Luka Doncic didn’t play college basketball before coming to the NBA in 2018, as he was busy dominating the competition in Europe with Real Madrid. If Doncic had come over to the U.S. to play in college, though, he told Overtime that he’d have gone to the University of Arizona.
“Arizona,” Doncic said. “They say it’s good there.”
Doncic would have been quite the acquisition for Arizona. If he had decided to go there in 2017, he’d have teamed up with Deandre Ayton, who would end up being the first pick of the 2018 NBA Draft.
Doncic was the third pick in that draft, largely due to concerns about whether he would be able to dominate in the NBA the way he did in Europe. If the Slovenian had played for Arizona, I think he would have dismissed any and all concerns and would have been the consensus first-overall pick.
So, the Dallas Mavericks should be thanking their lucky stars that Doncic came to the NBA straight from Real Madrid. It meant not only did the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings pass on him, but the Atlanta Hawks were willing to trade him to the Mavericks for the sixth pick and an additional future first round pick.
Recent NBA history would have certainly been quite different had Doncic gone to Arizona. Getting back to the question of which college the 25-year-old would have attended, Zion Williamson, Paolo Banchero, and Jayson Tatum were also asked where they thought he would have gone.
Williamson felt Doncic would have gone to the University of Southern California, Texas A&M University, or the University of Florida. When the interviewer brought up Gonzaga as an option, the New Orleans Pelicans star stated he couldn’t picture him there.
Banchero, meanwhile, went with the college he attended, Duke University. He also revealed that Doncic is one of former head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s favorite players. Krzyzewski even told Banchero when he was being recruited that he should watch the Mavericks star’s games and try to be like him.
As for Tatum, he went with the same pick as Doncic, Arizona. They say great minds think alike and these two sure did in this instance.
Gilbert Arenas Thinks Luka Doncic Will Be The No. 1 MVP Candidate In 2024-25
Doncic has finished in the top five in MVP voting in two of the last three years and Gilbert Arenas believes he will be at the top in 2025. Arenas predicted Doncic will win MVP and average a triple-double next season.
“I don’t want to put this type of pressure on him,” said Arenas. “I’d be surprised if he don’t average a triple-double. If you were averaging that many assists with what you had and now you’ve got a guy who can catch and shoot so some of your assists will come without even any effort. You should average a triple-double. And he will probably be the number one candidate for MVP. He’s going to do something that hasn’t been done for a few years… and that’s average a triple-double.”
Doncic averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game last season so his averaging a triple-double for a whole campaign certainly isn’t an unrealistic prediction by Arenas. For the five-time All-Star to win MVP, though, he’ll have to ensure the Mavericks are one of the top two seeds in the West and that might prove to be a bit difficult with how strong the conference is.
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