I think he's the best player in the sport right now. At 20. Amazing.Luka last two games per 36 (in 56 total minutes)
41.8 points on .787 true shooting
10.9 rebounds
16.1 assists
2.6 steals
+66 plus-minus (total)
20. Years. Old.
Kangzzzz!!!
I dunno about best but it's not a ludicrous POV. That Mavs team is going to be scary good if they can add another 30m+ quality player.I think he's the best player in the sport right now. At 20. Amazing.
I don't know. I'm not sure he'll be able to get his shot off against NBA defenders.Luka for the season 29.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 1.3 steals, .493/.346/.821 shooting. .573 eFG.
His numbers are actually really close to Westbrook's first triple double season, minus much, much better shooting.
Just to draw that distinction in starker terms: Luka is currently rocking a.632 ts; Westbrick’s career best at his MVP peak was .554, and he’s currently at .491. The difference between .632 and .491 true shooting is 28 points per 100 possessions.His numbers are actually really close to Westbrook's first triple double season, minus much, much better shooting.
Don't forget, he's only an average athlete, and he may not improve as much as others in his draft class because he's closer to his peak from playing in Europe.I don't know. I'm not sure he'll be able to get his shot off against NBA defenders.
Its still fairly early but I think those calling Doncic a top 10 player and maybe even higher aren't wrong. Its not just his consistency. Dude is getting better each game.Not so identical in the end:
Doncic 41 pts (15-29 fg), 6 reb, 10 ast, +21
Harden 32 pts (11-24 fg), 9 reb, 11 ast, -12
Mavs win going away in Houston, 137-123. It's getting a little scary.
View: https://twitter.com/JoshEberley/status/1198740046838255616?s=20And this is with Porzingis having been meh-okay/not great, though if the boxscore is to be believed KP was excellent in this game vs Houston. If he ups his game, too, that'll be a scary club in Dallas -- potentially as good as any duo out there. Speaking of which, Westbrook is not adding much to Harden (based on box scores).
Yeah, dude is awesome--I'm totally fine saying he's a top 10 player now. One reason I'm also decently optimistic about the Celtics future is that, with Smart/Brown/Tatum, they're built precisely to muck the game up for big star wings like Doncic and Leonard.Its still fairly early but I think those calling Doncic a top 10 player and maybe even higher aren't wrong. Its not just his consistency. Dude is getting better each game.
And winning in Houston is a statement game of sorts for this Dallas club.
I went back and perused the 2018 Draft thread. It's interesting to see the thought process, analysis, projections and NOW we have 1.2 yrs of data/results.Different Doncic topic: the whole "this guy is too polished coming in" meme is so, so, so dumb. Even for star players, it generally takes them 5-8 years to really start feeling every aspect of the game and hitting the heights of their powers. And then they start to physically decline. Any extra time boost a guy can get by being more polished coming in can only really help him to hit greater heights imo.
HRB basically made jokes about Doncic playing against Tyrese Rice and Jan Vesley for a year and had him ranked about 12th or something on his big board on draft day. IIRC, I told him at the time his takes were going to age poorly and that I was going to bring it up at least once a year, for 15 years. So this is me doing that.I went back and perused the 2018 Draft thread. It's interesting to see the thought process, analysis, projections and NOW we have 1.2 yrs of data/results.
The vast majority of SoSH absolutely loved Doncic. Even HRB, who liked him the least on draft day, originally had Luka vying for the top pick with Ayton a year ahead of time (post #1).
https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/the-2018-nba-draft.19534/page-23
Haha yes, this is about some of the national draft Doncic narrative—not a knock on anyone here.I went back and perused the 2018 Draft thread. It's interesting to see the thought process, analysis, projections and NOW we have 1.2 yrs of data/results.
The vast majority of SoSH absolutely loved Doncic. Even HRB, who liked him the least on draft day, originally had Luka vying for the top pick with Ayton a year ahead of time (post #1).
https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/the-2018-nba-draft.19534/page-23
If we’re going to knock anyone for being too low on Doncic, I think we can all agree it should be Vlade Divac:Haha yes, this is about some of the national draft Doncic narrative—not a knock on anyone here.
I agree with your general premise. I'd rather spend high draft picks or free agent $$$ on perimeter-oriented Wings/PGs. It already happened in the 2019 Draft, only 1 true center, Jaxon Hayes, was drafted in the first 17 picks. AND we saw it with GSW the last 6 seasons, who saved $$$/cap space by signing cheap fungible 5s or drafting them late (McGee, Bogut, Looney, Jones, ZaZa, Bell, etc).Lol, biggest hindsight props to Cheech13: "My draft predictions: The Phoenix Suns will draft Ayton for some reason, the Kings will do something stupid because they're stupid, and then total chaos ensues."
Edit: also this gem from our resident soothsayer: "I couldn't fathom spending a top three pick on Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley or Mo Bamba. Anyone who watched the playoffs this year should have realized that big men that don't knock down threes or defend multiple positions at a high level are mostly worthless"
Edit #2: I mean, I still think Ayton and Bagley will be solid pros or even all-stars (less sure about Bamba; not sure what's going on with him this season). But in 20-20 hindsight, anything but Doncic at #1 seems crazy.
My crazy ass is wondering whether, with the gift of foresight, there was any offer Ainge could have made to Atlanta that they would have accepted and not ultimately undermined our current roster strengths. Kyrie + SAC 2019 pick + filler comes nowhere close, even leaving aside that I'm not sure we'd have been allowed to trade Kyrie as he finished the season injured (right?). I doubt we could have gotten that done, even with every pick asset in the arsenal at that point, without including a Jay.Lol, biggest hindsight props to Cheech13: "My draft predictions: The Phoenix Suns will draft Ayton for some reason, the Kings will do something stupid because they're stupid, and then total chaos ensues."
Edit: also this gem from our resident soothsayer: "I couldn't fathom spending a top three pick on Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley or Mo Bamba. Anyone who watched the playoffs this year should have realized that big men that don't knock down threes or defend multiple positions at a high level are mostly worthless"
Edit #2: I mean, I still think Ayton and Bagley will be solid pros or even all-stars (less sure about Bamba; not sure what's going on with him this season). But in 20-20 hindsight, anything but Doncic at #1 seems crazy.
There are only 12 teams in the league with winning records (including themselves, who they can't play). So they're almost exactly at the average proportion of teams played with winning records.The Lakers have played a joke schedule. 16 games and only 6 against teams with winning records (and that includes one against Phoenix and two against a Dallas team that got beat twice by the Knicks).
Yeah, at the time that trade would have happened, the Bucks were coming off a 7 seed, the Raptors had a Kawhi with uncertain health, and the Celtics were consensus favorites to face the unbeatable Warriors. No trade was happening.My crazy ass is wondering whether, with the gift of foresight, there was any offer Ainge could have made to Atlanta that they would have accepted and not ultimately undermined our current roster strengths. Kyrie + SAC 2019 pick + filler comes nowhere close, even leaving aside that I'm not sure we'd have been allowed to trade Kyrie as he finished the season injured (right?). I doubt we could have gotten that done, even with every pick asset in the arsenal at that point, without including a Jay.
So you're saying...he's not a coward?Loss was sealed by a wild 40-foot turnaround hail mary by Ben Simmons ... with six seconds still on the shot clock.
He's currently leading the league in assists.Friggin Lebron. Starting PG while he is the best C on the team too. His hairline is unimpressive, sure, but what a legend.