Fansided

2018 NBA Draft: 5 best fits for Luka Doncic

By Brandon Jefferson

Real Madrid Luka Doncic during Liga Endesa Finals match (1st game) between Real Madrid and Kirolbet Baskonia at Wizink Center in Madrid, Spain. June 13, 2018. (Photo by COOLMedia/Peter Sabok/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Real Madrid Luka Doncic during Liga Endesa Finals match (1st game) between Real Madrid and Kirolbet Baskonia at Wizink Center in Madrid, Spain. June 13, 2018. (Photo by COOLMedia/Peter Sabok/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 6
Next

Luka Doncic could go anywhere in the first five picks. But where would he fit best?

European wunderkind, Luka Doncic is getting ready to embark on his NBA career. To complete his final season with Spain powerhouse Real Madrid, the 19-year-old amassed a EuroLeague title, EuroLeague MVP, his second straight EuroLeague Rising Star award, Liga ACB title, and a Liga ACB regular season MVP. There hasn’t been any other teenage prospect to enter the NBA with as decorative of a resume. Before you incorrectly start speaking down about the talent Doncic faced overseas, at the 2017 FIBA EuroBasket Doncic helped Slovenia on a Cinderella run to victory taking down the likes of NBA players such as Kristaps Porzingis, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Bogdan Bogdanovic. Had Doncic played for any college in America and produced the same results talk of him slipping out of the top five would be seen as incredulous.

Thanks to winning Game 4 of the ACB Finals on Tuesday night, Doncic will be at the 2018 NBA Draft on Thursday night and for some Americans, it will be their first real look at the Slovenian point-forward. At 6-foot-8, with a good touch from the perimeter and supreme passing vision, Doncic’s fit in today’s NBA is clear as day.

One chink in Doncic’s seemingly flawless armor is that he does not possess elite athleticism. Watching him play, it’s hard to say he even has above-average athleticism. Yet, we have seen superstar players develop out of the prospects that didn’t blow anyone away with their numbers and measurables (i.e likely 2017-18 MVP James Harden). Like Harden, Doncic’s go-to move is step-back three-pointer. Doncic and Harden both have the ability to decelerate and change pace at the highest levels.

Coming to the NBA is definitely going to require an adjustment period from Doncic–just like it does for all rookies. Even though he’s been able to stockpile trophies as he rose up the ranks overseas, it’s not a foregone conclusion that he’ll immediately dominate the league once he makes his debut. Yet, if you were to bet on one player from this draft class to be a productive NBA player in the next 10 years then the easy money is on Doncic.

Home/NBA