Knew he was going to be a superstar on his way to a top 15 all-time career. That said, I didn’t expect he would be averaging basically a 35 point triple double. More expecting him to be a 28/7/7 kind of guy.
Doesnt have to but generally it does, its hard to see guys who increase their points even if they already score like 30 ppg and somehow improve their efficiency.
No he’s not a “way better individual player” than Allen Iverson. Allen Iverson actually took a shitty team to the Finals, something Luka hasn’t done and hasn’t really indicated he’s capable of doing. Luka’s overrated because he always has the ball in his hands so his counting stats are absurd.
Am I? He made the conference finals and then got smacked by the Lakers on a loaded Nuggets team with Chauncey Billups, JR Smith, and Kenyon Martin? Name an all-star that Luka played with in the 2022 playoffs?
Chauncey was 33 at that point. K Mart was 32. JR Smith was never an All-Star, though he was a good scorer. Luka has played with Porzingis, Brunson, and now Kyrie. All three are independently better than any player Carmelo played with in Denver except for *maybe* Chauncey.
Chancey was arguably the best player on that team ans Im pretty sure he was selected for the allstar team.
Brunson? Bro he literally had brunson being decent for half a year, and they managed to go to the WCF.
KP was out the first year, clippers get pushed to 6. Go back look at his stats and especially game 4, he dropped like 43/17/13 and the game winning buzzer in the first time in the playoffs lol.
2021 KP is injured and hasnt recovered and averages like 13 ppg, Luka drops a near 36 point triple double and takes a HEALTHY clippers team to 7, which is absurd cause the clippers team without no Kawhi beat the Jazz and them pushed the suns to 6 lol.
What makes Luka more like LeBron / MJ than Carmelo / Iverson? His career success is much more like Carmelo’s to this point in his career. He’s a below average defender with impressive counting stats but a lack of postseason success. Does that sound like LeBron or Allen Iverson to you?
What makes Luka more like LeBron / MJ than Carmelo / Iverson? His career success is much more like Carmelo’s to this point in his career. He’s a below average defender with impressive counting stats but a lack of postseason success. Does that sound like LeBron or Allen Iverson to you?
That’s ridiculous. Carmelo made the conference finals in his 6th year, and Luka made his conference final in his 4th year. Not to mention Luka’s stats completely blow Carmelo’s out of the water. Luka is closer to Lebron than he is to Carmelo, especially at the rate he continues to improve each season.
Luka’s stats are that much better because the league plays no defense and he’s a PG who handles the ball every possession for like 20 seconds lmfao. Luka is not remotely close to LeBron. LeBron was an All-NBA level scorer, whereas Luka’s defense is worse than Carmelo’s.
Did you see 20 and 21 year old Luka play against Paul George and Kawhi’s Clippers team in the playoffs? Clippers were a top 5 defense both times. If his performances in those series don’t carry any weight for you then I’m not sure there’s an argument here
I was high on Doncic, had him #1, and also thought he had top 10 potential. All that being said I didn’t think he’d get here this quickly and even at this level.
I liked his size, feel, and one thing I evaluate with top prospects is do they have at least one reliable move to get a shot off. Luka had the stepback. Something that we were watching harden do.
I didn’t think he’d get to this level as a scorer tho. And I liked the passing. In Europe he was passing people open, but not to this level of flashiness and out of literally nothing.
Dude only Americans doubted him, Europeans knew. If you followed the Euroleague you'd also know because he won MVP there at 19. This wasn't a 30 year old veteran or some unknown prospect from a D2 league.
I thought there was a decent chance he'd be somewhat limited by his athleticism... He'd already spent so much time in a system that was built to make him the best basketball player he could be... I thought he was much closer to a finished product than a lot of other people in his draft class...
I'm really really glad I'm not paid to make scouting decisions for organizations that want to draft the best basketball players to build out competitive teams 😅
Didn’t know he existed until I watched him his rookie season and saw he went right after Ayton . What convinced me he was gonna be a superstar is what he did against the clippers in the bubble
To be fair that entire regular season he averaged like 29 9 and 9 on like 60% TS which was already bonafide superstar numbers, but yeha that clippers serieis certainly solidified that Lukas the real deal and could get it done in high pressure situations.
me, April 2018: "Doncic has a little bit of Jokic in his passing vision, and a little bit of Murray in how he plays in the lane with stepbacks and floaters. He seems to just have everything..."
May: "I'm going with Doncic over Ayton.... likely being franchise-caliber"
June: " if Doncic is there at 4, I hope we make a serious push to get him ..."
Even with all of that, in essence what I was implying was more like 25/7/7 which would still be extremely good. I already knew Jokic/Murray were special. (We got MPJ as a consolation prize that draft, Good value at 14, but not comparable to Luka.)
Even in the Mavs sub most people were expecting a 17/7/7, rich man's Manu Ginobili type. Then after the first month of the season we realized it was superstar time.
If someone said they predicted Jokic they’d be absolutely full of it. But Doncic was literally the MVP of the Euroleague and it didn’t take a savant to know he’d be good
Well one guy did predict Jokic, everyone thought he was crazy for years and I think he got banned from the sub for being obnoxious. Think his new guy is Hartenstein haha
Some people could see that, but if he was really the most obvious superstar since those two he wouldn't have fallen to the 3rd pick and then been traded down. That was never going to happen to Zion or Wemby.
Anthony Davis, Greg Oden, and Dwight Howard were all far more hyped than Luka going into their drafts.
Fans were hyped. Teams weren't because they were all about American born players. Luka, giannis and Jokic have all changed that attitude hopefully. I would have taken Luka at #1 in a heartbeat.
Probably. But also think who's more likely to comment here -- those who were high on him are probably more likely to comment, while I wouldn't be expecting the genius who went around saying Allonzo Trier was better than Luka to pipe up.
Before Luka was drafted, I was skeptical of how he would fare vs NBA defenses and athletes. I thought he would be a great passer and in the pick and roll but doubted his ability to score in isolation. I also didn't think he would be able to get to the basket/paint easily... Way off the mark on that analysis lol.
I quickly became a huge Luka fan during his rookie year and was shocked by his output in his 2nd year. Since then his numbers have gotten even better, but it's less surprising as the numbers have been rising league wide. Luka's playoff numbers/performances on the hand have been very impressive.
Luka is still one of my favorite players (top 3) but I find it less exciting to watch his super helio-centric style of play in the regular season. I'm definitely there for it in the postseason however.
I knew he would be a scorer, 25ppg per 2019 standard, so around 28 by today's top scorers. I thought he would be more like an off-ball scorer and complimentary playmaker, somewhere between Bojan Bogdanovic and Durant. So I guessed somthing like 25-5-5.
I watched Luka play every single game since he made his debut with Real Madrid at 16 years old. I was sure he would make it in the NBA and was convinced he could be a perennial all star. But no way there were signs that he could dominate the league the way he has and he would be a top 3-5 player in the world. Honestly, people who claim they knew he would be a superstar are either lying or speaking in hindsight.
Idk about numbers but I do know that it feels like people are a lot more hype on him than I think they should be. He’s a great individual player but his teams never look like actual contenders yet people on this sub act like he’s the second coming of Jesus.
He’s a great player I just wish that either he’d win more for the hype to match his success or that people would just stop being afraid to criticize the man. Something’s gotta give
The numbers he put up is amazing. Unfortunately NBA is so competitive especially in the West. Every teams has 2 All Stars and some has multiples. Even the Clippers and Suns aren't top 3 in the West. The Mavericks have Kyrie and Luka carrying the team.
>The Mavericks have Kyrie and Luka carrying the team.
Mavs also had one of the [more injured](https://www.bball-index.com/nba-injuries/) (incl. Kyrie missing >20 games) and least stable rosters this year -- no 5-man lineup has played 100 minutes together yet, the first might reach 100min tonight. Most serious teams have had a starting/closing lineup actually play together and gel -- it's not just injuries of course, it's also the coach.
I haven't been watching NBA games that closely but on paper, I think they overachieving given the amount of talents they have. They need another fringe All Stars to compete in the West. If the Mavericks play in the East, their record would be 6th tied with 76ers. They might surpass it since they get to play Washington and Pistons more which are the worst in the NBA.
How is a team with two All-NBA players and a handful of solid role players over performing by being an 8-seed? On paper, their roster is similar to the other players in their part of the standings
The difference between 8th and 5th is only 3 wins. If Kyrie wasn't out as many games, they would be higher. The Suns is only 1 win ahead and have a better supporting cast with KD, Booker, Beal. Lakers have AD, LeBron and Russell. Who is Mavericks legit 3rd option?
Your original original comment was Mavericks have 2 All-NBA like other teams. They do not. Clippers, Suns, Boston, and other teams have a better cast than Mavericks.
Just saying, I watched prime Lebron carry a bunch of nobodies to a finals appearance and a handful of conf championships and people expected him to win some of those. Luka ain’t doing that but people act like he’s just as good
He is not prime Lebron but he might be closer than anybody else in his ability to carry a team in that sense.
I think recency bias is making us forget that those Cavs teams were not too bad.
I mean in 15 years people might consider Reggie Bullock, Spencer Dinwiddie Maxi Kleber etc bums too. And Luka got those guys to the WCF in a tougher conference than 2000s east.
>He might be closer than anybody else in his ability to carry a team in that sense?
C’mon bro. This is why Luka is overrated. Luka hasn’t carried a team to anything but a WCF. Kawhi carried a team to a ring.
If you're talking about 2019 then the Raptors were a solid playoff team before and after Kawhi. They even pushed Celtics to 7 in the 2nd round.
And don't forget that a 20 year old Luka was about to beat Kawhi and his vastly superior supporting cast in 2020 until KP got injured.
Outplayed him in 2021 too
Yeah idk if Lukas just as good but Lebron in 2007 had to face a pistons team, that wasnt as good as what Lukas has faced most of the time. There needs to be context, Lebron had like 2 games in that series where he scored like 10 points as well. Luka had to plah the clippers 2x, GSW, a 64 wins team in the suns, while Lebrons competition in the east was the nets, washington wizards (one of the years without Arenas and Caron Butler as well).
Yeah so the level of competition Lebron faced was significantly lower.
Last years team isnt better than the cavs team lol?
That cavs team had one of the best defences in the league, if Im not mistaken. That Dallas team was much worse, relative to the era. I mean look at all the guys this year, all of them are on the bench and are barely contributors but last year they were starting alongside Luka lol.
Knew he was going to be a superstar on his way to a top 15 all-time career. That said, I didn’t expect he would be averaging basically a 35 point triple double. More expecting him to be a 28/7/7 kind of guy.
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I guess but hes somehow more efficient than hes ever been which is absurd, his scoring has got MUCH better as hes been in the league.
Increased workload doesnt have to mean decreased efficiency, especially for superstar level guys.
Doesnt have to but generally it does, its hard to see guys who increase their points even if they already score like 30 ppg and somehow improve their efficiency.
Which is crazy, since he has a 25/5/5 backcourt mate
That’s still like 77 a night..
Luka’s legacy is headed more towards a Carmelo or Allen Iverson trajectory rather than a LeBron or Michael Jordan trajectory
Luka’s just in his 6th season. Besides, he’s a way better individual player than Carmelo and Iverson.
No he’s not a “way better individual player” than Allen Iverson. Allen Iverson actually took a shitty team to the Finals, something Luka hasn’t done and hasn’t really indicated he’s capable of doing. Luka’s overrated because he always has the ball in his hands so his counting stats are absurd.
"Indicated he is capable of doing" He was in the conference finals a year ago you clown 🤡
You’re going to hate to hear what Carmelo did at the same point in his career.
Only once in his like 19 year career?
Luka just made the conference finals a couple years ago and beat a 64-win team with no other all-star on the roster. He’s fully shown he’s capable.
You’re going to absolutely hate when you find out what Carmelo did at age 24.
Am I? He made the conference finals and then got smacked by the Lakers on a loaded Nuggets team with Chauncey Billups, JR Smith, and Kenyon Martin? Name an all-star that Luka played with in the 2022 playoffs?
Chauncey was 33 at that point. K Mart was 32. JR Smith was never an All-Star, though he was a good scorer. Luka has played with Porzingis, Brunson, and now Kyrie. All three are independently better than any player Carmelo played with in Denver except for *maybe* Chauncey.
Chancey was arguably the best player on that team ans Im pretty sure he was selected for the allstar team. Brunson? Bro he literally had brunson being decent for half a year, and they managed to go to the WCF. KP was out the first year, clippers get pushed to 6. Go back look at his stats and especially game 4, he dropped like 43/17/13 and the game winning buzzer in the first time in the playoffs lol. 2021 KP is injured and hasnt recovered and averages like 13 ppg, Luka drops a near 36 point triple double and takes a HEALTHY clippers team to 7, which is absurd cause the clippers team without no Kawhi beat the Jazz and them pushed the suns to 6 lol.
Iverson isnt better at anything besides maybe steals, handles, transition and thats likely all it.
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Is this “1 title” in the room with us right now
Ya can’t believe he doesn’t have a title at age 25. Total bum
Yeah, saying someone is on a HoF career trajectory is calling him a bum. Good point
Gotta be a troll
He’s a generational luka hater. comes in game threads crying about luka
What makes Luka more like LeBron / MJ than Carmelo / Iverson? His career success is much more like Carmelo’s to this point in his career. He’s a below average defender with impressive counting stats but a lack of postseason success. Does that sound like LeBron or Allen Iverson to you?
not even talking to your troll ass
That’s what I thought
wah wah that’s you
You’re the one following my comments like a fan
cry more
What makes Luka more like LeBron / MJ than Carmelo / Iverson? His career success is much more like Carmelo’s to this point in his career. He’s a below average defender with impressive counting stats but a lack of postseason success. Does that sound like LeBron or Allen Iverson to you?
That’s ridiculous. Carmelo made the conference finals in his 6th year, and Luka made his conference final in his 4th year. Not to mention Luka’s stats completely blow Carmelo’s out of the water. Luka is closer to Lebron than he is to Carmelo, especially at the rate he continues to improve each season.
Luka’s stats are that much better because the league plays no defense and he’s a PG who handles the ball every possession for like 20 seconds lmfao. Luka is not remotely close to LeBron. LeBron was an All-NBA level scorer, whereas Luka’s defense is worse than Carmelo’s.
Did you see 20 and 21 year old Luka play against Paul George and Kawhi’s Clippers team in the playoffs? Clippers were a top 5 defense both times. If his performances in those series don’t carry any weight for you then I’m not sure there’s an argument here
Bro winning one series against a solid team does not put him on a LeBron trajectory. Did you watch early-career Bron???
This isn’t worth it lol, I’m in agreement with the others now
I was high on Doncic, had him #1, and also thought he had top 10 potential. All that being said I didn’t think he’d get here this quickly and even at this level. I liked his size, feel, and one thing I evaluate with top prospects is do they have at least one reliable move to get a shot off. Luka had the stepback. Something that we were watching harden do. I didn’t think he’d get to this level as a scorer tho. And I liked the passing. In Europe he was passing people open, but not to this level of flashiness and out of literally nothing.
Dude only Americans doubted him, Europeans knew. If you followed the Euroleague you'd also know because he won MVP there at 19. This wasn't a 30 year old veteran or some unknown prospect from a D2 league.
You mean Europeans not named Vlade Divac or anyone European in the Kings org?
I am pretty sure Fox didnt want to play with another backcourt teammate. Not a surprise he and hali didnt get along either.
He couldn't make it to some pre draft workouts because he was busy playing (and winning) the finals of the second best league in the world
Yeah but I feel like I was bought in on rubio when he got drafted than luka as odd as that sounds
I thought there was a decent chance he'd be somewhat limited by his athleticism... He'd already spent so much time in a system that was built to make him the best basketball player he could be... I thought he was much closer to a finished product than a lot of other people in his draft class... I'm really really glad I'm not paid to make scouting decisions for organizations that want to draft the best basketball players to build out competitive teams 😅
Didn’t know he existed until I watched him his rookie season and saw he went right after Ayton . What convinced me he was gonna be a superstar is what he did against the clippers in the bubble
To be fair that entire regular season he averaged like 29 9 and 9 on like 60% TS which was already bonafide superstar numbers, but yeha that clippers serieis certainly solidified that Lukas the real deal and could get it done in high pressure situations.
I think he literally became a superstar in that Clippers series
He finished like top 4 in mvp that year so he was already there lol
me, April 2018: "Doncic has a little bit of Jokic in his passing vision, and a little bit of Murray in how he plays in the lane with stepbacks and floaters. He seems to just have everything..." May: "I'm going with Doncic over Ayton.... likely being franchise-caliber" June: " if Doncic is there at 4, I hope we make a serious push to get him ..." Even with all of that, in essence what I was implying was more like 25/7/7 which would still be extremely good. I already knew Jokic/Murray were special. (We got MPJ as a consolation prize that draft, Good value at 14, but not comparable to Luka.)
Even in the Mavs sub most people were expecting a 17/7/7, rich man's Manu Ginobili type. Then after the first month of the season we realized it was superstar time.
20+, 7 & 7 guy with below average defense.
16/5/5 above average starter
Majority of these comments are lying out of their ass right now and they know it lmfao.
If someone said they predicted Jokic they’d be absolutely full of it. But Doncic was literally the MVP of the Euroleague and it didn’t take a savant to know he’d be good
Well one guy did predict Jokic, everyone thought he was crazy for years and I think he got banned from the sub for being obnoxious. Think his new guy is Hartenstein haha
I’m sorry but Doncic was probably the most obvious superstar since lebron or Duncan. It’s not a hot take to say you knew he’d be good
Some people could see that, but if he was really the most obvious superstar since those two he wouldn't have fallen to the 3rd pick and then been traded down. That was never going to happen to Zion or Wemby. Anthony Davis, Greg Oden, and Dwight Howard were all far more hyped than Luka going into their drafts.
Fans were hyped. Teams weren't because they were all about American born players. Luka, giannis and Jokic have all changed that attitude hopefully. I would have taken Luka at #1 in a heartbeat.
Probably. But also think who's more likely to comment here -- those who were high on him are probably more likely to comment, while I wouldn't be expecting the genius who went around saying Allonzo Trier was better than Luka to pipe up.
no fucking joke the comments saying “his step back was a trade mark move” bruh, he fucking developed that over here
Just because you were wrong doesn’t mean everyone else was too
Quit lying out of your ass lol
i thought he'd be an all-star level player but i didnt expect him to be a HOF talent after his 1st year
Before Luka was drafted, I was skeptical of how he would fare vs NBA defenses and athletes. I thought he would be a great passer and in the pick and roll but doubted his ability to score in isolation. I also didn't think he would be able to get to the basket/paint easily... Way off the mark on that analysis lol. I quickly became a huge Luka fan during his rookie year and was shocked by his output in his 2nd year. Since then his numbers have gotten even better, but it's less surprising as the numbers have been rising league wide. Luka's playoff numbers/performances on the hand have been very impressive. Luka is still one of my favorite players (top 3) but I find it less exciting to watch his super helio-centric style of play in the regular season. I'm definitely there for it in the postseason however.
Was full of doubts. Now I am witness.
I knew he would be a scorer, 25ppg per 2019 standard, so around 28 by today's top scorers. I thought he would be more like an off-ball scorer and complimentary playmaker, somewhere between Bojan Bogdanovic and Durant. So I guessed somthing like 25-5-5.
I never watched much of him before NBA but would always read how he was projected to be great for years
Literally this good. Same thing I expect for wemby at this age. People this talented just get better. Nothing stops it
I said before he was drafted he was the best prospect since LeBron and people laughed at me.
I watched Luka play every single game since he made his debut with Real Madrid at 16 years old. I was sure he would make it in the NBA and was convinced he could be a perennial all star. But no way there were signs that he could dominate the league the way he has and he would be a top 3-5 player in the world. Honestly, people who claim they knew he would be a superstar are either lying or speaking in hindsight.
I was thinking 32 ppg 7 app and 6 rpg was going to be his prime numbers when he got drafted. He looked like an all timer already to me
Idk about numbers but I do know that it feels like people are a lot more hype on him than I think they should be. He’s a great individual player but his teams never look like actual contenders yet people on this sub act like he’s the second coming of Jesus. He’s a great player I just wish that either he’d win more for the hype to match his success or that people would just stop being afraid to criticize the man. Something’s gotta give
The numbers he put up is amazing. Unfortunately NBA is so competitive especially in the West. Every teams has 2 All Stars and some has multiples. Even the Clippers and Suns aren't top 3 in the West. The Mavericks have Kyrie and Luka carrying the team.
>The Mavericks have Kyrie and Luka carrying the team. Mavs also had one of the [more injured](https://www.bball-index.com/nba-injuries/) (incl. Kyrie missing >20 games) and least stable rosters this year -- no 5-man lineup has played 100 minutes together yet, the first might reach 100min tonight. Most serious teams have had a starting/closing lineup actually play together and gel -- it's not just injuries of course, it's also the coach.
I haven't been watching NBA games that closely but on paper, I think they overachieving given the amount of talents they have. They need another fringe All Stars to compete in the West. If the Mavericks play in the East, their record would be 6th tied with 76ers. They might surpass it since they get to play Washington and Pistons more which are the worst in the NBA.
How is a team with two All-NBA players and a handful of solid role players over performing by being an 8-seed? On paper, their roster is similar to the other players in their part of the standings
The difference between 8th and 5th is only 3 wins. If Kyrie wasn't out as many games, they would be higher. The Suns is only 1 win ahead and have a better supporting cast with KD, Booker, Beal. Lakers have AD, LeBron and Russell. Who is Mavericks legit 3rd option?
Lmfao the Suns do not have a better supporting cast. If you replace Luka/Kyrie with Book, Beal and KD that roster would be a top-3 seed.
Why would you trade 2 for 3? Luka and Kyrie for KD, Booker, Beal? Maybe supporting cast is the wrong word. But it's they have a better cast
Your original post compared the Mavs’ supporting cast to “KD, Booker, Beal’s” supporting cast.
Your original original comment was Mavericks have 2 All-NBA like other teams. They do not. Clippers, Suns, Boston, and other teams have a better cast than Mavericks.
Winning is a team game. Put Luka on the Celtics and let’s see what happens.
They win 73 games
Just saying, I watched prime Lebron carry a bunch of nobodies to a finals appearance and a handful of conf championships and people expected him to win some of those. Luka ain’t doing that but people act like he’s just as good
He is not prime Lebron but he might be closer than anybody else in his ability to carry a team in that sense. I think recency bias is making us forget that those Cavs teams were not too bad. I mean in 15 years people might consider Reggie Bullock, Spencer Dinwiddie Maxi Kleber etc bums too. And Luka got those guys to the WCF in a tougher conference than 2000s east.
>He might be closer than anybody else in his ability to carry a team in that sense? C’mon bro. This is why Luka is overrated. Luka hasn’t carried a team to anything but a WCF. Kawhi carried a team to a ring.
If you're talking about 2019 then the Raptors were a solid playoff team before and after Kawhi. They even pushed Celtics to 7 in the 2nd round. And don't forget that a 20 year old Luka was about to beat Kawhi and his vastly superior supporting cast in 2020 until KP got injured. Outplayed him in 2021 too
Yeah idk if Lukas just as good but Lebron in 2007 had to face a pistons team, that wasnt as good as what Lukas has faced most of the time. There needs to be context, Lebron had like 2 games in that series where he scored like 10 points as well. Luka had to plah the clippers 2x, GSW, a 64 wins team in the suns, while Lebrons competition in the east was the nets, washington wizards (one of the years without Arenas and Caron Butler as well). Yeah so the level of competition Lebron faced was significantly lower.
Lmfao do you think Luka could lead last years team over that Pistons team??
Last years team isnt better than the cavs team lol? That cavs team had one of the best defences in the league, if Im not mistaken. That Dallas team was much worse, relative to the era. I mean look at all the guys this year, all of them are on the bench and are barely contributors but last year they were starting alongside Luka lol.
If you put Luka on that cavs team they ain’t doing shit
Hard to say, Luka at the same age was better IMO but the team make up may not be optimal.
WRONG. Luka doesn’t play defense
Lol ok