The 2019-20 Luka Dončić Thread

[bledredwine]

i don't even know what makes this guy so good honestly, but he's so good...like everyone else in the league I can point to exactly what makes them a star, but with Doncic I can't but he's still a monster...just incredible

he's already a top-20 guy, might be top-10 by the end of the year

I keep having the same thought.

The guy is just unusually talented.

[Heej]

i don't even know what makes this guy so good honestly, but he's so good...like everyone else in the league I can point to exactly what makes them a star, but with Doncic I can't but he's still a monster...just incredible

he's already a top-20 guy, might be top-10 by the end of the year

I keep having the same thought.

The guy is just unusually talented.

I think he's just been slightly slower than his competition but not too slow his entire life, so his whole game evolved on having counters upon counters and fakes for everything. If there's one thing that makes him special to me, it's gotta be functional basketball IQ.

Not that Rajon Rondo "coach on the floor" basketball IQ, but a combination of the Jordan and LeBron type where he can both outmaneuver and outpredict the movements of not only his individual matchup, but also read the opposing team's rotations like an open book. Harden also has this to an extent, but he also has a little too much Rondo or Chris Paul in him where he constantly tries to "game the game" which holds him back significantly.

We might be watching the early stages of the career of the dude with the GOAT BBIQ when it's all said and done. I'm loving the ride. Pause.

[Sublime187]

Haven't watched him much this year but how is his defense? If it is lacklustre will it not hold him back from being a true top 5 player in the league type?

[Fr3yr]

Haven't watched him much this year but how is his defense? If it is lacklustre will it not hold him back from being a true top 5 player in the league type?

Overall, pretty good. He has been more active than last year, a smarter defender and his athletic improvements have helped him in man to man defense. But since Luka is pretty far from the fitness level of an Nba player, his defense get worst as the game goes on and he runs out of gas. Also, he seems to be scared to foul on certain occasions. You should go look at his defense against Lillard winning drive. At this point, he's completely gassed out and too scared to contest the shot. While this might seem like a big problem (and it is in the short term), it's actually the opposite. It shoes just how far Doncic is from his overall athletic celing. Once he loses even more fat and continue to gain muscle mass, he should be a completely different player on both ends.

[leolozon]

Haven't watched him much this year but how is his defense? If it is lacklustre will it not hold him back from being a true top 5 player in the league type?

I think it's better than last year so far. He plays with energy, he seems to care about that part of the game. 2.3 SPG is really good (it won't stay there). BUT he'll be at best an okay defensive player and considering the usage he has on offense, he should always be put on the easier defensive assignment anyway. Yesterday, one of the reason they lost the game was because Doncic was obviously tired playing more minutes than he's used to. He started settling for 3pts instead of driving.

[Ascrilas]

It's crazy that he is averaging 29/10/7 on 62 TS% and this doesn't seem too unsustainable. Steals will go down for sure, and so will his PPG and RPG (but only slightly) I guess, but apart from that...he is shooting .677 from 2 and .310 from 3, I expect both these numbers to normalize in different directions. His FT% is about 80% which is on par with what he has shown in Madrid.

The LeBron line (27/7/7) on 60% TS in his second season, is this possible? Maybe.

[nolang1]

It's crazy that he is averaging 29/10/7 on 62 TS% and this doesn't seem too unsustainable. Steals will go down for sure, and so will his PPG and RPG (but only slightly) I guess, but apart from that...he is shooting .677 from 2 and .310 from 3, I expect both these numbers to normalize in different directions. His FT% is about 80% which is on par with what he has shown in Madrid.

The LeBron line (27/7/7) on 60% TS in his second season, is this possible? Maybe.

He's a year older than LeBron was their respective seasons, so yeah that's certainly in play. He had the best season for a player his age since LeBron, so I found it weird that there was so much backlash this offseason to the idea of him being a top-20 player in the league already. I don't expect the three-point percentage to go up by *that* much because he takes lots of difficult end-of-clock attempts (including the end-of quarter heaves that nobody else really takes), so it's like a James Harden situation for him where his percentage isn't as indicative of his shot-making ability.

[zonedefense]

Haven't watched him much this year but how is his defense? If it is lacklustre will it not hold him back from being a true top 5 player in the league type?

I think it's better than last year so far. He plays with energy, he seems to care about that part of the game. 2.3 SPG is really good (it won't stay there). BUT he'll be at best an okay defensive player and considering the usage he has on offense, he should always be put on the easier defensive assignment anyway. Yesterday, one of the reason they lost the game was because Doncic was obviously tired playing more minutes than he's used to. He started settling for 3pts instead of driving.

In the first two games he was a clear positive on defense. Good man defense against players like Jrue or Beal when he was switched on them. Third game against Portland was worse. As you pointed out...he was tired.
I don´t think 2 steals per game is unsustainable. The way he reads and plays passing lanes is impressive.

[Statlanta]

He's a much better player than Trae Young.

The idea people thought they should have "shared" a Co-Rookie of the Year is laughable.

[ardee]

He's a much better player than Trae Young.

The idea people thought they should have "shared" a Co-Rookie of the Year is laughable.

That idea was spread by Curry fans who thought Trae was his successor.

Sent from my SM-A505F using RealGM mobile app

[Eskobar13]

Haven't watched him much this year but how is his defense? If it is lacklustre will it not hold him back from being a true top 5 player in the league type?

I think it's better than last year so far. He plays with energy, he seems to care about that part of the game. 2.3 SPG is really good (it won't stay there). BUT he'll be at best an okay defensive player and considering the usage he has on offense, he should always be put on the easier defensive assignment anyway. Yesterday, one of the reason they lost the game was because Doncic was obviously tired playing more minutes than he's used to. He started settling for 3pts instead of driving.

In the first two games he was a clear positive on defense. Good man defense against players like Jrue or Beal when he was switched on them. Third game against Portland was worse. As you pointed out...he was tired.
I don´t think 2 steals per game is unsustainable. The way he reads and plays passing lanes is impressive.

I still thought he was positive in the Blazers game too overall, even if by the end he wasn't doing much. I actually thought him running out of gas had a bigger impact on his shot... so many wild missed, either short or really long, like he was overcompensating for a lack of energy.

Hopefully is shooting keeps improving but right now I'd say he's been top-10 to start the season, top-15 at worst.

[WarriorGM]

He's a much better player than Trae Young.

The idea people thought they should have "shared" a Co-Rookie of the Year is laughable.

That idea was spread by Curry fans who thought Trae was his successor.

Huh? It's just as logical to say Doncic is Curry's successor.

[ardee]

He's a much better player than Trae Young.

The idea people thought they should have "shared" a Co-Rookie of the Year is laughable.

That idea was spread by Curry fans who thought Trae was his successor.

Huh? It's just as logical to say Doncic is Curry's successor.

How is a 6'7 wing going to be Curry's successor? Trae is a 6'2 fast PG who loves taking 3s.

[The-Power]

He's a much better player than Trae Young.

The idea people thought they should have "shared" a Co-Rookie of the Year is laughable.

That idea was spread by Curry fans who thought Trae was his successor.

Sent from my SM-A505F using RealGM mobile app

That seems like a random unfounded claim that I'm sure is not based on anything real.

[clyde21]

He's a much better player than Trae Young.

The idea people thought they should have "shared" a Co-Rookie of the Year is laughable.

That idea was spread by Curry fans who thought Trae was his successor.

Sent from my SM-A505F using RealGM mobile app

huh? where are you getting that from? most people compare him to Nash not Curry.

sounds like you legit just made that up out of nowhere.

[leolozon]

He's a much better player than Trae Young.

The idea people thought they should have "shared" a Co-Rookie of the Year is laughable.

That idea was spread by Curry fans who thought Trae was his successor.

Sent from my SM-A505F using RealGM mobile app

huh? where are you getting that from? most people compare him to Nash not Curry.

sounds like you legit just made that up out of nowhere.

He was compared to Curry pre-draft, then people realized he was such a great passer, so Nash made more sense as a comp.

He looks like a hybrid to me. He's a far more willing shooter than Nash and likes to shoot from 30ft. The most FGA Nash ever got is 13.6... Trae was at 15.5 his rookie season and is at 22FGA right now. He'll certainly be closer to Curry in PPG, shot attempts and USG%. I didn't know that Nash was always in the low 20s in terms of usage rate... it's incredible to me.

Asking Trae to reach both guys' efficiency seems like a stretch as they could well be the two best shooters of all-time (especially off the dribble).

[clyde21]

That idea was spread by Curry fans who thought Trae was his successor.

Sent from my SM-A505F using RealGM mobile app

huh? where are you getting that from? most people compare him to Nash not Curry.

sounds like you legit just made that up out of nowhere.

He was compared to Curry pre-draft, then people realized he was such a great passer, so Nash made more sense as a comp.

He looks like a hybrid to me. He's a far more willing shooter than Nash and likes to shoot from 30ft. The most FGA Nash ever got is 13.6... Trae was at 15.5 his rookie season and is at 22FGA right now. He'll certainly be closer to Curry in PPG, shot attempts and USG%. I didn't know that Nash was always in the low 20s in terms of usage rate... it's incredible to me.

Asking Trae to reach both guys' efficiency seems like a stretch as they could well be the two best shooters of all-time (especially off the dribble).

that has nothing to do with people wanting Trae to win ROTY because of Steph...that's literally all just made up lol

[leolozon]

huh? where are you getting that from? most people compare him to Nash not Curry.

sounds like you legit just made that up out of nowhere.

He was compared to Curry pre-draft, then people realized he was such a great passer, so Nash made more sense as a comp.

He looks like a hybrid to me. He's a far more willing shooter than Nash and likes to shoot from 30ft. The most FGA Nash ever got is 13.6... Trae was at 15.5 his rookie season and is at 22FGA right now. He'll certainly be closer to Curry in PPG, shot attempts and USG%. I didn't know that Nash was always in the low 20s in terms of usage rate... it's incredible to me.

Asking Trae to reach both guys' efficiency seems like a stretch as they could well be the two best shooters of all-time (especially off the dribble).

that has nothing to do with people wanting Trae to win ROTY because of Steph...that's literally all just made up lol

I agree with that, it’s no even logical. I was just saying that the Curry comp existed.

[clyde21]

He was compared to Curry pre-draft, then people realized he was such a great passer, so Nash made more sense as a comp.

He looks like a hybrid to me. He's a far more willing shooter than Nash and likes to shoot from 30ft. The most FGA Nash ever got is 13.6... Trae was at 15.5 his rookie season and is at 22FGA right now. He'll certainly be closer to Curry in PPG, shot attempts and USG%. I didn't know that Nash was always in the low 20s in terms of usage rate... it's incredible to me.

Asking Trae to reach both guys' efficiency seems like a stretch as they could well be the two best shooters of all-time (especially off the dribble).

that has nothing to do with people wanting Trae to win ROTY because of Steph...that's literally all just made up lol

I agree with that, it’s no even logical. I was just saying that the Curry comp existed.

i know it existed pre-draft, but soon people knew Nash was a better comp, Trae himself came out and said he tailored his game after Nash, and it had nothing to do with people wanting Trae to win ROTY

that was just a weird random take

[ardee]

It's fairly anectodal, I just know a lot of Warrior fans IRL and they seemed to be going gaga over Trae and calling him the best player of the draft. Might even be a coincidence but it's not hard to imagine that it's because they feel like he's similar to their guy (and he is).