@Koperboy no doubt Luka is great, but I HATE these arbitrary stats with a passion. People just manipulate criteria to put someone in a good company. Why is it 20/6/4, but not 21/6/4, or 20/6/5, or 20/4/6, or 20/5/5... etc.
As an European, I also always hated that. Especially when you compare players from different eras. Of course this doesn't mean Luka is better than Jordan as a rookie. I just use these data to confirm he is not bad at all
Ayton as a rookie is much better than Capela as a rookie that's why Ayton is no 1 and Capela was a low first rounder. Regardless where they are picked though it doesn't change the fact that big men take more time to develop so Ayton is only scratching the limits of his potential. Plus what PHX clearly needs is a franchise face and that is Ayton, even as a rookie his willingness to shoulder the limelight is commendable esp considering he already has a massive fanbase in PHX. It's the same reason why nobody gives Houston **** for picking Hakeem over Jordan even though Jordan is publicly acknowledged as the GOAT, although of course Doncic is not even worthy to be called a poor man's MJ and Hakeem makes Ayton look like Ryan Scrubberson in comparison. At the end of the day PHX is probably really happy with Ayton and will probably pick him again if there as a redraft. Sac and Atl oth....lol
Luka was pretty nervous facing against his idol LeBron, but the way he came back into the game in the clutch... Dude's special. Reminds me of Paul Pierce in that regard.
Luka was really bad until that 3rd quarter explosion. 7 assists vs 2 TO is very encouraging. Also, he showed he can take over when it matters the most for 2nd game in a row, despite his conditioning and nagging back. Wow.
Its not about ROY its about bodying up and shoving your franchise player in the air just to get a reb. If Doncic landed wrong he could've had an injury because of that stunt.
Positive proof that Mavs are trying to stat pad the fat boy to win a ROY award. DJ is just too slow to get on board. Absolutely disgraceful behavior from a scumbag organization.
As good as Luka has been, all three of Ayton/Bagley/Young have been BALLING as well... This is a very strong draft class. P.S. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaren Jackson Jr and Wendell Carter Jr have been very solid too.
Doncic's floater is a thing of beauty and a killer for opposing teams. Very punishing when coming off pick&roll. If Luka's defender doesn't committ to him 100%, there goes the floater. It also seems like DeAndre either heard it from Rick/Cuban or he came to his senses by himself. He isn't looking for non-Luka guard after a defensive rebound anymore, and it payed off tonight for him too - he got a nice alley-oop on other end of the court from Luka after one of such handoffs. To be fair, Wizard's defense was totally lackadaisical on that play. Luka also helped with one of Dallas' greatest struggles so far: they often find themselves in a hole very early in the game. This time, majority of his points came during first half, so his team didn't have to play from behind whole 2nd half like many other times this season. Also it's funny to see how some Dallas fans already take Luka's stats for granted. "He had a ho-hum night" was one of the comments, the other "he got quiet 23 points" etc. AFAIK, that's a sign of a great player - any other player with that statline would be praised, but it's "normal" for Luka. I think some people finally stopped treating him as a rookie, because he's NOT a rookie. Technically he is because it's his first year in NBA, but playing for three years professionally in Europe gave him rarely seen veteran poise for such a young player. I hope the whole "college is better than Euroleague" discussion is finally put to rest.
Bagley has slowly been playing better but Young has been shooting 43% FG and 32% from 3. If he wasn't "the franchise" he wouldn't be allowed to shoot so much. This class is decent but nowhere near as good as last year's with Simmons, Mitchell, Tatum, Ball and Kuzma.
I think you are underestimating the enviroment this year's rookies found themselves in VS last year. The most glaring difference from last year to current one, when we consider rookies, is fit. Simmons, Mitchell, Tatum, Kuzma and Ball have been playing the position in need in their respective clubs from the start. Bagley, J.Jackson, Bamba, Wendell Carter JR...not so much. All 5 rookies from last year you mentioned played more than 30 min/game. This year, only Doncic and Ayton are playing more than Jayson Tatum, who is 5th on the list in minutes played. Ayton is playing on a team without proper PG who could get him the ball. Luka is playing on a team full of players in their contract year who freeze him out on certain occasions (it's getting better though). Wendell is sharing minutes with Robin Lopez. Jackson is playing behind Marc Gasol. Bagley is playing behind WCS, and Bamba is playing same position as Vucevic. Also don't forget Michael Porter JR, one of top rookies, is still injured. Oh, and did you know Mitchell's 20.5 PPG average came on quite inefficient 17.2 shots? He had 43% FG and 34% from 3. Not very different from this year's Trae Young, who has much worse teammates than Mitchell last year had, so defenses can concentrate on him. Once this year's rookies find their groove, I think they will be at least equal to last year's rookies or even better. With a bit of bias, I even believe Doncic will be more valuable to his team than Simmons is. Simmons might have better stats, but his team suffered in playoffs because of his non-existent shooting. He might close the gap on defensive end, so we will see.
Its not just need the rookies last year clinched the starter spot on their team similar to Luka clinching the starting PF spot on his team. Mitchell's 43% and 34% aren't just better than Trae Young's 42% and 32%, Mitchell has also proved to be good defensively and he did it in the Western conference. You can see their stark difference in their winshares Mitchell had 5.2 Young has 0.3 lol. Doncic may turn out to be better than Simmons but he certainly ain't better than Tatum since Tatum is like the second coming of Kawhi.
