How did you view Luka prior to the 2018 draft? Did you think he should've went #1? Also, thanks to ExpressVPN for sponsoring! Go to expressvpn.com/andyhoops to get a 3-month free subscription.
In my 2018 Mock Draft, I thought Luka would go fourth, cuz Memphis needed a guard. But looking back, Phoenix should have taken him. Booker and Luka would have been deadly!
Honestly i didn't care. He was from europe and his stats there may not be what it actually means against nba competition. He proved me wrong big time last season lol
Should have went #1 dude is amazing and humble sometimes to humble he said he's not playing very good this year. Great vid Andy also can you do a how good was Ralph Sampson????
They didnt drafted him because he came from Europe and for a franchise its different deal with a bust from Europe being pick 1, 2 or 3 against a player Who come from the NCAA
@Piotr Sieradzki the point of the favor msg is vlade knows his team is bad and luka wont be in a good position if he is in sacramento.. that makes it a good favor if true.
@@keagan5379 I think a lot of times we don't have the pressure that the GM's have. Like Vlade isn't necessarily thinking "who is the best player", he's thinking "which pick is going to help me keep my job as a GM the longest". Actually was thinking about this, if Luka's dad really had it out for Vlade then in 2-3 years Luka could make an ultimatum "Fire Vlade or I won't resign". In that regard, Vlade made the right choice for his continued employment.
I felt like he could've went either 1st overall or in Magic, they really wanted him as well! Memphis was also interested I remember but Mavs pulled the trigger and I'm glad he went to the Mavs instead of Memphis ! I didn't really like Kings, Hawks or Memphis! He deserves the spotlight the way it's always been! He got it in Dallas
@@millanmixy I like mavs but I don't mind he went to Memphis or kings with their good history with European player. Hawks is a bit idk bad. Yeah, I'm glad he arrives to Dallas.
I still don't understand why their front office went with Bagley even though many analyst and fans wanted Luka. Vlade said it was because of "fit" but Jaren Jackson Jr was always a better fit for what the Kings needed even without hindsight. JJJ was a better 3pt shooter in college (many more attempts than Bagley to make up for the % differences) and substantially much better defensively (under the basket, man to man, and out in the wing). Bagley was a better finisher under the basket and rebounder in college, but the Kings didn't need that. JJJ's improvements and increase in size since joining the NBA are the icing on top.
Same thing!! I think it's because they haven't had a clue what position he could be best used! He played first 5-10 games as PF.. Then they gave him the ball and the rest is history
I'm from Italy and When I watched that Slovenia-serbia European final match, I understood from there how special he was. A 18 y/o kid dominating grown men made me realize that he was the next chosen one.
@@gunjeevanthakkar1634 once you see a kid as young as 16/17 dominating grown men in the top league in any sport you know this guy will be a superstar...American scouts ignored this unbelievable obvious sign..
@@JacquesSays congratulations, you in on that stupid stereotype. The many european you called "bust" are mostly never expected to be star in first place. Every european who was hyped exceed expectations
@@JacquesSays More that American GMs dont know how to draft European players. Giannis, Dennis Schroeder and Rudy Gobert weren't even lottery picks in 2013 yet Alex Len was at 5. In 2014 Nikola Jokic was drafted at 41 ...
Steroids man. Just 2 seasons ago he was suspended for a couple of games because he was tested positive for steroid use. He even write an apology letter on Twitter after that incident.
I still think that him being drafted by the Mavs (while Nowitski was still there) played a huge part in the fact he could adapt so well and so fast to the NBA scene
@@goattier7728 exactly like wth is he talking about your telling me that white nba owners don't draft white nba players??? Why is everything a race thing even tho It doesn't have to be smh
@Eric Khai It's the Yugoslav basketball school. There were 3 major schools of bball: US, Soviet and Yugoslav. The American focuses on physical domination, Soviet on dominant centers and Yugoslav on improvisation. Players don't have positions in the younger categories, but the coaches work with them on all the details and that's why most players from the region of former Yugoslavia have good fundamentals. There's one complicated exercise, it's played 3 on 3 on the full court, it's not allowed to dribble the ball, and the winner is the one scores 3 time (each basket is worth 1 point, it doesn't matter if the shot is behind the 3pt line) and it can take hours before it ends. In this way players learn to think, develop passing and off ball movement.
I mean us Europeans watching him in the euro league and comparing him with other guys from the draft we were sure he was the best player in the draft .
@@markomarkovic5729 I mean he wasn’t thinking about the bball iq or the technique comparison he saw in person a guy being 2 13 or Sth while being athletic bullying other centers etc and he just focused on that I think which is stupid
@@gianniskopdakis7248 It's EXTREMELY stupid, especially for a guy from Serbia, because Jokić at that time already proved you don't have to be physical freak to be good at bball
That's the thing, Ryan Hollins is dumb as fuck, but even he realized Luka is the real deal. All he had to do was pay attention to the euroleague. The issue is that scouts don't pay much attention to Europe.
This has happened several times most egregious was Carmelo going 3rd after Darko. Kobe went 13th but ended being the best player in his draft class. And Michael Jordan went 3rd after Sam Bowie and he ended up revolutionizing the game.
Agreed, but there's the eye test also you know :) Buzzer beaters from a step-back on ankle breaker in a playoff game not enough ?, come on.. I can even see the "skillset" not being right for NBA for some Euro's, but Luka had the perfect skillset for the NBA, I mean he double-broke Viktor Claver's ankles in one single play vs a perennial league rival, and that wasn't enough to see him roll And yes, the Sergio Llull story somehow was never told, imagine Giannis getting hurt and some 19 year old take over the Bucks and wins MVP and they win the title.. Sure it's the NBA but still, imagine that, cause that's exactly what Luka did as a teenager, took over from the running MVP from previous year due to injury, take the whole team on his back and STILL win both
one thing in notice is that you don’t mention Hakeem being taken first, which is a massive testament to how great Hakeem truly was. The Rockets picked Hakeem before Jordan was, and nobody gives them flak for it, man, Hakeem was a beast
Doncic played the 2017 European Championship for Slovenia and dominated with 18 y/o, among a bunch of nba players that played as well. It was very clear at that moment he was way ahead the others of his class.
All it took for me is watching him play in his 1st nba preseason game to know he was a future hall of fame, 1st time I'd seen him play, his ability to put the ball and game totally under his control is an ability that mostly only the all time greats posses.
I bought into the Mike Korzemba hype vid, this dude always seemed legit. The quarter Slovenian in me always wanted him to succeed, even as a Clippers fan I felt pride when he hit that buzzer beater.
Americans have a crazy love for big men that doesn’t fit anymore with the league. Luka should be the 2018 first pick, that guy was just champion and mvp against real adults in Europe, but in US some inches are better than a unquestionable talent.
I’m a diehard hawks fan so when they drafted Luka I was so happy and that came crashing down when I heard they traded him. I wasn’t that big on trae back then.
Trae is gonna be a great one too. He might not ever develop the multiple-positional defensive skills that Luka is starting to show, but I don't buy the narrative that he's hopeless on that end at all. Plenty of players his size and smaller were able to be plus defenders at a high level (Tyler Ulis from UK comes to mind). Plus, if anyone has the potential to become as good or better at shooting than Steph, it's Trae. Y'all got a real one.
@@bobthabuilda1525 yep Trae is young and will develop skills about on ball defense and deflection. Even Steve Nash can deflect passes and tries his best to defend.
As a DFW native I’m so happy with how things turned out for the mavs and luka is living up to his talent hope he wins a championship for us or for another team cuz he is really special
I'd be shocked if he doesnt win at least 2 championship, and 3 MVPs in his career, he's going to be the best player for a long time like Lebron, barring injuries ofc. I've been watching the league for 10 years now, never seen someone so talent so young. Not only does he have the talent, but you can tell he has the competitive fire, which probably makes him a bit of asshole like a MJ and Kobe, but thats a sign of how serious he takes winning and how much he hates losing. But he also has some Magic in him which makes him extremely charismaticc, and unselfish on the court which will make players want to play with him. I'm not even a Mavs fan, and I actually don't like when we play Luka bc of all the unnecessary stuff he does to make his team win, but just like how I hated Kobe for that stuff at the time, I've learned to just appreciate greatness.
Even if Luka's got the 1st Overall, I'm sure Marc Cuban will do miles to get him. And what makes him more special was that he wasn't over-appreciated at that time. That makes us fans want more to see them all prove wrong.
Concerns about: 1) His athleticism, particularly on defense but offense too 2) His shooting 3) How much better he could get Honestly, all of those were reasonable. He *isn't* very athletic, but some scouts and analysts either overrated the relative importance of athleticism or didn't account for his strength, size, body control and intelligence. He's not a good one-on-one defender, but just being 6'7" 230 means you don't get picked on too much. The questions about how efficiently Luka could score in the NBA were somewhat warranted, but unless you are a complete freak like young LeBron or Giannis you will need to make difficult shots. It's a moot point. Kobe was athletic and played like he got extra points for difficulty. Creating space to get a shot off is more about footwork, strength, balance and a well timed shoulder or forearm than crazy athleticism. Plus Luka was never bothered by guys running at him. He's a lot like Kawhi (or Kobe) in that he just sort of ignores the defender in his face and shoots his shot. And he was already doing that at 18. The shooting is still a concern for some given his 3P% to this point, but, personally, I always look at FT, touch in the lane, and pay attention to how teammates react. Generally, if a guy is taking 7-8 threes and he's not getting attitude from coaches and teammates or they are confident, then he's probably a good shooter and will be fine. The 'potential' thing was always kind of dumb since no one actually 'maxes out' their theoretical potential. His floor was, at worst, Hedo Turkoglu, which is the primary, if slightly underqualified, scoring option on a Finals team. That's way higher than most rookies. The Ayton pick is defensible to me, even now. He has improved much faster than anticipated defensively and still projects as threat from outside as he matures. An elite rebounder and finisher who can protect the basket, defend in space, and stretch the opposing defense is a better fit next to Booker than Luka since neither is good defender and both are much better on ball. There are diminishing returns when your two best players don't complement one another. (See the KD-Russ Thunder. Although you could have always just traded one of them.) The Bagley pick was stupid then and even dumber now. He's all potential without actually being good at things that help you win basketball games. If he can develop a reliable outside shot AND manage to not be a turnstile on defense then he can be useful, maybe, but right now he's a guy who lost his job to a second round pick (Richaun Holmes) and is way better on 2K than in real life.
After hearing Divac's reasoning for passing up on Luka, I got genuinely worried that he might have suffered from a debilitating stroke. Can we check up on him please and see if he is okay?
Back when i see luka playback videos in europe, his moves are very efficient and up until now it doesn't change and in the nba he develop into more 3 pt stepback shooter
Tbh they just went for the fit than the talent , I mean DeAndre Ayton was the consensus #1 pick either way and no one thought Doncic would go #1 overall let alone #3
Luka was a consensus top 3 pick so stop capping. He was seen as the best player in the draft by most of the people but ayton was n1 in draft boards because he played in the university of Arizona and he was a better fit
Yeah. When you have a high pick, (especially in a very talented draft) you always go for the best player and figure out things later. Or at least explore a trade if you value player fit and get more assets like the hawks did.
Everyone agrees with that cause players in Euroleague can be one-dimensional, they see the court good and fit in a role well, BUT, there's also the eye test.. I mean the ankle-breakers, buzzer-beaters, double-teamed passes out to the center, even defense wasn't that bad overall.. This is also the ONLY channel I've seen tell the Llull story, imagine a teenager take over the running MVP due to season-breaking injury and STILL win both the titles (MVP and the championship), I mean that should speak some volume/s in regards of taking the team over his own shoulders as a youngster, and yet, there was ZERO mention of that tbh
Nonsense. Americans have higher bust percentage than Euros and even if what you said was true (which it isn't) it would still be irrelevant. All of you who doubted Luka only knew Luka was European, "Darko Miličić and Mario Hezonja were European busts". That was the end and the extent of your knowledge. Luka was the best European 18 year old of all time. Anyone with a brain knew Luka was the best in that draft, only arrogant and ignorant Americans didn't know that. I would trust a random coach from Europe to evaluate European talent better than any NBA scout, analyst or any other kind of "expert". They are good at evaluating American talent but they are horrible at evaluating European talent.
@@VArsovski10Luka wasn't drafted because of the eye test but because he was the best player in Europe at 18 years of age, the best player on the best team at 18. When you hear that you don't care about his stats, you don't care about the eye test you just draft him. Busts from Europe had nowhere near similar resume that Luka had (no one ever had Luka's resume). And also players from Europe aren't more likely to be busts than Americans, in fact, Europeans are more likely to be underrated than American players.
You cant get more accomplished than Luka Doncic going into the draft and history, but still only went 3rd. The Olympics and the latest MVPs (Giannis and Jokic) shows that Europe has caught up.
Even Jerry West admitted a bias against white players which helps explain the crazy stupid decision not to draft Luka first. I followed Luka in his final year in the Euro league and there was no doubt he was the best player in the draft as the best player in Europe.
C'mon now, you're telling me you can't imagine a Luka Booker backcourt. And instead of trading for CP3 you get a decent big instead in the off-season. Tell me that's not a better team now and for the foreseeable future.
That's the reason the suns gave yes, and it's stupid AF, even at the draft the suns have cap room and even showed interests to get Clint Capela (they could offer a poison-pill offersheet to force the rocket giving Capela up), eventually they chose not to and waste the 1st pick on Ayton, Ayton is no scrub but he is not a great player also, about the same level as Capela but will cost the suns way more to resign, just stupid.
@@prozac. The true is Luka even back than was a better ball-handler and honestly point guard than DSJ! Looking back on it now I was wrong about Phoenix, Luka & D-Book would definitely work. I didn't want him in Sacramento with De'Aaron Fox because I'm a Kentucky fan I really believe in him. I thought Atlanta was perfect with Dennis Schroder gone!
DSJ doesn´t have a shot and his playmaking is below average in the NBA. I think he could stir up the chinese league with his speed and hops but the NBA and Europe are too skilled for him
DSJ has no NBA skills and can't do shit with his tunnel vision. He's the prime example of failing American student athletes who rely on their natural talent and athleticism too much without developing shooting skills and their understanding of the game, defense and off-ball skills.
At the time Ayton looked like the safer number 1 pick but in hindsight they should’ve drafted Luka man, we could’ve seen Luka and Book together also I make videos as well
You mean his euro league credentials alone is worthy of a place in a Hall ? Naaahhh. Since when is 9ppg 4rpg 3.5apg in 4 seasons (in EuroLeague at that) Hall of Fame worthy?
its kinda strange how similar the early picks in the 1983 and 2018 drafts turned out 1st pick: ultra athletic big man who makes a day 1 impact 2nd pick: constantly injured, generally considered a bust 3rd pick: all time great level guard 4th pick: solid power forward 5th pick: undersized all time great level player 6th pick: center who's a clear bust looking at the full 2018 draft I think we could be witnessing possibly the greatest draft class in nba history. Enjoy it while you still can.
The story of how Divac and Luka's father have a beef is just a bs. The Kings had Hield and Fox at the time and they needed a big and that’s why they drafted Bagley. At that time even one guy from Serbia confidently raved nonsense that Luka is good, but Ayton is on another level because he played with him at Arizona.
To people that still think that ncaa is better than euroleague remember, american imports that played in that league were once a star in college, and the european guy represents their respective country, while you barely face college stars every night, and most players you face arent gonna be a pro in a top 5 league..
US bias towards US guys. People in the States are quite arrogant and not very open minded towards other ways of development. They're super biased towards the NCAA system even though we know it's incredibly flawed.
I wrote this, back to the 2018,in a basketball forum,just after the draft. "Luka isn't just a european prospect.He is the BIGGEST european prospect ever.Nobody was that good at that age.Even Pau Gasol,who ended up being a hall of fame lock.So,does it mean that he had to be nr.1 draft pick?Not necessarily,but you can't put him in the same bag with the rubios and the hezonjas of this world."
Ayton has still been a very good #1 pick though despite not being as good as Doncic, I still have hope for Bagley as well and he’s been playing better recently
Yeah, I don't think Bagley or Ayton were bad picks, but for me personally I had Luka number 1 but I live in Europe so I just watch a lot of it, whereas I really only see college highlights
@@markusbisma5015 Ayton 100% is as there's still a place for elite big men, like Jokic or Embiid. Bagley I'm not so sure on but I think he can still come good as it's still really early on
Ayton's just your typical big man who can put up double double every night, but he's not a generational talent like Luka Doncic. Doesn't worth a number one overall pick on a guy like him. He was the safest pick, but not the best one.
@@duncanwalter3613 seriously, you're comparing Ayton to Jokic and Embiid? I would not say the word "elite" when describing him. Ayton's a good big man, your typical blue collar big guy who can clean up the boards, but that's it. He doesn't create his shots, he doesn't score like Embiid, nor can he pass like Jokic.
MOST HERE PROBABLY DON'T KNOW THE FACT THAT EVERY GAME THAT LUKA PLAYED FOR SLOVENIA SO FAR SLOVENIA WON; CONSIDERING SLOVENIA IS ON FIBA RANKING No. 16 IT IS AN AMAZING STAT! AT THE FIRST EVER OLYPMIC GAME HE NEARLY BROKE AN ALL TIME RECORD FOR SCORED POINTS IN A SINGLE GAME; DURING THE GAME HE WAS INCAURAGED BY HIS TEAMMATES TO GO FOR THE RECORD, BUT HE RESPONDED THAT HE DID NOT COME TO THE OLYMPICS TO BREAK RECORDS, BUT TO WIN A MEDAL! NOT ONLY HE IS SUPER TALENTED, BUT HE IS A TRUE TEAM PLAYER! COACH KEPT HIM OUT FOR THE LAST HALF OF THE LAST QUATER; IF HE STAYED IN, HE WOULD HAVE LIKELY SET THE RECORD AT HIS FIRST EVER OLYMPIC GAME.
It happens all the time. I suffered Luka as a Valencia Basket fan myself (10-12th best European team) and I knew he was the real deal. But it's same we do with soccer players, we don't trust so much players who shine in minor leagues until they come to the big leagues in Europe. Good video!
It should be noted that while the Hawks-Mavs trade was specifically for the Cam Reddish pick, having that particular pick helped give them the flexibility to trade up to draft DeAndre hunter
You never should bet against a player that has mastered fundamentals even at the highest levels. Luka by far has the most solid foundation of skills that he can always fall back on.
I didn't even know much about him before he got drafted. I knew enough about him that I knew he was good to be dominating grown men at 17-18 years old and was a professional basketball player before he was 15 years old. The fact that so many great overseas players play professionally so young is why they have a leg up nowadays on American college players (not always the case) when they come over at 19/20 years old. Us Americans know that, but what we'd like to see is players like Doncic come over to the United States and play one year of college basketball to get an idea of how good they play in the American style of play before they are drafted. Since players like Luka were pros before, that derails any idea of them playing in college. Maybe have them come over and play in the American NBA-style of play for one year in the NBA G-League before they are drafted. There are so many factors in play when teams are drafting overseas players, it's basically a crapshoot. They are getting much better at it, but it's still basically rolling the dice. There have been a lot of foreign draft busts from the 1990's until now. I do say that Luca Doncic was worthy of the first pick in the draft, but Phoenix took the safe pick at #1 with Ayton. No question Sacramento should've taken him at #2. That Divac explanation didn't make sense, just pick the best player available and go from there.
Amm no... Luka and Booker with geting just 1 big who can rebound and defend and they win everything even them 2 together is better then Luka and Porzingis.
Euroleague is not Chinese league and is pretty difficult to put up numbers because defences are hard in every possession and playing time is limited in the better teams. I love NBA but if u enjoy basketball strategy and defence, euroleague is amazing and for sure more fun to watch than 90% of regural season NBA.
Jordan and Donkic both were drafted at 3. Despite being the best player of the draft. Coach Knight would’ve said to the Suns. What he told the eBlazers who needed a centre. Draft Donkic and play him at centre
Simple answer: people were casuals I got heat in hs for asking the same question then mfs say "he’s European tho" 5 years later he’s wearing a Luka jersey 🤣
Well Luka's got a bit of narcissistic vibe to him, but also kinda the whole notion of "taking things personally" or "respond to an insult" doesn't work that much in Europe and it's more a "stick to the team's plan, who wins has all the right to laugh", so can see why the US audience may not be as attached to him cause he not only doesn't respond much to those "personal challenge calls" as often as the US audience would like him see do.. Even more so, "challenges" like that can get to his head and starts missing super easy shots or even complained about it.. BUT, one in 5 games of the kind his "second nature avatar" shows up and takes over :D Pretty sure he'll be fine with it as time passes though, I mean he just turned 22, so there's plenty of time for him to develop, and on a by-nightly basis we see footages and highlights like we've never (or very rarely) seen lol
Luka would shine anywhere and anyhow. If Suns drafted him, his coach would be Igor Kokoškov who was his coach on Slovene national team and he knew him already. Also him and Booker would work just fine together. I know, because he was perfect Goran Dragić’s and Sergio Lull’s sidekick. Luka adjusts to the game and players.
I watched Bird in the 80's and a lot of basketball has passed since Larry Legend hung them up in '92, and I can honestly say without regret that Luka is the closest thing to Bird minus 3 rings and a gold medal with the Dream Team!!!
I only look into the mock draft days before the actual draft, and watch a few of their games. Surprisingly, Luka caught my attention as he was playing in a different level at a young age. I expected him to get drafted at #2 since Pheonix needs a big man to be paired with Booker, but it didn't happen.
The issue here is that Americans still think Europe as one country and Europeans being the same with each other. I mean it's like saying both LeBron and Lou Williams are American, therefore they should be similar to each other. Sounds ridiculous, right? So what's the point of comparing Doncic with Bender or Len? Luka was already known as the prodigy in Euroleague and Spanish league since he was 16 and he carried his team to win Euroleague as a 18 year old. I'm not one of those delusional people to compare Euroleague with NBA; but Euroleague is certainly a MUCH better competition than NCAA. So his adjustment to more athletic defenders was easier comparing to a college player.
As a lifelong mavericks fan, I want to personally thank the Suns and the Kings for continuing their tradition of mostly being incompetent at drafting. I need to seen y'alls front office a bouquet of roses or something.
I feel it's like the 84 draft situation: hakeem was taken first over jordan, but they won't complain cause he was still great for them. Same will probanly happen with ayton being picked first over luka. Not better but still great. I'm not saying they're on hakeem and MJs level. Just a comparison of situations
Igor Kokoskov was the Phoenix Suns coach during this draft and he was also one of Luka’s coaches in Europe. Which is quite surprising that Luka was not drafted by the Suns
Lebron compares Luka already to himself you clown, go watch Lebron talking about Luka and Magic and himself on Sportsnet before you say some dumb shit like that!
How did you view Luka prior to the 2018 draft? Did you think he should've went #1? Also, thanks to ExpressVPN for sponsoring! Go to expressvpn.com/andyhoops to get a 3-month free subscription.
In my 2018 Mock Draft, I thought Luka would go fourth, cuz Memphis needed a guard. But looking back, Phoenix should have taken him. Booker and Luka would have been deadly!
It was very confusing, There was Tingus Pingus, then Dragon Bender, but Luka was good in the European Leauge, so we should have know he would be good
Honestly i didn't care. He was from europe and his stats there may not be what it actually means against nba competition. He proved me wrong big time last season lol
Should have went #1 dude is amazing and humble sometimes to humble he said he's not playing very good this year. Great vid Andy also can you do a how good was Ralph Sampson????
They didnt drafted him because he came from Europe and for a franchise its different deal with a bust from Europe being pick 1, 2 or 3 against a player Who come from the NCAA
Fun fact luka went from a 59 ovr to a 96 in 4 years (he was in 2k17)
Forgot that 2k did the whole foreign league thing
I use to play with him on real Madrid on 2k17 and I didn't even know who he was.
@@onehand-yusuf7212 with the zero changes and 70 dollar price tag they should be adding everything every year. Cheap skates
I loved to play euroleague in 2k16. In fact i spent more time playing euroleague than nba that year
I just wanted to play as bayern munich with the "zlatan doppelganger" nihad dedovic
Plot twist: Vlade and Luka's dad are best buddies and he did make a favor not drafting him to the kings.
Very good favor
Yep, Vlade knew how bad his team was and thought Luka was such a nice guy and didn’t deserve to have to play on such a bad team
@Piotr Sieradzki its hoax, they actually laughed at these hoax
😂 😂
@Piotr Sieradzki the point of the favor msg is vlade knows his team is bad and luka wont be in a good position if he is in sacramento.. that makes it a good favor if true.
Ayton - best in college
Doncic - best in EUROPE
I understood ayton going number one. But bagley…..
@@BradRohrs fr. it amazes how dudes on RUclips and Reddit can do a better job evaluating talent then people who do it for a living.
@@keagan5379 I think a lot of times we don't have the pressure that the GM's have. Like Vlade isn't necessarily thinking "who is the best player", he's thinking "which pick is going to help me keep my job as a GM the longest". Actually was thinking about this, if Luka's dad really had it out for Vlade then in 2-3 years Luka could make an ultimatum "Fire Vlade or I won't resign". In that regard, Vlade made the right choice for his continued employment.
ahaha college :))) high school middle school
Europe is better than NBA. You are watching cinema idiots :)))
people actually think college is more than europe..playing against kids vs ex nba players is better xD OKAY
Luka in a Mavs Jersey is perfectly fitting. I can't see him in a Suns, Hawks, or Kings jersey. It all just fits.
Welp, he was a real Madrid
@#LoSLakersFan 28 lol
I felt like he could've went either 1st overall or in Magic, they really wanted him as well! Memphis was also interested I remember but Mavs pulled the trigger and I'm glad he went to the Mavs instead of Memphis ! I didn't really like Kings, Hawks or Memphis! He deserves the spotlight the way it's always been! He got it in Dallas
@@millanmixy I like mavs but I don't mind he went to Memphis or kings with their good history with European player. Hawks is a bit idk bad. Yeah, I'm glad he arrives to Dallas.
@#LoSLakersFan 28 the kings is a joke, they draft young guys and fuck up their careers.
Suns get a pass because they went with the safe pick in Ayton and he’s been just as good as expected don’t know what the kings were thinkin tho
the kings just always be the kings wkwkwk
Luka looks good in Orange though
@@ianosaurus27 pause
I still don't understand why their front office went with Bagley even though many analyst and fans wanted Luka. Vlade said it was because of "fit" but Jaren Jackson Jr was always a better fit for what the Kings needed even without hindsight. JJJ was a better 3pt shooter in college (many more attempts than Bagley to make up for the % differences) and substantially much better defensively (under the basket, man to man, and out in the wing). Bagley was a better finisher under the basket and rebounder in college, but the Kings didn't need that. JJJ's improvements and increase in size since joining the NBA are the icing on top.
Divac is Divac.
as a european myself i always knew he was the real deal since his real madrid days. i always believed he should be no1
Same thing!! I think it's because they haven't had a clue what position he could be best used! He played first 5-10 games as PF.. Then they gave him the ball and the rest is history
I'm from Italy and When I watched that Slovenia-serbia European final match, I understood from there how special he was. A 18 y/o kid dominating grown men made me realize that he was the next chosen one.
@@gunjeevanthakkar1634 once you see a kid as young as 16/17 dominating grown men in the top league in any sport you know this guy will be a superstar...American scouts ignored this unbelievable obvious sign..
Because of all that campaigning by stephen A Smith and the stigma on foreign players
Its not stigma if there are more euro busts than stars
@@JacquesSays congratulations, you in on that stupid stereotype. The many european you called "bust" are mostly never expected to be star in first place. Every european who was hyped exceed expectations
@@JacquesSays More that American GMs dont know how to draft European players. Giannis, Dennis Schroeder and Rudy Gobert weren't even lottery picks in 2013 yet Alex Len was at 5.
In 2014 Nikola Jokic was drafted at 41 ...
@@JacquesSays The same goes for Americans. You have more busts than star 😂.
@@yvans. fact
Why wasn’t I 🤔 well i dont care cuz I’m with the mavs
are you real Luka Dončić?
@@MoRRsZLaSu Yeah, totally is the actual Luka Doncic.
Cringe
@@MoRRsZLaSu it is bro
@@MoRRsZLaSu It is him
Dont put Euroleague and Chines league into same sentence... Difrence between these two is bigger then NBA to G-league.
Don't disrespect NBA the will that tiny body of euro and Chinese 🤣😂🤧
@@phoebe670 Don't disrespect the English language
Andy is Chinese. So he has to include the Chinese league.
NBL instead of chinese league!
Luka, Trae, Zion, and Ja this is gonna be a great Era of basketball
yes a new generation very exicited to watch nba after the prev gen retires
@@vaibob3445 Lu dort is so much fun to watch
Please, those 3 clowns ain't even on lukas level
@@rektz2457 he's saying that those other 3 will also be part of the new generation of players not faces of the league
@@vaibob3445 facts
Is it just me, or does Deandre Ayton look like an 80 year old man?
I think it’s just you mate
No he looks like a 40 year old man.
sometimes he looks 14 or 44 years old to me. no in between.
Crazy he’s younger than me lol
Steroids man. Just 2 seasons ago he was suspended for a couple of games because he was tested positive for steroid use. He even write an apology letter on Twitter after that incident.
I still think that him being drafted by the Mavs (while Nowitski was still there) played a huge part in the fact he could adapt so well and so fast to the NBA scene
Navidski
He was white and European, that's why.
My guy 29 nba owners are white one is black il let you use your reasoning skills to figure the rest out
Stfu
I don’t know if that’s because of Racism that Luka hasn’t been taken... That’s more about stereotypes.
@@goattier7728 exactly like wth is he talking about your telling me that white nba owners don't draft white nba players??? Why is everything a race thing even tho It doesn't have to be smh
@@Idk-sf3bl Everything shouldn't be about race, but if a black person was slighted, people would be playing the race card left and right.
I know there's a stigma surrounding the euroleague but his accolades he achieved at his age were insane
@Eric Khai It's the Yugoslav basketball school. There were 3 major schools of bball: US, Soviet and Yugoslav. The American focuses on physical domination, Soviet on dominant centers and Yugoslav on improvisation. Players don't have positions in the younger categories, but the coaches work with them on all the details and that's why most players from the region of former Yugoslavia have good fundamentals. There's one complicated exercise, it's played 3 on 3 on the full court, it's not allowed to dribble the ball, and the winner is the one scores 3 time (each basket is worth 1 point, it doesn't matter if the shot is behind the 3pt line) and it can take hours before it ends. In this way players learn to think, develop passing and off ball movement.
I mean us Europeans watching him in the euro league and comparing him with other guys from the draft we were sure he was the best player in the draft .
There's one guy from Serbia who confidently raved nonsense that Luka is good, but Ayton is on another level because he played with him at Arizona.🙄
@@markomarkovic5729 I mean he wasn’t thinking about the bball iq or the technique comparison he saw in person a guy being 2 13 or Sth while being athletic bullying other centers etc and he just focused on that I think which is stupid
@@gianniskopdakis7248 It's EXTREMELY stupid, especially for a guy from Serbia, because Jokić at that time already proved you don't have to be physical freak to be good at bball
Ryan Hollins said that he’d be amazing in the league and that’s a guy who’s wrong most of the time.
Agreed
Ryan hollins was in europe getting busted by Luka of course he believes in him
He personally was victim of Luka dominance in Madrid
Lol. He was playing against Luka in Europe and he kicked his but, that’s why.
That's the thing, Ryan Hollins is dumb as fuck, but even he realized Luka is the real deal. All he had to do was pay attention to the euroleague.
The issue is that scouts don't pay much attention to Europe.
He only got it right bc he played in europe
This has happened several times most egregious was Carmelo going 3rd after Darko. Kobe went 13th but ended being the best player in his draft class. And Michael Jordan went 3rd after Sam Bowie and he ended up revolutionizing the game.
Agreed, but there's the eye test also you know :)
Buzzer beaters from a step-back on ankle breaker in a playoff game not enough ?, come on.. I can even see the "skillset" not being right for NBA for some Euro's, but Luka had the perfect skillset for the NBA, I mean he double-broke Viktor Claver's ankles in one single play vs a perennial league rival, and that wasn't enough to see him roll
And yes, the Sergio Llull story somehow was never told, imagine Giannis getting hurt and some 19 year old take over the Bucks and wins MVP and they win the title.. Sure it's the NBA but still, imagine that, cause that's exactly what Luka did as a teenager, took over from the running MVP from previous year due to injury, take the whole team on his back and STILL win both
one thing in notice is that you don’t mention Hakeem being taken first, which is a massive testament to how great Hakeem truly was. The Rockets picked Hakeem before Jordan was, and nobody gives them flak for it, man, Hakeem was a beast
Doncic played the 2017 European Championship for Slovenia and dominated with 18 y/o, among a bunch of nba players that played as well. It was very clear at that moment he was way ahead the others of his class.
All it took for me is watching him play in his 1st nba preseason game to know he was a future hall of fame, 1st time I'd seen him play, his ability to put the ball and game totally under his control is an ability that mostly only the all time greats posses.
Luka in King's jersey would be strange. Dallas is the perfect place for him.
Luka would look good on a Suns jersey let's be honest here
@@messimanuel1076 they already have booker there wouldn’t have worked imo
@@jonathankopf8330 i'm talking about the jerseys
You only say that because he got drafted as a Maverick
@@jonathankopf8330 They're talking about jerseys
I bought into the Mike Korzemba hype vid, this dude always seemed legit. The quarter Slovenian in me always wanted him to succeed, even as a Clippers fan I felt pride when he hit that buzzer beater.
Yo I’m a raiders and clippers fan too
Americans have a crazy love for big men that doesn’t fit anymore with the league.
Luka should be the 2018 first pick, that guy was just champion and mvp against real adults in Europe, but in US some inches are better than a unquestionable talent.
American scouts have a bias against white Europeans...or at least they did before Luka!
I’m a diehard hawks fan so when they drafted Luka I was so happy and that came crashing down when I heard they traded him. I wasn’t that big on trae back then.
Trae is gonna be a great one too. He might not ever develop the multiple-positional defensive skills that Luka is starting to show, but I don't buy the narrative that he's hopeless on that end at all. Plenty of players his size and smaller were able to be plus defenders at a high level (Tyler Ulis from UK comes to mind). Plus, if anyone has the potential to become as good or better at shooting than Steph, it's Trae. Y'all got a real one.
@@bobthabuilda1525 yep Trae is young and will develop skills about on ball defense and deflection. Even Steve Nash can deflect passes and tries his best to defend.
As a DFW native I’m so happy with how things turned out for the mavs and luka is living up to his talent hope he wins a championship for us or for another team cuz he is really special
I'd be shocked if he doesnt win at least 2 championship, and 3 MVPs in his career, he's going to be the best player for a long time like Lebron, barring injuries ofc. I've been watching the league for 10 years now, never seen someone so talent so young. Not only does he have the talent, but you can tell he has the competitive fire, which probably makes him a bit of asshole like a MJ and Kobe, but thats a sign of how serious he takes winning and how much he hates losing. But he also has some Magic in him which makes him extremely charismaticc, and unselfish on the court which will make players want to play with him. I'm not even a Mavs fan, and I actually don't like when we play Luka bc of all the unnecessary stuff he does to make his team win, but just like how I hated Kobe for that stuff at the time, I've learned to just appreciate greatness.
Scouts were like “he too thicc.”
😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Didn't they learn from kyle Lowry
Lol true
like jokic
What a joy to watch this maestro play the orchestra as he dominates these ultra athletic nut bags out of sheer skill and will. What a star!
I can understand why Ayton was picked over him at the time, but i CANT understand why the kings picked bagley lmao
Cuz Luka didn’t want to got there
@@LessGo7921 lie. Watch this interview. ruclips.net/video/HnhPtA76U74/видео.html
Watch kings draft picks and you'll understand
Cause they already had fox
@@johndavis9321 who would be even better with Luka.
Even if Luka's got the 1st Overall, I'm sure Marc Cuban will do miles to get him. And what makes him more special was that he wasn't over-appreciated at that time. That makes us fans want more to see them all prove wrong.
Is it me, or the 3rd picks were very good sometimes? MJ, Carmelo, LaMelo, Doncic, Harden, Tatum...
Do not put LaMelo and MJ in the same sentence.
Also Harden. If you want a great scorer who can also playmake, get the third pick.
Tatum was 3rd embiid too
dude really said lamelo
Lamelo should not be in the same sentence yet. Calm down guy.
Concerns about:
1) His athleticism, particularly on defense but offense too
2) His shooting
3) How much better he could get
Honestly, all of those were reasonable. He *isn't* very athletic, but some scouts and analysts either overrated the relative importance of athleticism or didn't account for his strength, size, body control and intelligence. He's not a good one-on-one defender, but just being 6'7" 230 means you don't get picked on too much. The questions about how efficiently Luka could score in the NBA were somewhat warranted, but unless you are a complete freak like young LeBron or Giannis you will need to make difficult shots. It's a moot point. Kobe was athletic and played like he got extra points for difficulty. Creating space to get a shot off is more about footwork, strength, balance and a well timed shoulder or forearm than crazy athleticism. Plus Luka was never bothered by guys running at him. He's a lot like Kawhi (or Kobe) in that he just sort of ignores the defender in his face and shoots his shot. And he was already doing that at 18. The shooting is still a concern for some given his 3P% to this point, but, personally, I always look at FT, touch in the lane, and pay attention to how teammates react. Generally, if a guy is taking 7-8 threes and he's not getting attitude from coaches and teammates or they are confident, then he's probably a good shooter and will be fine. The 'potential' thing was always kind of dumb since no one actually 'maxes out' their theoretical potential. His floor was, at worst, Hedo Turkoglu, which is the primary, if slightly underqualified, scoring option on a Finals team. That's way higher than most rookies.
The Ayton pick is defensible to me, even now. He has improved much faster than anticipated defensively and still projects as threat from outside as he matures. An elite rebounder and finisher who can protect the basket, defend in space, and stretch the opposing defense is a better fit next to Booker than Luka since neither is good defender and both are much better on ball. There are diminishing returns when your two best players don't complement one another. (See the KD-Russ Thunder. Although you could have always just traded one of them.)
The Bagley pick was stupid then and even dumber now. He's all potential without actually being good at things that help you win basketball games. If he can develop a reliable outside shot AND manage to not be a turnstile on defense then he can be useful, maybe, but right now he's a guy who lost his job to a second round pick (Richaun Holmes) and is way better on 2K than in real life.
After hearing Divac's reasoning for passing up on Luka, I got genuinely worried that he might have suffered from a debilitating stroke. Can we check up on him please and see if he is okay?
I think Divac was smoking too much
Let's not forget that Ryan Hollins said Luka should of went number 1
He only said that cause Michael Porter Jr was hurt
Best take of Ryan Hollins career
He played against him in Eu I think
@@numa2k147 Jup. He knew what he was talking about from personal experience.
Back when i see luka playback videos in europe, his moves are very efficient and up until now it doesn't change and in the nba he develop into more 3 pt stepback shooter
Tbh they just went for the fit than the talent , I mean DeAndre Ayton was the consensus #1 pick either way and no one thought Doncic would go #1 overall let alone #3
What ironic is that Suns struggled with point guard position until CP3 join this season
Some people actually thought he would go no. 1 before the draft
Luka was a consensus top 3 pick so stop capping. He was seen as the best player in the draft by most of the people but ayton was n1 in draft boards because he played in the university of Arizona and he was a better fit
I thought he was always this good I still don’t understand till this day why he didn’t go no 1
Really? He’s a white European..come on.. the nba is generally hesitant on those types of players you gotta know this
I thought he should have been no 1 Euro league MVP this guy was bustproof
Start making your THREE's James!!!
@@johnpierce4778 start getting on an nba court John
they went with fit over talent
The Kings did the same thing. Drafting for need is the dumbest strategy imaginable. You always go BPA
Didn't Suns struggled to fit the Point Guard position until this season ? Now they are balling with Chris Paul
Yeah. When you have a high pick, (especially in a very talented draft) you always go for the best player and figure out things later. Or at least explore a trade if you value player fit and get more assets like the hawks did.
@@37willdog I disagree when you have a guy like fox you don’t just give up on that because meh this guy in the.draft may b better
@@johndavis9321 they easily could have played together. Forcing guys into narrow positions is old news
Doesn't make sense to me till now.... HE WAS THE EUROLEAGUE MVP. Most current NBA players aren't even good enough to be Euroleague MVP
I feel like there’s a stigma with euro players which made GM’s hesitant to draft him, a lot of them don’t really ever pan out.
Everyone agrees with that cause players in Euroleague can be one-dimensional, they see the court good and fit in a role well, BUT, there's also the eye test.. I mean the ankle-breakers, buzzer-beaters, double-teamed passes out to the center, even defense wasn't that bad overall.. This is also the ONLY channel I've seen tell the Llull story, imagine a teenager take over the running MVP due to season-breaking injury and STILL win both the titles (MVP and the championship), I mean that should speak some volume/s in regards of taking the team over his own shoulders as a youngster, and yet, there was ZERO mention of that tbh
Nonsense. Americans have higher bust percentage than Euros and even if what you said was true (which it isn't) it would still be irrelevant. All of you who doubted Luka only knew Luka was European, "Darko Miličić and Mario Hezonja were European busts". That was the end and the extent of your knowledge. Luka was the best European 18 year old of all time. Anyone with a brain knew Luka was the best in that draft, only arrogant and ignorant Americans didn't know that. I would trust a random coach from Europe to evaluate European talent better than any NBA scout, analyst or any other kind of "expert". They are good at evaluating American talent but they are horrible at evaluating European talent.
@@VArsovski10 No one agrees with that, that's straight up false.
@@VArsovski10Luka wasn't drafted because of the eye test but because he was the best player in Europe at 18 years of age, the best player on the best team at 18. When you hear that you don't care about his stats, you don't care about the eye test you just draft him.
Busts from Europe had nowhere near similar resume that Luka had (no one ever had Luka's resume). And also players from Europe aren't more likely to be busts than Americans, in fact, Europeans are more likely to be underrated than American players.
You cant get more accomplished than Luka Doncic going into the draft and history, but still only went 3rd. The Olympics and the latest MVPs (Giannis and Jokic) shows that Europe has caught up.
Even Jerry West admitted a bias against white players which helps explain the crazy stupid decision not to draft Luka first. I followed Luka in his final year in the Euro league and there was no doubt he was the best player in the draft as the best player in Europe.
To put it in short: The Suns didn't have a serviceable big man for the long haul. They got their guy in Ayton and they're very happy now.
Uhh
@@basketballaddict2885 I’ll get you banned from RUclips for responding to him like that.
C'mon now, you're telling me you can't imagine a Luka Booker backcourt. And instead of trading for CP3 you get a decent big instead in the off-season. Tell me that's not a better team now and for the foreseeable future.
That's the reason the suns gave yes, and it's stupid AF, even at the draft the suns have cap room and even showed interests to get Clint Capela (they could offer a poison-pill offersheet to force the rocket giving Capela up), eventually they chose not to and waste the 1st pick on Ayton, Ayton is no scrub but he is not a great player also, about the same level as Capela but will cost the suns way more to resign, just stupid.
@@bigbrotherallstars43 that team would be scary
because: 'MURICA
Because the average fan watches highlight mixtapes on RUclips and maybe some NCAA games here and there. There's definitely a strong US bias.
When the Mavs draft him I though Luka and DSJ are the backcourt of the future. Too bad DSJ's career went downhill after his rookie season.
lol i knew dsj was gone sooner or later when they opted to give luka the ball instead
@@prozac. The true is Luka even back than was a better ball-handler and honestly point guard than DSJ! Looking back on it now I was wrong about Phoenix, Luka & D-Book would definitely work. I didn't want him in Sacramento with De'Aaron Fox because I'm a Kentucky fan I really believe in him. I thought Atlanta was perfect with Dennis Schroder gone!
DSJ doesn´t have a shot and his playmaking is below average in the NBA. I think he could stir up the chinese league with his speed and hops but the NBA and Europe are too skilled for him
Mavs didn't draft him
DSJ has no NBA skills and can't do shit with his tunnel vision. He's the prime example of failing American student athletes who rely on their natural talent and athleticism too much without developing shooting skills and their understanding of the game, defense and off-ball skills.
As a Mavs fan I can’t tell you how happy this kid makes me.. #MFFL
At the time Ayton looked like the safer number 1 pick but in hindsight they should’ve drafted Luka man, we could’ve seen Luka and Book together also I make videos as well
Yea that would be good but the suns had no big man and they desperately needed one.
And ayton has been playing well but no one has talked about him because luka and trae have been better but ayton has held his own
@@salikhasan1991 i agree ..suns pick what they needed and it not like ayton was a scrub either
Suns desperately need Point Guard as well. Look at the difference with CP3 on the roster this season.
They hoped Ayton was what Wiseman is
Unpopular opinion he was a HOF before reaching the NBA:
Thats not an unpopular opinion, THATS A FACT
You mean his euro league credentials alone is worthy of a place in a Hall ? Naaahhh. Since when is 9ppg 4rpg 3.5apg in 4 seasons (in EuroLeague at that) Hall of Fame worthy?
@Raymark Canales, uh. Those are not his stats. He was an MVP and champion and the youngest ever to play in that league.
@@cuh6918 what does stats means if he won the MVP of the competion?
Besides, you're counting in the numbers he had when he was 16 years old. How much more can you ask from him?
Not only Luka, Kings fans actually hopes they drafted other players too for the past 15 years.
I remember there were rumors that Luka wouldn't want to play for the Kings, so that gave the Kings caution about picking him.
It was a lie. Luka himself said he expected to be drafted by Kings and that he was surprised when he wasn’t.
ruclips.net/video/HnhPtA76U74/видео.html
i like how they were beating Luka over the head with the padded sticks
its kinda strange how similar the early picks in the 1983 and 2018 drafts turned out
1st pick: ultra athletic big man who makes a day 1 impact
2nd pick: constantly injured, generally considered a bust
3rd pick: all time great level guard
4th pick: solid power forward
5th pick: undersized all time great level player
6th pick: center who's a clear bust
looking at the full 2018 draft I think we could be witnessing possibly the greatest draft class in nba history. Enjoy it while you still can.
When luka was still in euroleague Vlade Divac came to watch him to one game in that game luka missed a game winning shot and ripped his jersey
The story of how Divac and Luka's father have a beef is just a bs. The Kings had Hield and Fox at the time and they needed a big and that’s why they drafted Bagley. At that time even one guy from Serbia confidently raved nonsense that Luka is good, but Ayton is on another level because he played with him at Arizona.
To people that still think that ncaa is better than euroleague remember, american imports that played in that league were once a star in college, and the european guy represents their respective country, while you barely face college stars every night, and most players you face arent gonna be a pro in a top 5 league..
Cause some how skinny college kids are seen as better than seasoned pros
US bias towards US guys. People in the States are quite arrogant and not very open minded towards other ways of development. They're super biased towards the NCAA system even though we know it's incredibly flawed.
I wrote this, back to the 2018,in a basketball forum,just after the draft. "Luka isn't just a european prospect.He is the BIGGEST european prospect ever.Nobody was that good at that age.Even Pau Gasol,who ended up being a hall of fame lock.So,does it mean that he had to be nr.1 draft pick?Not necessarily,but you can't put him in the same bag with the rubios and the hezonjas of this world."
Ayton has still been a very good #1 pick though despite not being as good as Doncic, I still have hope for Bagley as well and he’s been playing better recently
Yeah, I don't think Bagley or Ayton were bad picks, but for me personally I had Luka number 1 but I live in Europe so I just watch a lot of it, whereas I really only see college highlights
Very good #1 pick for them 10- 15 years ago. Is it still a good pick in this 3 point era ?
@@markusbisma5015 Ayton 100% is as there's still a place for elite big men, like Jokic or Embiid. Bagley I'm not so sure on but I think he can still come good as it's still really early on
Ayton's just your typical big man who can put up double double every night, but he's not a generational talent like Luka Doncic. Doesn't worth a number one overall pick on a guy like him. He was the safest pick, but not the best one.
@@duncanwalter3613 seriously, you're comparing Ayton to Jokic and Embiid? I would not say the word "elite" when describing him. Ayton's a good big man, your typical blue collar big guy who can clean up the boards, but that's it. He doesn't create his shots, he doesn't score like Embiid, nor can he pass like Jokic.
MOST HERE PROBABLY DON'T KNOW THE FACT THAT EVERY GAME THAT LUKA PLAYED FOR SLOVENIA SO FAR SLOVENIA WON; CONSIDERING SLOVENIA IS ON FIBA RANKING No. 16 IT IS AN AMAZING STAT! AT THE FIRST EVER OLYPMIC GAME HE NEARLY BROKE AN ALL TIME RECORD FOR SCORED POINTS IN A SINGLE GAME; DURING THE GAME HE WAS INCAURAGED BY HIS TEAMMATES TO GO FOR THE RECORD, BUT HE RESPONDED THAT HE DID NOT COME TO THE OLYMPICS TO BREAK RECORDS, BUT TO WIN A MEDAL! NOT ONLY HE IS SUPER TALENTED, BUT HE IS A TRUE TEAM PLAYER! COACH KEPT HIM OUT FOR THE LAST HALF OF THE LAST QUATER; IF HE STAYED IN, HE WOULD HAVE LIKELY SET THE RECORD AT HIS FIRST EVER OLYMPIC GAME.
As a mav fan, this video made me smile
This is my redraft for NBA 2018 Draft
1.L. Doncic
2.S.G.Alexander
3.T. Young
4.J.Jackson Jr.
5.J.Brunson
7:55 our reaction rn when the kings passed on luka..
It happens all the time. I suffered Luka as a Valencia Basket fan myself (10-12th best European team) and I knew he was the real deal. But it's same we do with soccer players, we don't trust so much players who shine in minor leagues until they come to the big leagues in Europe. Good video!
Euro League is the second best competition behind NBA
It should be noted that while the Hawks-Mavs trade was specifically for the Cam Reddish pick, having that particular pick helped give them the flexibility to trade up to draft DeAndre hunter
You never should bet against a player that has mastered fundamentals even at the highest levels. Luka by far has the most solid foundation of skills that he can always fall back on.
I didn't even know much about him before he got drafted. I knew enough about him that I knew he was good to be dominating grown men at 17-18 years old and was a professional basketball player before he was 15 years old.
The fact that so many great overseas players play professionally so young is why they have a leg up nowadays on American college players (not always the case) when they come over at 19/20 years old. Us Americans know that, but what we'd like to see is players like Doncic come over to the United States and play one year of college basketball to get an idea of how good they play in the American style of play before they are drafted. Since players like Luka were pros before, that derails any idea of them playing in college. Maybe have them come over and play in the American NBA-style of play for one year in the NBA G-League before they are drafted.
There are so many factors in play when teams are drafting overseas players, it's basically a crapshoot. They are getting much better at it, but it's still basically rolling the dice. There have been a lot of foreign draft busts from the 1990's until now. I do say that Luca Doncic was worthy of the first pick in the draft, but Phoenix took the safe pick at #1 with Ayton. No question Sacramento should've taken him at #2. That Divac explanation didn't make sense, just pick the best player available and go from there.
Suns get the pass, they need a big.
Kings though... Yikes.
Facts
The kings have been making picks in the draft that are laughable. They’ve been doing it for years now so I’m not surprised.
Amm no... Luka and Booker with geting just 1 big who can rebound and defend and they win everything even them 2 together is better then Luka and Porzingis.
I'm asian and I'm really looking forward to his future career. Surely, one of the GOAT.
LUKA WILL BE THE NEXT LEGEND, the G.O.A.T.
Euroleague is not Chinese league and is pretty difficult to put up numbers because defences are hard in every possession and playing time is limited in the better teams. I love NBA but if u enjoy basketball strategy and defence, euroleague is amazing and for sure more fun to watch than 90% of regural season NBA.
Luka is once in a generation type player. And he's not even in the beginning of his prime yet and he's this good. Imagine when he hits his prime.
Jordan and Donkic both were drafted at 3. Despite being the best player of the draft.
Coach Knight would’ve said to the Suns. What he told the eBlazers who needed a centre. Draft Donkic and play him at centre
7:04 not Divack, should be pronounced "Divatz"
Actually it's pronounced /divatch/
@Eric Khai Dude it's not German...
@Eric Khai He speaks serbo-kroatian ya dimwit. There is no "slavic".
@Eric KhaiCaps lock on.
@Eric Khai it's Divatz, not ch, last letter is C not Ć
Simple answer: people were casuals I got heat in hs for asking the same question then mfs say "he’s European tho" 5 years later he’s wearing a Luka jersey 🤣
I don't understand how Luka can be disliked. He is Dirk 2.0, he is always with a smile on the court and unselfish (Spurs fan).
Well Luka's got a bit of narcissistic vibe to him, but also kinda the whole notion of "taking things personally" or "respond to an insult" doesn't work that much in Europe and it's more a "stick to the team's plan, who wins has all the right to laugh", so can see why the US audience may not be as attached to him cause he not only doesn't respond much to those "personal challenge calls" as often as the US audience would like him see do.. Even more so, "challenges" like that can get to his head and starts missing super easy shots or even complained about it.. BUT, one in 5 games of the kind his "second nature avatar" shows up and takes over :D
Pretty sure he'll be fine with it as time passes though, I mean he just turned 22, so there's plenty of time for him to develop, and on a by-nightly basis we see footages and highlights like we've never (or very rarely) seen lol
I’d say that I was one of most people who thought Luka would be just another role player but he’s proven a lot of us wrong.
More early than Karl Malone at a daycare
😂
HAHAHAHA LOLL
Deandre Ayton was a traits guy. He hardly "dominated" in college, but his physical profile was incredible.
To be honest mavs is the perfect fit for luka, im not sure if he became this luka if he got drafted early
Facts
Luka would shine anywhere and anyhow. If Suns drafted him, his coach would be Igor Kokoškov who was his coach on Slovene national team and he knew him already. Also him and Booker would work just fine together. I know, because he was perfect Goran Dragić’s and Sergio Lull’s sidekick. Luka adjusts to the game and players.
Haha lame comment. A great player would fit on any team. He is bound to be a superstar. He could have double his stats if his on a lottery team. lol
@@danakaleb4882 im saying is mavs used too make european player a legend , and there is a proof about it , so still mavs is best fit ...
@@danakaleb4882 Igor was a terrible coach lmfao.
I watched Bird in the 80's and a lot of basketball has passed since Larry Legend hung them up in '92, and I can honestly say without regret that Luka is the closest thing to Bird minus 3 rings and a gold medal with the Dream Team!!!
If his name is jamal all the haters be reversing real quick
?
You should have seen NBA Twitter during Luka's first year lol. I saw thousands of comments shitting on him just because he was White lol.
@@RuskiVodkaaaa white basketball players are going to be the best players in the nba in the near future with the future goat luka leading the way
Ok racist
@@rektz2457 you seem insecure about your race. I white but relax buddy and he ain’t American like y’all
I am from europe and i watch euroleague, you just had to watch one game when luka played and you could tell, that he was going to be a star in the nba
I know that Vlade Divac is feeling sick to this day for that draft decision lmao
Luka rejected the Kings. He told them not to draft him because the market.
@@JoseFranco9 wasn’t that proven false already lol
@@prozac. Yes, it was.
I only look into the mock draft days before the actual draft, and watch a few of their games. Surprisingly, Luka caught my attention as he was playing in a different level at a young age. I expected him to get drafted at #2 since Pheonix needs a big man to be paired with Booker, but it didn't happen.
3:38 Lol... I'd take Luka over 20 Michael Porter, Jrs 😂😂😂
Damn right
He plays so effortlessly too. Makes it look easy
i know mpj not talking lmao
The Suns did the safe move by getting the best player in the NCAA. The Kings on the other hand, don’t know what they were thinking with Bagley
But how is it safer getting the best player in the ncaa than the best player in the Euroleauge (a far better leauge)?🤔
Simple: Because he was a white and European
Perfect timing after last night’s clutch game-winning shots!
Facts
I was piss when we drafted Luka but looking back at that day, I’d slapped tf outta myself
Facts
Stephen A is that you?
The issue here is that Americans still think Europe as one country and Europeans being the same with each other. I mean it's like saying both LeBron and Lou Williams are American, therefore they should be similar to each other. Sounds ridiculous, right? So what's the point of comparing Doncic with Bender or Len? Luka was already known as the prodigy in Euroleague and Spanish league since he was 16 and he carried his team to win Euroleague as a 18 year old. I'm not one of those delusional people to compare Euroleague with NBA; but Euroleague is certainly a MUCH better competition than NCAA. So his adjustment to more athletic defenders was easier comparing to a college player.
MPJ liked a post about Luka being overrated, yet MPJ is the overrated one and he showed it in the playoffs this season.
As a lifelong mavericks fan, I want to personally thank the Suns and the Kings for continuing their tradition of mostly being incompetent at drafting. I need to seen y'alls front office a bouquet of roses or something.
I commented it earlier on some other Vids but Luka has the potential to be the GOAT
I feel it's like the 84 draft situation: hakeem was taken first over jordan, but they won't complain cause he was still great for them. Same will probanly happen with ayton being picked first over luka. Not better but still great. I'm not saying they're on hakeem and MJs level. Just a comparison of situations
Igor Kokoskov was the Phoenix Suns coach during this draft and he was also one of Luka’s coaches in Europe. Which is quite surprising that Luka was not drafted by the Suns
never compare doncic to Lebron bro respectfully
The comparison is pre-nba. Stop being a stan and offended everytime bron name is brought up
@@ozamatazbuckshank7467 stfu
Yeah im taking Bron over Luka simply because Bron had the most hype ever and had lofty expectations to carry a lowly Cavs franchise.
@@TranquilAura77 exactly
Lebron compares Luka already to himself you clown, go watch Lebron talking about Luka and Magic and himself on Sportsnet before you say some dumb shit like that!
Because GMs remembered the hype behind Mario Hezonja that pushed him up to the 5th pick in the draft. And GMs love to compare Euros to Euros.
Not just GMs, but talking heads in general.
Too white for 1st rd pick
Too white for allstar game
Hes a starter
@@goattier7728 he wasn't in shaq or dwade starter list (or roster)
@@danreyes3293 shaq was hating on dmitch were you saying this stuff for dmitch
@@danreyes3293 well do dwade and shaq list matter towards who gets in stop being racisr
I would like it so much to see him play with Giannis and or Jokic. What a team they would make!!!