Luka Doncic (pre and post-draft discussion thread)

Status
Not open for further replies.
#94
#96
No NBA player would answer a reporter, in the middle of the playoffs , if they were changing teams when/if they lose. Until Vlade comes back with more info, this remains a non-story

Not picking on you personally but I see this worry about Doncic elsewhere as well and for the moment, it's about being a professional and not looking too far ahead about inevitably leaving your current team to move on to the NBA.
It is an issue. That doesn’t mean it’s a certainty but again it’s not absolute that Doncic comes over. The factors at play are real economic ones.

1) Doncic makes around €4M which is net of taxes and agent fees. The Rookie salary slot is $5.2M from which he has to pay taxes and agent fees. So Doncic takes a significant pay cut by coming over on the Rookie scale.

2) Doncic is already a name in a 6.2M sports crazy city. Would he come to the US in a major market he could make more in endorsements and recoup the lost revenue. It’s less likely to occur in a small market like Sacramento. In fact, his endorsement income could fall.

So does he come over now or wait until the Rookie salary scale no longer is in play? In a major media market it economically makes sense to come now because the endorsement income potential. For a small market team the answer is less clear. This isn’t a Sacramento issue, it’s an economic one that has been known and in play for months now.
 
Last edited:
#97
If this quote is real, yes, he says he would have nothing against joining Sacramento but he basically raves about his coach (which is understandable) and says they are in contact almost every day...
Yeah I don’t think it’s an accident Pheonix hired him especially after Bogdan.

The interesting thing is what would Bogdan say to Luca. The risk is Luca following the Bogdan playbook. So does Bogdan say come play with me and ignore what I did?
 
#98
I read what I can, some of the threads get extremely long and I find a lot of posters basically state what someone else has allready said.
In the case of my post concerning Donic I basically just acknowledged, based on an ESPN report, what sactowndog had posted and caught a bit of s..... for.
 
Last edited:
#99
Yeah I don’t think it’s an accident Pheonix hired him especially after Bogdan.

The interesting thing is what would Bogdan say to Luca. The risk is Luca following the Bogdan playbook. So does Bogdan say come play with me and ignore what I did?
its also a bit of a different situation. I was watching this special about all the serbian NBA players and in Bogdan's segment he talks about his decision making process after he was drafted.

he said phoenix told him they are ok with him coming right away but that they have bunch of players playing SG and that they cannot guarantee lots of playing time. so he said together with phoenix they agreed developing more in europe was a better move. then they drafted Booker the next year. so Bogdan was concerned about playing time or a chance at playing time. with Luka that is probably not an issue..
 
Remember Duffy is his US agent who doesn’t get paid unless he signs with a US team. He also has a Spanish agent who he is talking to. It’s useful to consider Duffy incentives in the conversation.
I think you missed the obvious. If doncic was not serious about coming to the NBA why bother with an agent at all? The very fact that Billy Donovan represents him is pretty much all you need to know about how serious doncic is about the NBA.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Not to mention that being drafted first or second overall pays much higher on the rookie scale. It's a lot different for Doncic because his second contract is going to be a max deal if all goes to plan. But he doesn't get a max deal until he proves himself in the NBA. The difference between his NBA and his Euro deals is also a lot less drastic. He may take a short term cut but the rewards are still higher for him to go the the NBA now. That wasn't the case for Bogs who had risk associated with his move.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
It is an issue. That doesn’t mean it’s a certainty but again it’s not absolute that Doncic comes over. The factors at play are real economic ones.

1) Doncic makes around €4M which is net of taxes and agent fees. The Rookie salary slot is $5.2M from which he has to pay taxes and agent fees. So Doncic takes a significant pay cut by coming over on the Rookie scale.

2) Doncic is already a name in a 6.2M sports crazy city. Would he come to the US in a major market he could make more in endorsements and recoup the lost revenue. It’s less likely to occur in a small market like Sacramento. In fact, his endorsement income could fall.

So does he come over now or wait until the Rookie salary scale no longer is in play? In a major media market it economically makes sense to come now because the endorsement income potential. For a small market team the answer is less clear. This isn’t a Sacramento issue, it’s an economic one that has been known and in play for months now.
From a strict economic sense he can make significantly more in the U.S. from endorsements alone. Zach LaVine (coming off the ACL injury) signed a 4 year deal with Addidas that is worth up to $35 million. Even half that for Doncic (who has international appeal, plays an entertaining style, is a good looking kid etc) would add $4 million to his earnings.

But I think the reality is that Doncic wants to see if he's one of the best players in the world. The NBA is the only place he gets to do that.
 
its also a bit of a different situation. I was watching this special about all the serbian NBA players and in Bogdan's segment he talks about his decision making process after he was drafted.

he said phoenix told him they are ok with him coming right away but that they have bunch of players playing SG and that they cannot guarantee lots of playing time. so he said together with phoenix they agreed developing more in europe was a better move. then they drafted Booker the next year. so Bogdan was concerned about playing time or a chance at playing time. with Luka that is probably not an issue..
Yeah those are good points
 
I think you missed the obvious. If doncic was not serious about coming to the NBA why bother with an agent at all? The very fact that Billy Donovan represents him is pretty much all you need to know about how serious doncic is about the NBA.
It doesn’t mean he isn’t coming. It’s a matter of where and when.
 
Not to mention that being drafted first or second overall pays much higher on the rookie scale. It's a lot different for Doncic because his second contract is going to be a max deal if all goes to plan. But he doesn't get a max deal until he proves himself in the NBA. The difference between his NBA and his Euro deals is also a lot less drastic. He may take a short term cut but the rewards are still higher for him to go the the NBA now. That wasn't the case for Bogs who had risk associated with his move.
My rookie scale number was for the 2nd overall pick.
 
From a strict economic sense he can make significantly more in the U.S. from endorsements alone. Zach LaVine (coming off the ACL injury) signed a 4 year deal with Addidas that is worth up to $35 million. Even half that for Doncic (who has international appeal, plays an entertaining style, is a good looking kid etc) would add $4 million to his earnings.

But I think the reality is that Doncic wants to see if he's one of the best players in the world. The NBA is the only place he gets to do that.
Zach plays in Chicago which reinforces my point.
 
It doesn’t mean he isn’t coming. It’s a matter of where and when.
You're correct, Luka Doncic may very well be perfectly happy, spending time contracting and working with an American agent to prepare for his eventual entry into the NBA in 2-3 years. And Billy Donovan no doubt has nothing better to do with his time and resources than to currently be repping that man on the highest-profile stealth campaign for the 2020 NBA rookie season. I stand corrected. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go re-sharpen Occam's razor.
 
It is an issue. That doesn’t mean it’s a certainty but again it’s not absolute that Doncic comes over. The factors at play are real economic ones.

1) Doncic makes around €4M which is net of taxes and agent fees. The Rookie salary slot is $5.2M from which he has to pay taxes and agent fees. So Doncic takes a significant pay cut by coming over on the Rookie scale.

2) Doncic is already a name in a 6.2M sports crazy city. Would he come to the US in a major market he could make more in endorsements and recoup the lost revenue. It’s less likely to occur in a small market like Sacramento. In fact, his endorsement income could fall.

So does he come over now or wait until the Rookie salary scale no longer is in play? In a major media market it economically makes sense to come now because the endorsement income potential. For a small market team the answer is less clear. This isn’t a Sacramento issue, it’s an economic one that has been known and in play for months now.
It does't make any economic sense because every year he waits is another year he is putting off that extremely lucrative second deal. Which by the time that deal rolls around, if you've played well enough, the endorsements start to fly in, big market or not. Delaying that, and even risking losing your chance to ever get it by injuring yourself abroad just for a few extra mil in endorsements doesn't make any sense at all. Besides, there is no guarantee that he winds up in a major market anyway. We've seen players make vague threats before to try and steer themselves toward particular destinations (Dante Exum) that just don't wind up working out. The smart play, and really the only play, should be just to come to the NBA and get his career started. Staying abroad and making decisions based on potential endorsements when you haven't even done anything is such a dumb move that I'm not sure I'd want him on my team if that's the route he takes.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
My rookie scale number was for the 2nd overall pick.
But this was in comparing Bogs to Luka and why they would do the same thing. They wouldn't because they aren't in remotely the same position. If Luka waits he might get a deal bigger than a rookie scale deal but it won't be a max deal. And he won't get max deal money playing in Europe, nor will he be testing himself at the biggest stage.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
Zach plays in Chicago which reinforces my point.
Russ plays in OKC. Still see plenty of Mountain Dew commercials featuring him.

If your point is that you think Luka's primary goal is maximizing his exposure and earnings, then he would try to force his way to Chicago or the Knicks. If so, we'll see that born out pretty quickly. But then he likely wouldn't be telling a local reporter that he would be fine going to the Suns or the Kings - he'd keep up the line that he hasn't made up his mind yet about the NBA.
 
It does't make any economic sense because every year he waits is another year he is putting off that extremely lucrative second deal. Which by the time that deal rolls around, if you've played well enough, the endorsements start to fly in, big market or not. Delaying that, and even risking losing your chance to ever get it by injuring yourself abroad just for a few extra mil in endorsements doesn't make any sense at all. Besides, there is no guarantee that he winds up in a major market anyway. We've seen players make vague threats before to try and steer themselves toward particular destinations (Dante Exum) that just don't wind up working out. The smart play, and really the only play, should be just to come to the NBA and get his career started. Staying abroad and making decisions based on potential endorsements when you haven't even done anything is such a dumb move that I'm not sure I'd want him on my team if that's the route he takes.
You do realize after 3-4 years he becomes essentially an unrestricted free agent.
 
You do realize after 3-4 years he becomes essentially an unrestricted free agent.
He is not unrestricted. His rights will always belong to the drafting team.

If he does as Bogdan did, he would still be limited to what the drafting team is willing to offer him off the rookie scale. You are also risking injury, that could limit your contract.

If he comes over this year, he will be eligible for the highly lucrative 2nd contract sooner and then be eligible for the super max contract sooner too.

Financially, there is no reason for him to not come over this year, rookie scale or not. As a basketball player, you are playing for that 2nd and 3rd contract, not the rookie contract.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
He is not unrestricted. His rights will always belong to the drafting team.

If he does as Bogdan did, he would still be limited to what the drafting team is willing to offer him off the rookie scale. You are also risking injury, that could limit your contract.

If he comes over this year, he will be eligible for the highly lucrative 2nd contract sooner and then be eligible for the super max contract sooner too.

Financially, there is no reason for him to not come over this year, rookie scale or not. As a basketball player, you are playing for that 2nd and 3rd contract, not the rookie contract.
If he waited 3(4?) years he'd be able to get a larger than rookie scale deal like Bogs did but I don't think it would be at the max because he'd still be considered unproven at this level. It would be a foolish move. As others have said even in Sacramento he's likely to get bigger endorsement deals than he can playing in Europe that would more than offset whatever negligible salary difference is.

It's likely that the guy just has the same honor that Bogs did to his current club. I don't really know European basketball that well but you still see football (soccer) players that play their entire career with one club pretty regularly. They don't seem to have the same mercenary culture our athletes do.
 
But this was in comparing Bogs to Luka and why they would do the same thing. They wouldn't because they aren't in remotely the same position. If Luka waits he might get a deal bigger than a rookie scale deal but it won't be a max deal. And he won't get max deal money playing in Europe, nor will he be testing himself at the biggest stage.
The fact is still true with the rookie wage scale he takes a pay cut coming to the NBA.
 
It's likely that the guy just has the same honor that Bogs did to his current club. I don't really know European basketball that well but you still see football (soccer) players that play their entire career with one club pretty regularly. They don't seem to have the same mercenary culture our athletes do.
Speaking of honor and loyalty to their Euro clubs, is there any reports of buy out issues with Doncic current club?

I haven't seen any reports about his buyout clause.
.
 
He is not unrestricted. His rights will always belong to the drafting team.

If he does as Bogdan did, he would still be limited to what the drafting team is willing to offer him off the rookie scale. You are also risking injury, that could limit your contract.

If he comes over this year, he will be eligible for the highly lucrative 2nd contract sooner and then be eligible for the super max contract sooner too.

Financially, there is no reason for him to not come over this year, rookie scale or not. As a basketball player, you are playing for that 2nd and 3rd contract, not the rookie contract.
Yes your correct. But the NBA team isn’t off the hook completely because if they lowball him he can just stay in Europe.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.