It's easy to forget that Luka Doncic is only 19 years old. The Dallas Mavericks rookie is taking the NBA by storm, and his success was a long time in the making. The Mavericks had their sights on Doncic for years, according to Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated.
At eight Dončić played against 11-year-olds in his native Slovenia. By 13 he had signed with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid. And at 14 he first caught the interest of the Dallas Mavericks, who were drawn to his game from half a world away
It was hardly an act of discovery. Real Madrid is one of the best clubs in one of the best basketball leagues in the world. “That’s a well-traveled road, in terms of scouting,” says Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson, whose staff was among the first to fully explore the international basketball scene. There was no moment of epiphany for some canny scout in a barren, third-division gym. Dončić played to packed arenas against real professionals starting at 16. By the time he declared for the 2018 draft as a 19-year-old, he had amassed a more substantive body of work against high-level competition than any prospect in his class—and perhaps ever. Whatever mystery there was surrounding the EuroLeague’s teenage MVP, it could be solved with a simple YouTube search.
The rookie's winding path that led him to the NBA started years ago. The way teams handle scouting nowadays, it's no surprise that the Mavs would have scouted Luka Doncic back in his younger days.
Europeans are becoming an even bigger part of the NBA than they ever have before. The world is growing smaller and there is a need for NBA teams to dispatch scouts to all corners of the world. That's how Dallas came across its rookie sensation.
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