Luka Doncic's star had never burned as bright as it did during this summer's EuroBasket tournament, leading a dark horse Slovenia to its first ever European championship along with Miami Heat floor general Goran Dragic, and former NBAer Anthony Randolph.
The 18-year-old forward is slated to be a lottery pick this upcoming NBA Draft, and to some, he can fall as the top overall prospect due to his experience as the pro international level as a member of one of the best teams in the world in Real Madrid of Spain.
Doncic hasn't just shown flashes of brilliance, but has done so against other professionals, in most cases a lot older and game-mature than he is. Yet the 18-year-old forward has blown the very lid off what most thought to be his ceiling.
He is averaging a Euroleague-best 21.2 points, shooting 48 percent from the field, 39 percent from deep, and 89.6 percent from the stripe, along with 6.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in only 27.7 minutes of action.
Top prospect Luka Doncic (who may end up being the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft) is the real deal: pic.twitter.com/mn4d3IyxLU
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) November 13, 2017
While other top prospects like Michael Porter Jr. and Marvin Bagley III are mentioned as some of the top talent at the college level, neither of them are competing against pro level athletes in a nightly basis or flirting with the 50-40-90 in the second-best league in the world.
The 6-foot-7 guard/forward is averaging a mind-blowing 30.2 percent usage rate and ranks tops in rebounds for non-frontcourt players and tops in assists for non-point guards in Euroleague competition.
Doncic's maturity is beyond his years, and his flirts with triple-double numbers have left very little doubt that he is an NBA-ready product and one that has had general managers like Cleveland's Koby Altman travel abroad to watch him play.
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