This kids offensive skill set at 20 years is old is so ridiculous that in just 2 or 3 years I think the media will already put him into the GOAT conversation. I'm not trying to give some hot take. I just can't ever remember another player at his age being this advanced as a scorer and a passer. Studying Harden's game was the right idea. If he keeps improving on his step back, he could very well become the greatest offensive player that this league has ever witnessed. No offense to MJ or Harden, but they were not this advanced at this age. His size almost makes it unfair. The Mavs have have something extremely special with this kid. Dirk was all time great offensively, but when you combine Luca's overall skill set he will leave Dirk in the dust. He's a phenom and I don't think you can accurately compare him to anyone. Like Harden or LeBron, he's just different in his own special way.
I dont see the comparison to Harden outside of the stepback 3. Their games are so much different. Luka plays within the flow of the offense while Harden IS the offense. Players just get out of the way and the offense is stagnant and theres just much less movement from the other four players on the court with Harden. Not saying Harden isnt elite. I just like Luka's game better because he isnt a black hole on offense.
You just know that teams will start drafting a bunch of 6'7 white euros in the next few years in search for a new Luka
He's averaging nearly a 30 point triple double on incredible efficiency at 20 years old. His teammates aren't even very good, he's just doing this on his own. Westbrook won an MVP award with a worse line than this.
His teammates might not be super caliber players, but I think they fit with Doncic quite well. I think that's being overlooked. He has a bunch of options for PnR like Porzingis, Powell, Kleber and all of them can also shoot threes. In fact, most of their team can shoot threes and space the floor for Luka.
I like Luka. But to say he isn't the offense is odd. You can go to NBA.com stats and watch every video of his 93 drives ... same with his assists. I find it hard to walk away thinking Carlisle isn't using him exactly like Harden. Also, look at the 35% USG or above list over last 20 years. Does any of that look similar? RkPlayerFromToSeasons1Allen Iverson2001200632Kobe Bryant2006201233James Harden2018202034Russell Westbrook2015201725DeMarcus Cousins2016201726Jerry Stackhouse2001200117Tracy McGrady2003200318Dwyane Wade2009200919Carmelo Anthony20132013110Luka Doncic20202020111Giannis Antetokounmpo202020201 This year Kawhi is in that list, too. But he's never been close before, so I expect him to drop out with Paul George playing.
I don't watch Doncic enough to know. Does he stands still, dribbles for a long time before making his move? That's what Harden is criticized (besides the foul drawing). Steve Nash also dribbled a lot and nobody criticized his style because he didn't just dribble. He moved around while he dribbled trying to create space for his teammates. Same thing with Chris Paul. Harden is an iso player. Guys like Nash and Paul are PGs with the mindset of setting up the teammates. Again, I haven't watched Doncic enough. Is he more like Harden or like Nash/Paul?
I can assure you it's the foul hunting/number of free throws foremost. I like to look at other fan sites when Rockets play their team. "Flopper" is the catchy word most associated with Harden. We ran a local FB page that had over 20k followers (only Slovenian ones, but their thinking is not much different than that of most other European countries). Whenever I posted an article about Harden there, and I did it a lot since I'm a Rockets fan, "flopper", "free throws" and "foul hunter" came up the most. I agree though that lately it's also been the "one-man show" thing.
I never watched Nash enough to draw a competent comparison. Luka's most used action is either Pistol or high screen. He doesn't use stepbacks nearly as often as Harden does. When Luka doesn't have the ball, he is an active cutter unlike Harden, who is just standing on the outside of 3pt line. Dallas is built like Rockets: PG Luka, C roll man (Powell or Kleber) and three 3-point shooter around them (Finney-Smith, Curry and Porzingis). Curry can handle the ball and create a bit, and other ball-handlers come from the bench (Brunson, Wright, Barea). When matched with a physical defender, he can't solve him like Harden can (yet). He also doesn't isolate nearly as much as Harden, and here his games differentiates from Harden's and is more enjoyable to watch. He either tries to blow by his defender, shoots a stepback 3 or uses a high screen. He doesn't run the clock down.
He doesn't play p&r with Porzingis at all. He plays a pick and pop here or there, and that's it. He's a very timid roller. Maybe he is afraid of too much contact because of injury, I don't know. Right now, Porzingis is veeeery slowly coming into form. He's been relegated mostly to spot up shooter and pick&pop Luka partner. Lately he's been much more active on the glass and at protecting the rim. Since Luka is handling the ball so much and KP is still quite terrible in isolations, especially against smaller defenders, he tries to leave his imprint on the game in other ways. I think he accepted being the nr. 2 option and he is trying to get as comfortable in the new role as possible...but it will be a long process.
Exactly. Luka is their offense. He has the ball the most. Does most of their creating. He’s second in the league in step back 3s. He can really fill the box score and do it efficiently. That is essentially a description of Harden.
Further, his shot profile is much more identical to Harden than Lebron with regards to zones and FTA-rate. He's all about Layups, 3s and FTs.
So jelly Dallas has Luka. Guy is probably Top 10 All-time for his age. Top 4 MVP candidate and could finish higher since he's well liked.
