Luka Doncic is one of the best basketball players in the world, a fact that has become undeniable after his performance in the 2022 Playoffs. While Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks fell to a 4-1 loss in the Conference Finals at the hands of the experienced Golden State Warriors, many believed they had overachieved when they overturned a 2-0 deficit against the Phoenix Suns in the Conference Semi-Finals.
Doncic was masterful in that series, as he had been in prior playoffs against championship-favorites LA Clippers. He is currently playing tremendously well in EuroBasket 2022 for Slovenia and is one of the favorites to win MVP in 2022-23.
HoopsHype polled NBA executives about which players under 25 years old they’d choose to build their franchise around. The list has names like Jayson Tatum, Ja Morant, Evan Mobley, Anthony Edwards, Zion Williamson, Scottie Barnes, LaMelo Ball, and others. However, Doncic was unanimously selected as the best player available by all 15 executives that were polled.
“Luka’s size, IQ, scoring ability from every level, and passing will allow him to continue to play at an MVP caliber level.” (h/t HoopsHype)
Is Luka Doncic Going To Finally Reach MVP Status In 2022-23?
Luka Doncic has been flirting with the MVP award ever since he was a sophomore in the NBA. He has been in the top-10 in voting for the last 3 seasons but hasn’t been able to win it over Giannis Antetokounmpo’s sensational season in 2020 or Nikola Jokic’s back-to-back MVP awards in 2021 and 2022.
Luka led the Mavericks to a better record than Jokic did with the Nuggets last season, but Doncic had a slow start to the season, and the Mavs were boosted by the elevation of Jalen Brunson.
With Brunson leaving and Spencer Dinwiddie being the only other rotational quality ball-handler on the team, Doncic is bound for a season where his load will be even heavier than before. The Mavs have acquired bigs like JaVale McGee and Christian Wood which gives Luka more opportunities to create shots at the rim or throw it out to the great set of shooters the Mavs already have.
If Luka leads the Mavs to a 50-win season after the team was voted as having had the worst offseason, it should be worthy of MVP honors.
