Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic is hours away from finding out if he's indeed won the Rookie of the Year battle over Atlanta Hawks point man Trae Young, the man he was virtually traded for on draft night a year ago.
“I’m confident, but even if I think I am, I’m never going to say it… I’m going to keep it to myself,” Doncic told Shams Charania of Stadium. “It’s just different characters.”
Mavericks Rookie of the Year favorite @luka7doncic on ROY battle with Trae Young: “I’m confident, but even if I think I am, I’m never going to say it … I’m going to keep it to myself. It’s just different characters.” pic.twitter.com/pOwLlGEde0
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2019
Doncic was favored to win the award since the start of the season, but a late wave of a recently-adjusted Young could have well given him a run for his money, as the Oklahoma product countered with a slew of 30-point, 10-assist games to make the race much closer than most throughout the first half of the season.
The Slovenian dynamo looked more NBA-ready from the onset, having already tested his mettle with other grown men in the Euroleague as well as his Liga ACB competition the last three years before being selected by the Mavs.
Doncic put up a strong 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game in his first season, numbers that will be hard to match, even by the impressive rookie point guard who has rapidly grown into his own.
The 6-foot-7 forward has a cool mix of killer instinct and measured confidence that quickly made the Mavs confident enough to retool their roster around him, adding Kristaps Porzingis over the trade deadline and looking to add some more this summer to solidify this accelerated rebuild after seeing Dirk Nowitzki hang them up for good.
Follow Us
Subscribe