NBA: Carlisle and Barea rave about Doncic

The Dallas Mavericks have high hopes for No.3 pick Luka Doncic, for whom they even gave a first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks. Coach Rick Carlisle sang another song of praise for the rookie and Guard colleague J.J. Barea also had nothing but good to report.

“Every fan who hasn’t got a season ticket will regret this deeply. That’s all I have to say after two days with Luka,” Carlisle told Eddie Sefko of Dallas Morning News.

Doncic was in Dallas last week playing a little pickup with some of his new teammates, including J.J. Barea, who also had nothing but good things to say about Doncic’s performance.

“He’s not very fast, but he plays the game with a good pace and always controlled,” Barea said. “He’s tall, he can pass over the opponents. He really is a great passer, but he can also throw. He must always be defended.”

Doncic comes to the NBA with a lot of premature praise. In Europe, the Slovenian won everything as a teenager and was voted MVP of the Regular Season and the Final Fours in the EuroLeague.