Luka Doncic’s meteoric rise has caught the eyes of the whole NBA world. The Mavericks’ youngster has his whole NBA career ahead of him, and could possibly be the best prospect since LeBron James. Luka Doncic isn’t particularly athletic, but he dominates the game of basketball with his mind; his basketball IQ is on par with the greats, and offense comes naturally. Doncic just knows how to make the right plays.
In a recent article by Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, Doncic was praised by an NBA scout for his offensive talent in an overall segment featuring takes on the Mavericks for next season. While his offense is good, Luka is known around the league as a bad defender: perhaps it’s because he’s unathletic, and can have some trouble moving quickly laterally or getting around screens. But a quote from the NBA scout suggests that his defense may not matter in the long run:
Luka is such a great offensive player. He doesn’t need to be great defensively. Just a neutral defender. He does that, he might be the best player in the game.
Luka Doncic is an elite talent that has the potential to win MVP next season: this scout goes further as to say he could be the best player in the game if he makes his defense barely passable. That is high praise and shows admiration for Luka Doncic’s immense offensive talent. If your talent can literally make up for bad defense, then you are truly a special player.
There are other ways for Luka Doncic’s negative defensive impact to be reduced: the acquisition of Josh Richardson should help that, as he is an elite perimeter defender. More defenders could help hide Luka Doncic on the defensive end, and help him do what he does best: cook the opposing defense.
