Hoops Habit
Fansided

NBA: Ranking the top 5 young cores in the league

By Eliot Clough

Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 7
Next
NBA Power Rankings
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images /

3. Dallas Mavericks

Kristaps Porzingis 24, Luka Doncic 20, Jalen Brunson 23, Justin Jackson

Another team with clearly established talent, the Dallas Mavericks are a few pieces away from making a playoff run. Doncic is absolutely shredding the league into pieces at 28.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game. Despite injuries holding him back at points this season, Doncic is widely feared throughout the league — and should be.

Porzingis has proved that the ACL-injury he suffered during the 2017-2018 season and sidelined him for the entirety of 2018-2019 hasn’t held him back from being one of the top power forwards in the league. The Unicorn is averaging 18 points per game and grabbing a career high 9.1 rebounds per game.

Jalen Brunson, in his second year out of Villanova, has shown plenty of value in his tenure so far with the Mavs, averaging 8.4 points and 3.5 assists per game this season. Justin Jackson, also in his second year, is a shooting specialist who doesn’t get a hefty amount of minutes, but shoots 43.3 percent from the field.