‘The Sure Thing’: Mavs Luka Landslide Winner in NBA Survey
DALLAS - “The survey says ...” The NBA’s best young building block is Luka Doncic.
The Dallas Mavericks’ second-year All-Star and MVP is the landslide winner in an ESPN survey that polled 20 league officials’ thoughts on which NBA rising star they’d most want to build a team around.
The Slovenian sensation Doncic, New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson, Atlanta Hawks second-year guard Trae Young and Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant were the four names getting votes from the 20 coaches, scouts and executives involved in the survey - and Doncic received 17 of 20 votes for first place. (A wild guess, if you will allow: As much merit as the trio of runners-up surely have ... We wonder if the three lonely league officials who did not pick Luka Doncic might just happen to be employed by the Pels, Hawks and Grizzlies?)
The “WonderBoy” Doncic is of course the centerpiece of Dallas’ high-powered offense, an All-Star starter, an MVP candidate and at just 21 years old the driving force in the Mavs’ return to playoffs-worthy play. All four of the top youngsters have talent and charisma. ... and all four of them are impressive in terms of the stat sheet as well.
The 6-7 do-it-all Doncic is however the only one of the youthful NBA quartet who has engineered his franchise into a true turnaround.
“Luka is a known quantity as a total stud,” an Eastern Conference scout said to ESPN, “so you have to take the sure thing.”
