Getty Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas Maverick fans know how lucky they are to get a generational talent like Doncic, especially with how it has overlapped the twilight of Mavs great Dirk Nowitzki’s career.
Like the passing of the torch, Nowitzki’s final season came in 2018-19, while it was Doncic’s rookie season. He won the Rookie of the Year in a landslide, thanks to his 23.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 6.7 assists averages.
Doncic has only played in four seasons in the NBA, but at the age of 23, he is already considered to be one of the best players in the league.
Just this past season, Doncic shocked everyone and lead his team deep into the playoffs. Many people did not think they could get past Utah in the first round, let alone the defending conference champions Phoenix. The Slovenian led his team into the conference finals for the first time since 2011 for the Mavs.
After averaging 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.7 assists this past year, the do it all guard is poised to make even more noise next season. He finished fifth in MVP voting this past season and would like to change that.
ESPN Ranks Luka Doncic High to Win Award
ESPN did their annual summer forecast for next season and is predicting big things from the Mavs superstar.
Through their panel of insiders, they each ranked their top three choices for the six major awards in the NBA. A first-place vote would command five points, a second-place vote three points, and a third-place vote one point.
For the prestigious MVP award, Giannis Antetokounmpo topped all players out with 43 total points. Doncic and Joel Embiid both came in tied for second place with 40 points apiece. The only difference between both was that Embiid received 33% of the first-place votes, while Doncic only received 22.2%. However, that also means that Doncic fared better in second and third place votes than the Sixers big man did.
Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, has the inside track to win his third award but has some company near the top. Both Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid are right on his heels in the voting, and Curry comes in fourth with an outside chance to follow his 2022 Finals MVP with the third regular-season award of his Hall of Fame career.
Doncic Hopes to Defend EuroBasket Title
Before the season gets back on track for the Mavericks, Doncic currently has his eyes on helping his native country Slovenia defend the EuroBasket title they won in 2017.
He was a teenager back in 2017, but now Doncic will lead Slovenia deep into the tournament. It likely will not be an easy task, as Embiid has joined France and will pair up with Rudy Gobert.
Mavs fans will likely tune in, but priority No. 1 for them and owner Mark Cuban would be that he manages to stay healthy for the start of the NBA season. The silver lining with the tournament is that Doncic has shown up much leaner than he has in the past. In previous seasons, Doncic showed up to Mavs’ training camp overweight and out of shape.