmaker than Bird but Larry was better passer. It's not about flash, Bird knew how to throw any kind of pass at incredibly high level.

[Ambrose]

Hot take: Top 15 player in the NBA by the end of the season.

Looking back at this thread, this wasn't such a hot take.

I lowballed him!

[limbo]

One week to go. Time to get hyped!

Watch on YouTube

[kayess]

Hopefully this is the year he puts himself on a GOAT-level career trajectory. Let's go!!!

[Firebird1]

Luka Magic is a good name. Hope he has a good career

[limbo]

Luka Magic is a good name. Hope he has a good career

Eh, Magic is already synonymous with Earvin 'Magic'... I guess it's fine to say when Luka does something magical but, i'm not too big of it in terms of a nickname. Basketball reference also lists 'Luka Legend' as one of his nicknames... Again Larry Legend is Bird... People really lacking in creativity or something?

Personally, i like 'The Don' or Don Luka... Simple and effective.

[clearlynotjesse]

Mike Prada had a great article in his newsletter about the Mavs' clutch struggles. Basically confirms what we all thought. Luka slows down too much and throws off the rhythm of both his and the rest of the team's offense. He doesn't have a great first step so it's hard for him to get by people when they're set and he has to settle for stepbacks. All of it can be solved by just picking up the pace a little at the end of games.