Boston Celtics: Predicting Every Award for the 2018-2019 NBA Season
By Thomas King
Rookie of the Year: Luka Doncic, PG Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks rookie point guard enters the NBA with more basketball accolades than perhaps any other player in league history: Euroleague champion, Euroleague MVP, Euroleague Final Four MVP, the list goes on and on.
Doncic also enters a relatively stable environment for a top pick; he’ll play for one of the best coaches in the league, get to play pick-and-roll with DeAndre Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki, and though the Mavericks aren’t likely to make the playoffs, they surround the young foreigner with proven character veterans, like Nowitzki, Jordan, Harrison Barnes, Wesley Matthews, and JJ Barea.
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The 6-foot-7 point guard reminds me of a fully-realized version of Hedo Turkoglu. Like Turkoglu, Doncic isn’t a top tier athlete by any stretch, but he uses his size, shooting, passing, and craftiness in the pick-and-roll to create for himself and others.
With his combination of ball-handling, shooting, and size, Doncic will figure out how to score in the NBA. What he’ll have to learn and evolve is on the defensive end as he finds out ultimately where he can fit in a team’s scheme and how and who he can guard.
Top picks Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley will likely put up puffy stats on terrible teams, while Wendell Carter Jr. is a strong dark horse candidate if Chicago’s shaky guards can get him the ball in the right spots.