Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic — the first and second overall picks of this year's draft seem to be growing a liking to each other. Recently, the Dallas Mavericks guard said that the Phoenix Suns big man will win this year's award for the best rookie.
Speaking with ESPN's Chris Forsberg, Doncic was asked who he thinks will win this year's Rookie of the Year Award.
“I would say [Phoenix center Deandre] Ayton. He was the No. 1 pick. He's tall, he's strong, he can do so many things.”
Most people believe that Doncic, a former Euroleague MVP and considered a basketball prodigy, will be crowned as best first-year player in the league. After all, he has significant experience in playing professional basketball which makes him the most NBA-ready in his draft class.
He could've easily picked himself to win the award and nobody would've contested his assertions. Is Doncic just pretending to be humble? Or does he truly believe that Ayton will outplay him?
Or maybe he's just reciprocating the love that Ayton gave him. When NBA 2k gave Doncic a 79 overall rating, Ayton commented on the post:
“You deserve higher than that fam 💯”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmDr7Tnl_z1/?hl=en&taken-by=lukadoncic
While we see two budding superstars show each other some love, we should remember that these two are competitors — always have and always will be. They might be all good and friendly on social media, but things will be different once they play each other in the NBA.
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