1. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
Deandre Ayton is the most NBA-ready prospect from a physical standpoint, but Luka Doncic is the draft’s most NBA-ready player from a skill standpoint. He’s the most accomplished overseas prospect to enter the NBA — not just for his age, but ever.
Doncic is a EuroLeague champion, the reigning EuroLeague MVP, the EuroLeague Final Four MVP, a three-time Liga ACB champion and the reigning Liga ACB MVP — all at the tender age of 19. He’s not a true point guard, but he already has the skills of one despite having the size of a wing at 6’7″.
His passing, court vision and shot creation are elite. He’s been playing — and dominating — superior competition than the NCAA for a few years now, and though his individual numbers don’t leap off the page (14.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.6 APG, 45.6 FG%, 30.9 3P%), they came in fewer minutes, in a league that just doesn’t feature gaudy stat lines, after an extremely long season with very few breaks in between.
Playing for the Dallas Mavericks under Rick Carlisle, his fit alongside Dennis Smith Jr. in the starting rotation should be seamless. He has the 3-point touch and secondary playmaking to be a nightmare off the catch, and though he needs work defensively, that could be said of any rookie.
The doubters and stateside basketball fans are going to find out what Luka Doncic can do very soon, especially on an improved Mavs team that has a great rim-running threat in DeAndre Jordan to make life easier on Dallas’ star backcourt.