Can confirm, Beijing wouldn't even be a top8 team in the Euroleague. Friday should be fun though. Doncic vs Simmons duel.
I'm giving Doncic the benefit of the doubt. If he doesn't end up as good a shooter as Klay, he's not going to be a great player. I also don't think Doncic is a much better passer, it's just a circumstance thing. Klay catches and shoots everything - Curry and Draymond handle the ball most of the time there. If Klay were playing at Forward on another team, he could put up 5 assists imo. Doncic looks like he's going to turn it over a lot while they force him to be a PG. Gallinari with court vision is definitely a good comparison too IF he can attack the rim as well as a prime Gallinari did.
Yea, that would be my comparison. He's definitely no Klay. Klay is a shooter and not a passer and doesn't have any vision. Only similarities between the 2 is both are white and are 6'7. This would be like comparing Anthony Mason to Reggie Miller just because they were both 6'7 and black
Wtf Klay is one of the best shooters in NBA history if you are saying Doncic needs to shoot like that to be a great player that means he has basically no NBA potential which is just not true. Doncic reminds me a lot of Paul Pierce without the defense and with better play making he seems just a very versatile offensive player with a killer instinct. Gallinari isn't a great comparison because Gallo could jump right out of the building Doncic obv doesn't have that type of athleticism. The fact that he looks so out of shape yet still had one of the better stats on the team shows how good he is gonna be. Sacramento and Atlanta made huge mistakes passing on him and kicker is both their picks played so bad in SL.
That's exactly my point. Lots of very athletic draftees have much to learn skillwise and they don't pan out most of the time (anyone remembers Derrick Williams?). Even if they do, one injury can derail their career completely because they rely on athleticism too much. It's opposite with Luka. A nearly complete player, conditioning and weight loss are much easier to accomplish than, say, shoot better. Just ask MKG and Justise Winslow.
Pierce is a good comparison especially since coming out of Kansas, his stock dropped in the draft because they didn't think he could shoot, and wasn't elite at anything, just happen to be a really good player and could pass for his height. Doncic going to look to prove those 3 teams made the wrong pick just like Pierce when 8 teams pass up on him.
never saw Klay doing something like Luka did at 9:24, is he already better than klay or thats just bad competition he was playing against
Smart, size, range, vision, handles for size with the intangibles to boot. And the most accomplished import based on age. He’s gonna be alright.
To be a franchise player who isn't a good defender (and it's telling that even his biggest fans don't have much faith in his defensive potential), you have to be a transcendental offensive talent. He's not going to be blowing by people 10 times a game, so it's going to have to be shooting and playmaking. If it's great playmaking combined with good shooting, good handles, mediocre rebounding and poor defense, that's not a franchise player. Defense is half the game. If you're talking about just being a really good player, I've already said he definitely will be. He will probably be about as good a scorer as Pierce, a much better passer, but a far far worse defender. Passing doesn't make up for defense though. Give me an excellent defender who is mediocre at everything else, over an excellent passer who is mediocre at everything else. I'm discussing him in the context of being a franchise player and imo there are only 10 or so of those in the league.
Is James Harden not a franchise player? He is basically a great playmaker, good shooter and bad defensive player somehow that didn't prevent him from winning MVP. Only 10 franchise players in the game seriously? Maybe you need to look up how many franchises there are in the NBA. Harden, Lebron, Durant, Steph, Kawhi, AD, Greek Freak, Tatum, Mitchell, Simmons omg better tell Klay Thompson, Cp3, Embiid, Kristaps, Draymond etc they all suck now. I don't even know where the mediocre rebounder comes from he won't be great at rebounding or defense but if he tries he is already gonna be better defensively than Harden. He had 6 rebs and was +26 he isn't exactly a liability on the court. Its too early to tell what his ceiling will be so its hilarious you already know whether he will be "great" or a "franchise player".
What makes it super dumb though is Doncic didn't have to prove anything he was Euroleague MVP at age 19 his credentials are a lot more solid than any other guy in the draft. The teams who passed on him (except for PHX cuz Ayton is a hometown guy who will bring in $$$) just talked themselves into skipping him.
I cannot see Doncic becoming a superstar. However, lower tier all-star, like Hayward, Millsap or Kemba, should be within his reach. He needs a great scorer next to him.