How many Hawks Fans would NOT select Luka Doncic if he somehow fell to #3?

[Bob8]

So...it's clear Luka isn't a bust. (I thought his best NBA seasons would be 20/5/5. That appears to be his floor!!!)

And while I am satisfied with Trae, it has crossed my mind several times how good Luka would look in a Hawks uni. Particularly if we were still tanking with him here and looking to add a top wing talent in next year's draft.

Luka, Huerter, Nassir Little, John Collins and Taurean Prince would be really fun to root for on the same team.

Crazy to think about it huh? It's not like 90% of EU and rest of the world was telling you guys that he is a beast in the making
I would also love to see what he can do with so much freedom that Trae has. Scary to even think about it.

But like you said, Trae surprised a lot of people, including myself. He is a very solid PG if he is not taking some crazy impossible shots.

Trae is not just a very solid PG , he is a rookie PG a few weeks into his first season as a pro who is already reaching records only Steph and LeBron have reached in last 20 years -- 35 points and 11 assists in a single game (on 34 minutes I think).

Luka may be better than Trae this year - but he is supposed to be better this year. He has been a pro playing against grown men for several years. I am definitely not ready to say that Luke is long term going to be better than Trae.

And yea, it is nice to say that it would be scary to see what Luka could do with Trae's freedom, but I do not see Luke having anywhere the court vision that Trae has, frankly. Luka is canny, and has high basketball iq, but Trae can be other worldly sometimes. ... and again he is only a rookie. playing the most difficult position for rookies.

And on other hand, Luka gets all the benefits of having better teammates which means defenses cannot double team him in the way they consistently double Trae.

I like Luka too, but I am definitely not wishing the Hawks had Luka instead of Trae, especially given the Mavs first round pick (probably top ten) is coming the Hawks way this year as a result of that trade.

It's kinda difficult to make other worldly passes, if you play Pf and have the ball in your hands for few seconds every 4th offense.
Look some tapes from Real, where he was Pg and what kind of passes did he make. Luka will double his number of assists, when RC will realise that he is far the best Pg in Mavs. People are looking at his numbers and are impressed, but the most impressive thing is that he is misused, basically playing something he never has played before.

[Archx]

So...it's clear Luka isn't a bust. (I thought his best NBA seasons would be 20/5/5. That appears to be his floor!!!)

And while I am satisfied with Trae, it has crossed my mind several times how good Luka would look in a Hawks uni. Particularly if we were still tanking with him here and looking to add a top wing talent in next year's draft.

Luka, Huerter, Nassir Little, John Collins and Taurean Prince would be really fun to root for on the same team.

Crazy to think about it huh? It's not like 90% of EU and rest of the world was telling you guys that he is a beast in the making
I would also love to see what he can do with so much freedom that Trae has. Scary to even think about it.

But like you said, Trae surprised a lot of people, including myself. He is a very solid PG if he is not taking some crazy impossible shots.

Trae is not just a very solid PG , he is a rookie PG a few weeks into his first season as a pro who is already reaching records only Steph and LeBron have reached in last 20 years -- 35 points and 11 assists in a single game (on 34 minutes I think).

Luka may be better than Trae this year - but he is supposed to be better this year. He has been a pro playing against grown men for several years. I am definitely not ready to say that Luke is long term going to be better than Trae.

And yea, it is nice to say that it would be scary to see what Luka could do with Trae's freedom, but I do not see Luke having anywhere the court vision that Trae has, frankly. Luka is canny, and has high basketball iq, but Trae can be other worldly sometimes. ... and again he is only a rookie. playing the most difficult position for rookies.

And on other hand, Luka gets all the benefits of having better teammates which means defenses cannot double team him in the way they consistently double Trae.

I like Luka too, but I am definitely not wishing the Hawks had Luka instead of Trae, especially given the Mavs first round pick (probably top ten) is coming the Hawks way this year as a result of that trade.

I know i watch Hawks games as well. I didn't even want to compare one or the other.... But only reason i can't say he is a great PG, or something more, is because he still makes terrible decisions. Hence why Lin is getting more and more minutes... His shot selection is not getting better as well. He can make plays for sure but he will have to get rid of those "rookie mistakes" if he wants to really be elite.

As for Luka, he is also still adapting to NBA playstyle, still travels a lot etc... But i watch him since he was 17yo. So i know how he plays and thinks on the court. His assist potential is 9.5 per game, so that shows you, just like Trae's teammates, his also miss a lot. That's unfortunate for both.
And i think they changed his role, he was PG pass first guy in EU and now he transitioned more to be a scorer first. Plus he is incredibly clutch and that's also something Trae is lacking right now.

And when i say Trae is solid already with the numbers he is producing, it's obvious i think of him highly and think that he will have incredible NBA career. Also when you say that you think Trae will be better than Luka speaks volume, since he is also already producing numbers that only Oscar Robertson had in his rookie career. So what does that tell you about his ceiling then?

[steady]

Crazy to think about it huh? It's not like 90% of EU and rest of the world was telling you guys that he is a beast in the making
I would also love to see what he can do with so much freedom that Trae has. Scary to even think about it.

But like you said, Trae surprised a lot of people, including myself. He is a very solid PG if he is not taking some crazy impossible shots.

Trae is not just a very solid PG , he is a rookie PG a few weeks into his first season as a pro who is already reaching records only Steph and LeBron have reached in last 20 years -- 35 points and 11 assists in a single game (on 34 minutes I think).

Luka may be better than Trae this year - but he is supposed to be better this year. He has been a pro playing against grown men for several years. I am definitely not ready to say that Luke is long term going to be better than Trae.

And yea, it is nice to say that it would be scary to see what Luka could do with Trae's freedom, but I do not see Luke having anywhere the court vision that Trae has, frankly. Luka is canny, and has high basketball iq, but Trae can be other worldly sometimes. ... and again he is only a rookie. playing the most difficult position for rookies.

And on other hand, Luka gets all the benefits of having better teammates which means defenses cannot double team him in the way they consistently double Trae.

I like Luka too, but I am definitely not wishing the Hawks had Luka instead of Trae, especially given the Mavs first round pick (probably top ten) is coming the Hawks way this year as a result of that trade.

I know i watch Hawks games as well. I didn't even want to compare one or the other.... But only reason i can't say he is a great PG, or something more, is because he still makes terrible decisions. Hence why Lin is getting more and more minutes... His shot selection is not getting better as well. He can make plays for sure but he will have to get rid of those "rookie mistakes" if he wants to really be elite.

As for Luka, he is also still adapting to NBA playstyle, still travels a lot etc... But i watch him since he was 17yo. So i know how he plays and thinks on the court. His assist potential is 9.5 per game, so that shows you, just like Trae's teammates, his also miss a lot. That's unfortunate for both.
And i think they changed his role, he was PG pass first guy in EU and now he transitioned more to be a scorer first. Plus he is incredibly clutch and that's also something Trae is lacking right now.

And when i say Trae is solid already with the numbers he is producing, it's obvious i think of him highly and think that he will have incredible NBA career. Also when you say that you think Trae will be better than Luka speaks volume, since he is also already producing numbers that only Oscar Robertson had in his rookie career. So what does that tell you about his ceiling then?

I agree Trae still makes "rookie mistakes". He still thinks he is superhuman sometimes, but overall I think he is an excellent decision maker, so I not too worried about those rookie mistakes . He will grow out of them.

And yeah, Luka is a somewhat awkward situation with DSJ being on Mavs.
They did change his role to be more scorer first, but I feel that with time, he is going to get the ball in his hands more.

... As someone who has watched Luka play for such a long time, and has seen some of Trae's passing as well, how do you rate their relative passing skills? I have watched Luka's footage, and am really impressed by his passing. But Trae's impresses me even more -- his decision making is so lightning quick sometimes and Trae's passes are so incredibly accurate from all over the floor to players who you wouldn't think he could even see, much less make a pin point pass to.

And Trae was plenty clutch in the only match up the two have had this year. /// Victory going to Hawks b/c of Trae erupting in 4th Q. :-_ .. .but I get your point, Luka is a proven clutch player.

(I do not know if Trae will be better than Luka, but I am pretty sure they are both going to be top tier players -- if not this year, then very soon. That is my prediction. )

[steady]

Crazy to think about it huh? It's not like 90% of EU and rest of the world was telling you guys that he is a beast in the making
I would also love to see what he can do with so much freedom that Trae has. Scary to even think about it.

But like you said, Trae surprised a lot of people, including myself. He is a very solid PG if he is not taking some crazy impossible shots.

Trae is not just a very solid PG , he is a rookie PG a few weeks into his first season as a pro who is already reaching records only Steph and LeBron have reached in last 20 years -- 35 points and 11 assists in a single game (on 34 minutes I think).

Luka may be better than Trae this year - but he is supposed to be better this year. He has been a pro playing against grown men for several years. I am definitely not ready to say that Luke is long term going to be better than Trae.

And yea, it is nice to say that it would be scary to see what Luka could do with Trae's freedom, but I do not see Luke having anywhere the court vision that Trae has, frankly. Luka is canny, and has high basketball iq, but Trae can be other worldly sometimes. ... and again he is only a rookie. playing the most difficult position for rookies.

And on other hand, Luka gets all the benefits of having better teammates which means defenses cannot double team him in the way they consistently double Trae.

I like Luka too, but I am definitely not wishing the Hawks had Luka instead of Trae, especially given the Mavs first round pick (probably top ten) is coming the Hawks way this year as a result of that trade.

It's kinda difficult to make other worldly passes, if you play Pf and have the ball in your hands for few seconds every 4th offense.
Look some tapes from Real, where he was Pg and what kind of passes did he make. Luka will double his number of assists, when RC will realise that he is far the best Pg in Mavs. People are looking at his numbers and are impressed, but the most impressive thing is that he is misused, basically playing something he never has played before.

I get what you're saying. I agree we are not seeing Luka's full potential right now.

[Archx]

I agree Trae still makes "rookie mistakes". He still thinks he is superhuman sometimes, but overall I think he is an excellent decision maker, so I not too worried about those rookie mistakes . He will grow out of them.

And yeah, Luka is a somewhat awkward situation with DSJ being on Mavs.
They did change his role to be more scorer first, but I feel that with time, he is going to get the ball in his hands more.

... As someone who has watched Luka play for such a long time, and has seen some of Trae's passing as well, how do you rate their relative passing skills? I have watched Luka's footage, and am really impressed by his passing. But Trae's impresses me even more -- his decision making is so lightning quick sometimes and Trae's passes are so incredibly accurate from all over the floor to players who you wouldn't think he could even see, much less make a pin point pass to.

And Trae was plenty clutch in the only match up the two have had this year. /// Victory going to Hawks b/c of Trae erupting in 4th Q. :-_ .. .but I get your point, Luka is a proven clutch player.

(I do not know if Trae will be better than Luka, but I am pretty sure they are both going to be top tier players -- if not this year, then very soon. That is my prediction. )

Huh tough questions. Like i said, Trae has had some incredible passing performances so far. I would say his court vision ( AT THE MOMENT ) is not on par with Doncic's though, but that's understandable for known reasons.
You can see that he tries to force pass sometimes to people who he thinks are open, but are actually not. It often happens that 1 or even 2 defenders stand in the way.
Luka had same problems at the start and he even said, passing in EU is not the same as in the NBA, because defenders react quicker. And i think there is still a gap between those two right now when it comes to passing game. Or mostly when it comes to decision who to pass the ball to. Trae is showing insane potential but still tries to force pass to people who are not actually open or who can't even make it to the ball.

When it comes to clutch it's also quite hard to explain since Trae had some solid performances in the 4th. Obviously Luka had countless games against pro's in EU, where he had to be the best in the 4th Q and he learned a ton from that.
And in the NBA, if you only watch Mavs 4th Q games, you would see how often Luka started a comeback or even carried them through the whole period, until he was stopped by Rick Carlise or by other Mavs players making idiotic things. ( Like Wes fouling LeBron etc..).

So at this point it's clear Luka has an edge, because of experience playing against ex-NBA players is invaluable. He is much better at shot selection plus closing out games. But Trae surprised a lot of people, including me, and he showed us all he is the real deal.

When it comes to their future.. no clue tbh. Luka has so many areas he can improve on that's it's scary to even say out loud what he can become. And Trae if he only can get his shot selection in check plus gets more experience in passing game, he can also become unstoppable PG.

But one thing is sure, they'll both be insanely fun to watch and maybe face up in NBA finals some day

Btw. Watch this video, pretty much sums up what i was saying and with what kind of stupid teammates and coach decisions Luka has to deal with on a nightly basis.

Watch on YouTube

[ChokeFasncists]

Well done FO, both are about tied but one comes with a FRP, easy decision to make.

Ayton is obviously good, couldn't believe Divac didn't get Doncic but Bagley is doing well too. JJJ is pretty special.

A truly special draft class.

[Archx]

Well done FO, both are about tied but one comes with a FRP, easy decision to make.

Ayton is obviously good, couldn't believe Divac didn't get Doncic but Bagley is doing well too. JJJ is pretty special.

A truly special draft class.

Yea it's an amazing rookie class, that's true. But i do think Divac actually did the right thing with Bagley, he fits with them much better. They already have so many guards who demand the ball. Well, unless someone got traded at that time, then it would make sense to draft Luka

[D21]

At this point, and thinking about their potential progress, they have a chance to be both really special, and the decision of taking Trae instead of Luka comes down to getting someone able to bring people in the arena because ATL needed it, and at this game, Trae is a better than Luka. If you add the DAL FRP, it looks now like an easy choice for Schlenk

[Jamaaliver]

Luka LOOKS LIKE An NBA player.

And he's slowly burning away that 'baby fat'.

Read on Twitter

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[Jamaaliver]

Ummm...

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[Archx]

Ummm...

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Tell us how you really feel

[macd-gm]

Its crazy. I honestly didn't see this athleticism in him. And he's shooting better from 3 now than he ever has. Crazy.

I'm still happy with Trae but Trae needs to find himself again.

[Jamaaliver]

Luka doing Luka things...

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Spoiler:

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[PG13]

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?s=21

[Spud2nique]

F*ck Duka Loncic!

[Spud2nique]

*burp

[hawkmanreturns]

F*ck Duka Loncic!

[PG13]

Read on Twitter

https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/nba/2018/11/29/18118147/luka-doncic-dallas-mavericks-must-watch?__twitter_impression=true

[atlantabbq99]

I think most here already know how I feel about Doncic and my outrage during draft night and that whole fiasco.

I'm still hoping Trae will prove me wrong.

However, after watching Doncic in the NBA now he does put up good and efficient numbers, but i have to admit his game is kind of boring and is really far from an elite passer for now. His ball handling is also not elite, he seems to take alot of shots over guys and not blowing by guys, his boring game kind of reminds me of Joe Johnson.

[Bob8]

I think most here already know how I feel about Doncic and my outrage during draft night and that whole fiasco.

I'm still hoping Trae will prove me wrong.

However, after watching Doncic in the NBA now he does put up good and efficient numbers, but i have to admit his game is kind of boring and is really far from an elite passer for now. His ball handling is also not elite, he seems to take alot of shots over guys and not blowing by guys, his boring game kind of reminds me of Joe Johnson.

He played only one half as Pg, against Boston, when DSJ was out. He was great. Pgs in Dallas are DSJ, JJ and Brunson. He’s playing Pf, not exactly position to have great assists number. But he’s still second in his team and among rookies. Average handles, cannot blow anybody, slow, but still very good shooting numbers? Is maybe he elite shooter then? It must be something. Boring? You’re first one to say so. But it’s true, Dallas tries to win games not like some teams, who are in totally different business and I guess that means less mistakes and more boring plays. It’s funny that you favorite rookie is Ayton, who is the most boring rookie of them all.

I can agree with you, prime Joe Johnson looked like 19 years old Luka. Rookie Joe, was 7/3/2 guy. Maybe you should ask yourself, how some other rookies look in comparison to Nba past stars in their prime.