Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic edged out Atlanta Hawks prodigy Trae Young for the Rookie of the Year award as part of Monday's Kia NBA Awards.
Congratulations to Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks on becoming just the second European player to win the Rookie of the Year award 👏🏆 #NBAAwards #Mavs pic.twitter.com/KwGkZ825DA
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 25, 2019
Doncic posted strong averages of 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in his rookie season.
The Slovenian wunderkind took the league by storm with an already advanced set of skills that quickly made him a favorite in Dallas and in the hearts of many others.
Doncic posted eight triple-doubles in his first season, four of them coming in the last eight games of the season:
The Mavericks have now centered their rebuild around him and fellow European star Kristaps Porzingis, getting the regal pass of the baton from another Euro great in the recently retired Dirk Nowitzki.
Here are the final voting results:
The voting results for the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year award. #Mavs guard Luka Doncic ran away with the award. pic.twitter.com/5sGQ6tW4ud
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 25, 2019
Young struggled upon first coming into the league, but quickly came into his own after the All-Star break, surprising many with a bevy of 30-point, 10-assist games, showing his real potential as the future of the franchise.
The Oklahoma product played in 81 games this season, dispelling any prior concern for his durability after leaving college weighing 170 pounds. His shooting percentages weren't spectacular due to his struggles to start out the season, but his averages of 19.1 points and 8.1 assists per game surely spell plenty of promise for the 6-foot-2 guard:
This Rookie of the Year race was much tighter than initially expected, and one these two stars in the making will surely revisit upon their next few years in the league after they were traded for each other on draft night.
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