Luka Doncic will be the best rookie since Lebron.

[mixerball]

Also, even though hes playing against "grown men", European guards on a whole way less athletic than the NBA guards he will be playing against, so its justifiable to assume he will struggle.

Manu has to count, he is half-Italian and learned basketball in the European system, dominated in the NBA. Drazen as well, and Marciulionis was a very good NBA-player also. There are precedents.

They didn’t come into the NBA as the number 1 overall pick though, they were late round picks...

When I think about “hyped” European guards, I’m thinking Rubio, Hezonja... I’m skeptical on using high draft picks on foreign guards, bc more times than not they don’t live up to the hype they came into the league with

arent you skeptical about using high draft picks on american busts? do you know there are more american busts than euros?

[Mirotic12]

Theres no track record of any European guard ever coming to the NBA and living up to their hype, so ppl are right to be skeptical.

Also, even though hes playing against "grown men", European guards on a whole way less athletic than the NBA guards he will be playing against, so its justifiable to assume he will struggle.

This is an incorrect myth that exists in some NBA fan circles for whatever reason. In the Doncic draft thread, I listed like 2 dozen European guards that were good NBA players and/or actually played better in NBA than they did in Europe.

So that's totally false.

Manu has to count, he is half-Italian and learned basketball in the European system, dominated in the NBA. Drazen as well, and Marciulionis was a very good NBA-player also. There are precedents.

I've always heard it that both of his parents are Italian...so actually not half.

[papidulo]

Manu has to count, he is half-Italian and learned basketball in the European system, dominated in the NBA. Drazen as well, and Marciulionis was a very good NBA-player also. There are precedents.

They didn’t come into the NBA as the number 1 overall pick though, they were late round picks...

When I think about “hyped” European guards, I’m thinking Rubio, Hezonja... I’m skeptical on using high draft picks on foreign guards, bc more times than not they don’t live up to the hype they came into the league with

arent you skeptical about using high draft picks on american busts? do you know there are more american busts than euros?

Yes I am, but I think its all relative to who else is available in the draft. NCAA performance has shown to be more reliable of a barometer than Euroleague dominance, but we all know that teams nowadays are drafting on potential.

Of the 3 at the top of this draft, I see Marvin Bagley is probably the safest pick, but Deandre Ayton has the highest ceiling and I don't think Phoenix is seriously gonna pass on him. A franchise C is way harder to find than a franchise pg.

I think Doncic is good, but it just seems like ppl are putting too much stock into his accomplishments in Euroleague to justify him going number 1 overall over Ayton and Bagley, especially for a point guard whos not quick, but is big. The big point guard is a bit overrated. None of the top pgs in the NBA are excepionally big, except Simmons (Westbrook, Steph, CP3, Kyrie, Dame, Wall, Ben Simmons), and he is actually quick.

[UcanUwill]

Also, even though hes playing against "grown men", European guards on a whole way less athletic than the NBA guards he will be playing against, so its justifiable to assume he will struggle.

Manu has to count, he is half-Italian and learned basketball in the European system, dominated in the NBA. Drazen as well, and Marciulionis was a very good NBA-player also. There are precedents.

They didn’t come into the NBA as the number 1 overall pick though, they were late round picks...

When I think about “hyped” European guards, I’m thinking Rubio, Hezonja... I’m skeptical on using high draft picks on foreign guards, bc more times than not they don’t live up to the hype they came into the league with

Hezonja and Rubio played in the same league as Doncic, but they were role players. Europe just dont produce elite guard prospects. Doncic is different as he is first elite guard prospect from Europe in a very long time. He is first prospect who is already Euroleague MVP caliber, so you can't really compare him to other Euros.

Hezonja was terrible selection at the time, but it was before Doncic, and Doncic really made it far more difficult for future Hezonjas of the world. You see, before Doncic, we didn't have any young player playing such a huge role for European powerhouse, so there was a false belief that Euro coaches and systems are prejudice against young less experienced players, and that those players could be very good but warm bench for no substantial reason other than veteran prefference by coaches. Some teams stupidly believed that they could take young Euro bench warmer, and he will just be able to play at NBA level as soon as hes liberated by the NBA...Time and Doncic proved this wrong, Doncic proved that young player can not only play, but also lead and Dominate in Euroleague. He proved that there is no prejudice and that the main reason why scrubs like Dragan Bender and Mario Hezonja were warming benches in Europe, well -because they were in fact scrubs. And after these recent developments, I think NBA GM's will be a bit smarter and at least think twice before wasting top 5 picks on guys who bench warming inferior Euro leagues.

[3all5acc3]

The notion that there needs to be some sort of precedent of a hyped European prospect living up to his hype in order for Luka to live up to his is so bizzare to me. I absolutely hate how popular it is to turn everything into some sort of stat and use that to backup or create your opinion.

I think it's pretty obvious that Luka will not be a bust. All the top players in Europe he's played against could have roles on NBA teams and Luka played better than all. Considering where the NBA currently seems to be headed, Luka will fit right in. He can switch on most players. Sure faster players will be able to get by him, but that seems to be better for the defense lately since it traps them against a big and forces them to pass, Luka is more than intelligent enough to switch correctly in the meantime. The current trend of high PnR heavy offenses will suit him very well. He crashes the boards and is able to explode into a fast break, where he is very adept at dribbling close to his body while sprinting and creating advantage situations with his running mates. He seems to draw an exceptional amount of fouls with his seemingly loose dribble and hunched over stance. He is just an efficient basketball player all around.

In order to evolve into more than a very solid starter he will have to improve his body the way Oladipo did over this offseason. He will need to strengthen his core and trim his "baby fat". Where other people see his body as a grown man's body and a finished product, I believe that he has yet to really work on it and bring it to its maximum potential. The way I see it is that most American prospects seem to be there already.

This guy is an absolutely safe pick, you may hit a homerun with the centers but those guys have a way higher chance to bust than Doncic.

[dautjazz]

LeBron was not that good of a rookie, arguably the third best of his team, definitely worse than Simmons.

Edit: of his class

You know that the Cavs won 18 more games than the previous season when they got Lebron? They went from a 17 win team to a 35 win team. Lebron was the reason for that. I am certain he was better than Simmons. His impact even as a rookie was HUGE. What do you mean he was arguably the 3rd best? If you mean rookie, no way, Melo was one dimensional as a rookie, not even much more efficient scoring. Remember that Lebron played PG as a rookie, so he had an immense amount of pressure to not only score but to distribute as well. Who's the other guy? Most certainly not Bosh, and Wade was not better either.

[Xherdan 23]

The notion that there needs to be some sort of precedent of a hyped European prospect living up to his hype in order for Luka to live up to his is so bizzare to me. I absolutely hate how popular it is to turn everything into some sort of stat and use that to backup or create your opinion.

I think it's pretty obvious that Luka will not be a bust. All the top players in Europe he's played against could have roles on NBA teams and Luka played better than all. Considering where the NBA currently seems to be headed, Luka will fit right in. He can switch on most players. Sure faster players will be able to get by him, but that seems to be better for the defense lately since it traps them against a big and forces them to pass, Luka is more than intelligent enough to switch correctly in the meantime. The current trend of high PnR heavy offenses will suit him very well. He crashes the boards and is able to explode into a fast break, where he is very adept at dribbling close to his body while sprinting and creating advantage situations with his running mates. He seems to draw an exceptional amount of fouls with his seemingly loose dribble and hunched over stance. He is just an efficient basketball player all around.

In order to evolve into more than a very solid starter he will have to improve his body the way Oladipo did over this offseason. He will need to strengthen his core and trim his "baby fat". Where other people see his body as a grown man's body and a finished product, I believe that he has yet to really work on it and bring it to its maximum potential. The way I see it is that most American prospects seem to be there already.

This guy is an absolutely safe pick, you may hit a homerun with the centers but those guys have a way higher to chance to bust than Doncic.

Damn, you waited 3 years for your first post?

Also, I agree with every word.

[Domejandro]

Manu has to count, he is half-Italian and learned basketball in the European system, dominated in the NBA. Drazen as well, and Marciulionis was a very good NBA-player also. There are precedents.

They didn’t come into the NBA as the number 1 overall pick though, they were late round picks...

When I think about “hyped” European guards, I’m thinking Rubio, Hezonja... I’m skeptical on using high draft picks on foreign guards, bc more times than not they don’t live up to the hype they came into the league with

Hezonja and Rubio played in the same league as Doncic, but they were role players. Europe just dont produce elite guard prospects. Doncic is different as he is first elite guard prospect from Europe in a very long time. He is first prospect who is already Euroleague MVP caliber, so you can't really compare him to other Euros.

Hezonja was terrible selection at the time, but it was before Doncic, and Doncic really made it far more difficult for future Hezonjas of the world. You see, before Doncic, we didn't have any young player playing such a huge role for European powerhouse, so there was a false belief that Euro coaches and systems are prejudice against young less experienced players, and that those players could be very good but warm bench for no substantial reason other than veteran prefference by coaches. Some teams stupidly believed that they could take young Euro bench warmer, and he will just be able to play at NBA level as soon as hes liberated by the NBA...Time and Doncic proved this wrong, Doncic proved that young player can not only play, but also lead and Dominate in Euroleague. He proved that there is no prejudice and that the main reason why scrubs like Dragan Bender and Mario Hezonja were warming benches in Europe, well -because they were in fact scrubs. And after these recent developments, I think NBA GM's will be a bit smarter and at least think twice before wasting top 5 picks on guys who bench warming inferior Euro leagues.

I will say that it frustrates me when people mention Mario Hezonja when talking about Luka, not only is it irrelevant, but tons of European fans were telling NBA fans that he wasn't good at all for his team.

[Ballerhogger]

I doubt it , he’s not fast enough

[Dominator83]

He won't even sniff Lebron

[mabundo_nagumbe]

I doubt it , he’s not fast enough

You might get surprised, but slowly

[Drou]

Although I m living in Europe I've never watched him play. Haven't watched a Euroleague game in years now that I think of it it's weird. That said, whenever I see a white dude at the draft I get skeptical. And if he's from Europe too? Oh then my level of skepticism goes up 10 times. Sorry but it is what it is. Now I know the level of conditioning here has made great progress but is it enough to go against pitbulls like John Wall and co? Who knows?

[mixerball]

They didn’t come into the NBA as the number 1 overall pick though, they were late round picks...

When I think about “hyped” European guards, I’m thinking Rubio, Hezonja... I’m skeptical on using high draft picks on foreign guards, bc more times than not they don’t live up to the hype they came into the league with

arent you skeptical about using high draft picks on american busts? do you know there are more american busts than euros?

Yes I am, but I think its all relative to who else is available in the draft. NCAA performance has shown to be more reliable of a barometer than Euroleague dominance, but we all know that teams nowadays are drafting on potential.

Of the 3 at the top of this draft, I see Marvin Bagley is probably the safest pick, but Deandre Ayton has the highest ceiling and I don't think Phoenix is seriously gonna pass on him. A franchise C is way harder to find than a franchise pg.

I think Doncic is good, but it just seems like ppl are putting too much stock into his accomplishments in Euroleague to justify him going number 1 overall over Ayton and Bagley, especially for a point guard whos not quick, but is big. The big point guard is a bit overrated. None of the top pgs in the NBA are excepionally big, except Simmons (Westbrook, Steph, CP3, Kyrie, Dame, Wall, Ben Simmons), and he is actually quick.

fair enough

personally i want him to drop in draft so he can get into a decent organization.

[Ugly Duckling]

He looks really bad. Teams 1-6 should pass on him. We'll take a flyer at 7

[UcanUwill]

I will say that it frustrates me when people mention Mario Hezonja when talking about Luka, not only is it irrelevant, but tons of European fans were telling NBA fans that he wasn't good at all for his team.

Yes, I wasn't Hezonja believer, had zero handle and no defense. Maybe it is cheap to say it now, but I was sure hes a bust. Was a little bit higher on Bender, since hes tall and quick, I saw potential in him, but I am not surprised at all he is bad. Was a big Saric fan and always said he is the best Croatian out of the 3 for sure. Sometimes its best to not overthink this, Saric was by far best junior player, best Euroleague player, and he is best NBA player. Luka is similar to Saric in some ways, but better in most aspects of the game and younger.

[springcadre]

A white guard with poor conditioning does not a ROTY make, he’ll come a long slowly into a Ricky Rubio role on a bad team. His shot has been awful from WNBA range against grown men that can’t guard.

[Peja Stojakovic]

blake griffin was a better rookie than lebron

[8on]

I’m pretty sure Ben Simmons was a better rookie than LeBron....

[UcanUwill]

A white guard with poor conditioning does not a ROTY make, he’ll come a long slowly into a Ricky Rubio role on a bad team. His shot has been awful from WNBA range against grown men that can’t guard.

His shot is not awful at all, hes just not very efficient out of stepbacks, and he attempts at least one full court prayer every game. And he is being guarded by ACB and Euroleague best perimeter defenders, these guys can surely guard.

[nikster]

A white guard with poor conditioning does not a ROTY make, he’ll come a long slowly into a Ricky Rubio role on a bad team. His shot has been awful from WNBA range against grown men that can’t guard.

His shot is not awful at all, hes just not very efficient out of stepbacks, and he attempts at least one full court prayer every game. And he is being guarded by ACB and Euroleague best perimeter defenders, these guys can surely guard.

People in these forums act like the competition he’s facing in europe isn’t miles ahead of NCAA. Euroleague teams have competitive scrimmages against NBA teams and have even won some games. It’s be laughable to suggest any NCAA team could compete against an NBA team