It might be too early to say Luka Doncic is a star in the NBA, but that’s certainly how it feels when watching him play. The greatest European prospect of all time has not missed a beat in making the jump from Europe to the NBA and his play is starting to turn heads around the league. Anybody that watched Doncic in Europe knew this was a possibility. His play and accomplishments from such a young age against actual pros was more than enough to note that he had great basketball skill.
Still, there was an expectation that he would take at least a little time to adjust. It’s a new country with different rules against the world’s absolute best. And he’s only 19. Yet, if there’s been an adjustment period, Doncic has done his best to mask that. His play has even caught the attention of arguably the greatest international player ever, Dirk Nowitzki, but is Doncic still too new to attract free agents?
According to Sporting News he might be the key to free agent success for a Mavericks team that’s often been on the outside looking in when it comes to luring big free agent signings to Dallas.
“It’s always hard to make that pitch and get over the hump with free agents,” one league source told Sporting News. “But they didn’t really have a chance with those guys. Players mostly like (owner Mark) Cuban, and they were always a compelling enough franchise to get in the room with LeBron and Dwight Howard and other stars. But they could not present themselves as a team with a great future.
“They can do that now. Not sure they can push a star to put his name on the line, but ‘Come play with Luka,’ it’s a better message.”
The Mavericks have always been a team that could get their foot in the door with free agents, but they’ve never been one to close out with them. Sometimes just being one of those constant teams that get meetings is great though, because when someone finally does sign it’s a domino effect. More stars eventually want to play there. The key is getting that piece to get that one signing. For the Mavericks it really could be Doncic.
That said, it still might be a little too early to sell free agents on the idea of Doncic. He’s playing extremely well and that level of play is going to eventually get him noticed by his peers. Right now though, beyond the European vote in the All-Star Game, Doncic is still trying to gain that respect from the rest of the league. He has to do his time and play these stars. Once he’s done that, and players respect him, he’ll be someone other guys want to play with.
