NBA: Doncic: “Think I’m well prepared”

The Dallas Mavericks have drawn their dream player in a draft through a trade in Luka Doncic. The Slovenian was enthusiastic about the Mavs, while coach Rick Carlisle is also satisfied, but also urges patience.

“I talked to a lot of teams, but Dallas was especially nice to me,” Doncic said at the subsequent PK. “At the end of the day, I’m just happy I made it to the NBA.”

Dallas got Doncic because they switched picks with the Atlanta Hawks just before the drag started. Dallas moved to number 5 for Hawks Trae Young, while Atlanta chose Doncic for Dallas. The Mavs will also send a protected first-round pick from 2019 to Atlanta, which will be top 5 protected for the next two years. 2021 and 2022 the pick is only top 3 protected, after that there are no more protecions.

The Mavs and the Hawks even talked about a bigger deal before. This is said to have been about an exchange between Wesley Matthews and Kent Bazemore, which would have saved the Hawks some money. However, Dallas ultimately rejected this.

Nevertheless, Doncic landed in Dallas and the Slovenian now wants to refute his critics and show that he can also convince in the NBA. “I played with and against former NBA players. My teammates taught me a lot, I think I’m well prepared.”

This is the hope now also in Dallas, where Rick Carlisle was satisfied with the election. “We are very happy Luka was our man in this draft,” the coach told ESPN. “We think he’s a franchise player. He is very advanced for his age, even if he still has physical deficits. But we will prepare him for his duties.”

Doncic comes to Texas from Real Madrid as probably the most successful draft prospect of all time. With Real Madrid, the Slovenian won ACB three times and EuroLeague once. This year Doncic was awarded MVP in both competitions.