Drafting isn’t a top prospect isn’t always going to turn out the way a team wants and sometimes you might just get a bust. The Dallas Mavericks are hoping that isn’t the case after taking the Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic in this year’s NBA Draft. The team thinks they have a talented player that will be a franchise player. Doncic’s peers however might not feel the same.
Though he was selected with the third overall pick in the draft, the 2018 rookies really have no respect for the Slovenian player according to a new poll released on NBA.com. The poll had the rookies answer a few different questions about the rookie class and their expectations going into the NBA.
The first major question asked to the rookies was who would win Rookie of the Year this season. DeAndre Ayton and Collin Sexton tied for first place with 18% of the vote. Luka Doncic and Kevin Knox both tied for third with 9% of the rookie vote.
Doncic came in third as well on the best playmaker in the rookie class, with 9% of the vote tied with Collin Sexton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Doncic also received one vote about being the biggest draft steal this season. Funny thing is that fellow Mavs rookie Jalen Brunson took second with 15% of the vote.
Other than that, rookies weren’t too high on the former Real Madrid star. The biggest snub was on who would have the best career, which he didn’t receive a single vote. He was also snubbed from best shooter and best defender.
Why the hate?
It could be the fact that most of the rookies are from the United States and haven’t paid attention to what a young player does in Europe. For Mavs fans, this shouldn’t bother you much because the only opinion that matters is Donnie Nelson. Nelson is a genius at scouting overseas players and of course he is the one who found the great Dirk Nowitzki.
The biggest positive from this vote shows that there is some admiration for his playmaking ability and that is his biggest attribute coming into the league. Doncic looks the most NBA ready and will surprise his rookie class very soon.
So take the survey at whatever value you want. Let’s just wait until the season starts and let’s see how good Luka can be with our own eyes.
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