By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With the Drazen Petrovic nostalgia being once again on the forefront after the Nets decision to honor his memory, Luka Doncic is proving to be the heir of the legendary “Mozart”.
There’s no doubt at this moment that Doncic will be at least among the first three players picked in the upcoming NBA draft. Three decades have passed since Petrovic was the 60th pick of the 1986 draft and times have changed.
The idea of a European being the top draft pick is not mindboggling. It has happened before with Andrea Bargnani. And while Doncic still fits the old stereotype of the less athletic European players, he can’t be compared with basketball geniuses of the recent past, like Dejan Bodiroga, who were really limited by their athletic abilities and never tried the jump to the NBA.
Doncic at his age is by far the best European NBA-bound “product”. And that makes his probable last season in Europe special.
Real Madrid‘s pride
While Drazen was not by any means a product of Real Madrid, he played for the “Whites” for one season, before leaving for the NBA in the summer of 1989. With the laws about foreign players all around Europe changed since the Nineties, it was much for easier for Madrid to sign Doncic and make him a part of its junior system since 2012.
And Real Madrid, being one of the biggest clubs of the world, doesn’t love the idea of parting ways with Doncic this summer. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said that the club will try to keep Doncic out of the NBA for a bit longer. Madrid succeeded so far in achieving this with local star Sergio Llull. However, with Doncic being a top pick, this is simply not feasible. And that makes the few months left until June even more important for Doncic’s legacy.
While it’s almost absurd to talk about the legacy of a 19 years old player, Doncic not only has already won a Eurobasket gold, being the wingman of Goran Dragic, but he is carrying Real Madrid so far in the season. With Llull injured, Doncic is the de facto leader of the “Whites” and the top player in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague index rating, averaging 23,4, over established names like Nando De Colo (20.3), Alexey Shved (19.8), Toko Shengelia (19.1) and Nick Calathes (18.2). All of them played in the NBA and are stars in Europe.
King of Europe
Doncic has already won twice the Spanish Liga Endesa championship title and also two “Copa Del Rey” finals, plus Eurobasket gold with Slovenia. However, in his first Final Four appearance last May in Istanbul, he was a non-factor. He had zero points in last season’s semifinal against eventual champions Fenerbahce – and current Sacramento Kings rookie Bogdan Bogdanovic – and just six in the third-place game against CSKA Moscow. He scored only from the free throws line. He finally looked like a teenager, after a season that included 35 games in the top European level with him averaging 7.8 points, 4.2 assists and 4.1 rebounds.
And that makes things from now on even more interesting for him. With Madrid losing the Spanish “Copa Del Rey” to their arch-rival Barcelona and currently being fourth in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings, Doncic has to step up his game even more while still waiting for injured Sergio Llull to return in order to make things happen and win the EuroLeague title.
Doncic is currently one of the main candidates to win the EuroLeague MVP award, he is having a fairytale-like season including his Eurobasket triumph and moving to the NBA after winning the EuroLeague championship title will provide him with a totally completed resume in European basketball. And he will do it as a teenager. Not even Drazen was able to do that…