Kristaps Porzingis was impressed with what he witnessed this summer. After making countless plays for his national team during EuroBasket competition, the 7-foot-3 giant finally fell to eventual champion Slovenia and their 18-year-old prodigy Luka Doncic — a player he feels can go No. 1 in the 2018 NBA Draft.
“What he’s doing at 18, I’ve never seen a player in Europe do that,” Porzingis told Peter Walsh of SLAM Magazine. “He’s one of the leaders for Real Madrid and he’s being very consistent — he’s not playing one game great and then playing the next poorly as most young guys do, as I did myself.”
“He’s being very consistent and that has surprised me the most. What he’s doing at the top level of Europe, I believe that he should be the No. 1 pick.”
Many NBA scouts offered that Doncic had the potential to be the top pick given the arsenal he brought to the table playing against grown men, professionals, at the ripe age of 18.
Doncic wasn't in a summer league, bumping into a few NBA stars working up a sweat — he played against pros that represented their country and fought for the very honor he now gave his country after defeating Porzingis' Latvia, former champion Spain, and then Serbia in the finals.
The 6-foot-7 forward can shoot, rebound, make plays and defend at a consistent level; which is much more of a well-rounded package than what one-and-dones have offered during the past decade.
Doncic put up 27 points against Porzingis and neared triple-doubles in the last two games of competition, showing just what he's capable of when trusted into a key role.
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