Luka Doncic is the best player in the nba

[User_friendly]

Calling harden a better playmaker and rebounder is almost an insult to Luka, yes.
Any problem with that?

To take things out of the personal, it seems an insult to the truth.

To YOUR truth, you forgot to mention

Yes, but, which seems to be the same as yours, by the way

[brettski]

Is defense no longer a part of NBA? Is it now the No-Defense Basketball Association?

Yeah since an unathletic white euro is scoring 30 PPG, obviously that means there is no defense anymore in NBA.
Continue guys, you're making my days.

I think he is saying defense matters too and Luka is not good on that while other top tier guys can do it on both ends....

[brettski]

Luka is slaughtering all PF/C types in PER and WS/48 despite those stats being skewed towards those positions. He has a fantastic .632 TS% on a monstrous 35.1% usage rate. Second in assist rate, and has the ball in his hand far more than any player in the league according to touches on NBA.com, so the Mavs are living and dying solely on him. What a player.

Not sure what position you think Giannis plays. He is in front but not slaughtering Giannis (a PF) in PER.

[Prokorov]

29.9 ppg, 10.4rpg, 9.7 assists Per game and the Mavs being the surprise team sitting 5th in the Western conference with a relatively crappy roster outside of Doncic and Porzingis! This kid is extraterrestrial

Luka is an absolute mythic beast, no doubt, but there's more to being the best in the game than averages.

You mean like being top 5 in most major offensive categories and leading the Mavs to fifth place in the west on an at best mediocre roster so far with a struggling co-star? That kind of "more"?

more like doing it over an entire season while also playing all-nba defense, getting them to a top 3 seed and at least the NBA finls

because thats what you are gonna get from Kawhi and lebron

[Johnlac1]

I'd say Doncic might be a top ten player and leave it at that. His overall effect does not quite equal a number of others like James, Leonard, and a few others.

[Yuri36]

Luka is an absolute mythic beast, no doubt, but there's more to being the best in the game than averages.

You mean like being top 5 in most major offensive categories and leading the Mavs to fifth place in the west on an at best mediocre roster so far with a struggling co-star? That kind of "more"?

more like doing it over an entire season while also playing all-nba defense, getting them to a top 3 seed and at least the NBA finls

because thats what you are gonna get from Kawhi and lebron

Except the scoring, he's had almost the same stats per48 over the last 40-50 games since last year all star break so what makes you think he will suddenly hugely slow down over the course of the season? Especially considering he is still at an age where you generally only improve?
His scoring might slow down at the very worst to 26-27 pts but I see absolutely no reason for his rebounding and assists stats to slow down.
So even averaging 26-10-10, he might still have a case for being the best player in NBA, especially if the Mavs win more than 50 games

[Yuri36]

Is defense no longer a part of NBA? Is it now the No-Defense Basketball Association?

Yeah since an unathletic white euro is scoring 30 PPG, obviously that means there is no defense anymore in NBA.
Continue guys, you're making my days.

I think he is saying defense matters too and Luka is not good on that while other top tier guys can do it on both ends....

Yeah former MVPs like Harden, Curry or Nash are/were notoriously much better defenders than Doncic....wait.

[ItsMyPotPie]

Yeah since an unathletic white euro is scoring 30 PPG, obviously that means there is no defense anymore in NBA.
Continue guys, you're making my days.

I think he is saying defense matters too and Luka is not good on that while other top tier guys can do it on both ends....

Yeah former MVPs like Harden, Curry or Nash are/were notoriously much better defenders than Doncic....wait.

Yes, ofcourse. The best player of the nba is every year the mvp. It's not possible that mvp and the best player in the league could be 2 seperate individuals.

[User_friendly]

I agree with some posters about there's an important unknown field in Doncic's game and it is how determinant he can be in the biggest task, which is fighting for a NBA title.
But that shouldn't be use to disminish his rating, because he really HASN'T HAD THE OPORTUNITY.
If he ever gets to be determinant in the playoffs, it won't be because he improved, from just now; it will be rather because the doubters learnt it when they saw it.

Which doesn't deserve too much credit, by the way.

[Madhouse]

who cares about defense when you offense with crappy players around you is on pace to be the greatest offense this game has ever seen?

[Madhouse]

I'd say Doncic might be a top ten player and leave it at that. His overall effect does not quite equal a number of others like James, Leonard, and a few others.

top 10 is crazy talk. he is top 5 and that's conservative.

[Yuri36]

I think he is saying defense matters too and Luka is not good on that while other top tier guys can do it on both ends....

Yeah former MVPs like Harden, Curry or Nash are/were notoriously much better defenders than Doncic....wait.

Yes, ofcourse. The best player of the nba is every year the mvp. It's not possible that mvp and the best player in the league could be 2 seperate individuals.

We're talking about who is the best player this season I think (or I think that's what the OP meant at least), not who is the best player in absolute term.
Cause obviously in that case, we still can't say that with certainty as doncic still has to prove it in POs

[Yuri36]

You mean like being top 5 in most major offensive categories and leading the Mavs to fifth place in the west on an at best mediocre roster so far with a struggling co-star? That kind of "more"?

more like doing it over an entire season while also playing all-nba defense, getting them to a top 3 seed and at least the NBA finls

because thats what you are gonna get from Kawhi and lebron

Except the scoring which has hugely improved this year, he's had almost the same stats per48 over the last 40-50 games since last year all star break so what makes you think he will suddenly hugely slow down over the course of the season? Especially considering he is still at an age where you generally only improve?
His scoring might slow down at the very worst to 26-27 pts but I see absolutely no reason for his rebounding and assists stats to slow down.
So even averaging 26-10-10, he might still have a case for being the best player in NBA, especially if the Mavs win more than 50 games

[User_friendly]

who cares about defense when you offense with crappy players around you is on pace to be the greatest offense this game has ever seen?

I woudn't go that far as you go, but I do think you cannot value defense equal to offense in this game, at least talking about individual players.
Because even if you are a bad defender, still your opponents don't have a highway to the basket; they still have to go the rest ot the team defense.
But if you are a good offensive player, you can get yourself buckets for your team and your teammates.
So I think being a very good attacker, does more for your teams; that's why MVPs are players that excel in attack. (Yes, if they are good defenders, that counts, but as secondary skill IMO).

[nedleeds]

who cares about defense when you offense with crappy players around you is on pace to be the greatest offense this game has ever seen?

I woudn't go that far as you go, but I do think you cannot value defense equal to offense in this game, at least talking about individual players.
Because even if you are a bad defender, still your opponents don't have a highway to the basket; they still have to go the rest ot the team defense.
But if you are a good offensive player, you can get yourself buckets for your team and your teammates.
So I think being a very good attacker, does more for your teams; that's why MVPs are players that excel in attack. (Yes, if they are good defenders, that counts, but as secondary skill IMO).

If you watch the Mavs games Luka is about league average as a Small Forward defensively. I'd say he's a good defensive rebounder for a small forward, has average lateral athleticism for the league but above average strength for a small forward. He's white so he gets the euro bias from most commentators ("despite not being a great athlete" etc. all the stereotypes) but he's fine athletically.

I don't think he's the best player in the NBA, but I think if you re-drafted the league given age and health he'd go #2

1) Giannis
2) Luka
3) AD
4) KAT
5) one of the older players Harden / Kawhi, or gamble on an injury free 5-6 years with Embiid

[Dundalis]

Luka is an absolute mythic beast, no doubt, but there's more to being the best in the game than averages.

You mean like being top 5 in most major offensive categories and leading the Mavs to fifth place in the west on an at best mediocre roster so far with a struggling co-star? That kind of "more"?

more like doing it over an entire season while also playing all-nba defense, getting them to a top 3 seed and at least the NBA finls

because thats what you are gonna get from Kawhi and lebron

Sorry, what record did Lebron lead the Lakers to last season? When they had a roster actually comparable to the Mavs (still more talent though). Kawhi hasn't played with a roster remotely as thin.

It's a good thing Luka doesn't play good defense at this point, because there's actually something he doesn't do well. For those relying on Luka being a bad defender in order to have something to hold against him, I don't think you'll have that by year 4. You can already see him improving defensively on a game to game basis. His instincts are off the charts, and he has size and strength. Technique and conditioning improve and he's a Bird level defender minimum IMO, who was underrated in that aspect. You give him someone (hopefully Porzingis) to take some offensive load off, he'll be better than that.

[Yuri36]

One point about Luka's defense: his defense is actually decent when he's matched up against PF or guards of his size and height (remember his 2 blocks on LBJ last year), it's when he is matched up against small guards who are much faster than him that he has trouble.
Put LBJ on small guards or guards of his size faster than him and I can guarantee you he would suffer as well, despite being faster and stronger than Luka.

So more than having bad defensive instincts or IQ, I would more say that it's a combination of his physical limitations and who he is matched up against that makesbhim look often bad defensively.

[GOATTatum]

Doncic is getting way overrated. Best player in the NBA??? He ain’t even the best player in his draft (Trae Young).

[User_friendly]

I don't think he's the best player in the NBA, but I think if you re-drafted the league given age and health he'd go #2

1) Giannis
2) Luka
3) AD
4) KAT
5) one of the older players Harden / Kawhi, or gamble on an injury free 5-6 years with Embiid

I agree mostly with your post, but drafting hindsight I think Giannis and Luka is a lottery who should go first. This 14 games of Luka this season keep me intrigued.

The rest is quite obvious, although I would include Zion and Trae before the olders also.

[Madhouse]

Doncic is getting way overrated. Best player in the NBA??? He ain’t even the best player in his draft (Trae Young).

That's why the Hawks are 27th in offensive rating and the Mavs are 1st. Haha.