Luka Doncic is taking the NBA world by storm, even more than he did in his rookie season after being drafted third overall by the Dallas Mavericks following a gut-check draft night trade.
The 20-year-old Mavs star is quickly entering the MVP conversation while nearly averaging a 30-point triple-double for the season, something veteran teammate J.J. Barea has been admiring since the start of the 2019-20 campaign:
“Unbelievable. But we were talking about if he can keep this up, and I was like, ‘Yo, if somebody can keep this up, it's him,'” said Barea, who serves as a mentor for Doncic, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. “He plays on the ground. He's super smart. He's shooting the ball well. He's finishing really well. I see him keeping it up.”
Doncic's latest feat? A 35-point, 10-rebound, 11-assist triple-double in 25 minutes as the Mavericks dismantled the Golden State Warriors with a 142-94 win. The young phenom outscored, outrebounded, and outassisted the entire Warriors team in the first quarter, something Barea argued comes easy to him:
“It's not hard for him to do this right now,” said Barea. “He's not forcing crazy s**t. It's just coming. That's why I think he can keep this up. He's making it look easy.”
The Slovenian wunderkind doesn't need to take 30 shots a night or play heavy minutes to get his numbers — he's doing so without playing any more than 38 minutes in each of his first 14 games of the season. Doncic is a huge part of why the Mavs are 9-5 this season and as long as he can keep up this level of play, he could lead them to the playoffs with well-rounded performances like these.
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