The ONE AND ONLY Luka Doncic discussion thread
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I'm sure Vlade (and Vivek) know that they made a terrible decision but it's not like they can admit that publicly. They gotta stick up for their guy (as they should).
The real question to me is Vivek? If he himself wanted Luka I don't see how he can just let this slide if the Kings miss the playoffs or at the very least dont win 40+ games.
As an owner I sure wouldn't feel comfortable in another lottery draft with the guy that passed on Luka making my decisions. Vlade absolutely has done some real good things here but you just can't ignore a mistake this big. And let's call it what it is, a massive mistake. Luka is not getting worse, on the contrary he's actually getting better. He's the best thing since LeBron at 20 and any anybody that says otherwise is just lying to themselves at this point. He's absurdly good. His basketball acumen and skill at 20 years old is off the charts.
The real question to me is Vivek? If he himself wanted Luka I don't see how he can just let this slide if the Kings miss the playoffs or at the very least dont win 40+ games.
As an owner I sure wouldn't feel comfortable in another lottery draft with the guy that passed on Luka making my decisions. Vlade absolutely has done some real good things here but you just can't ignore a mistake this big. And let's call it what it is, a massive mistake. Luka is not getting worse, on the contrary he's actually getting better. He's the best thing since LeBron at 20 and any anybody that says otherwise is just lying to themselves at this point. He's absurdly good. His basketball acumen and skill at 20 years old is off the charts.
Well, I think the reality has firmly set in. After all the disaster picks by this franchise, this one here is going down as one of the worst in NBA history.
How can Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic miss so badly on this talented and polished of a player from their own area of the world? It's a mind boggling embarrassment. We’ve seen a lot of incompetence, but this takes the cake.
Just devastating for a franchise in dire need of a big break, to get so lucky with the #2 pick in that draft and whiff on the clear obvious choice. To top it off, the guy was given an extension the same season as making this bad of a mistake!!! Sometimes all you can do is just laugh. It’s so damn bad and incompetent, it’s laughable
How can Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic miss so badly on this talented and polished of a player from their own area of the world? It's a mind boggling embarrassment. We’ve seen a lot of incompetence, but this takes the cake.
Just devastating for a franchise in dire need of a big break, to get so lucky with the #2 pick in that draft and whiff on the clear obvious choice. To top it off, the guy was given an extension the same season as making this bad of a mistake!!! Sometimes all you can do is just laugh. It’s so damn bad and incompetent, it’s laughable
While they're easier to get now than ever, they're still not that easy to get. Only really good players get them.
How many does Buddy have? How many will Marvin Bagley ever have in his career? How many has Fox had so far, I think just 1. Luka gets more triple doubles in an average week than Fox has ever had. I can say with utmost confidence that Luka will have more triple doubles in a month if not just a couple of weeks than Bagley/Hield will ever have in their entire careers combined. I don't say that to insult Bagley/Hield either but to prove a point. So how exactly is it so easy?
How many does Buddy have? How many will Marvin Bagley ever have in his career? How many has Fox had so far, I think just 1. Luka gets more triple doubles in an average week than Fox has ever had. I can say with utmost confidence that Luka will have more triple doubles in a month if not just a couple of weeks than Bagley/Hield will ever have in their entire careers combined. I don't say that to insult Bagley/Hield either but to prove a point. So how exactly is it so easy?
In addition to trading a first round pick for cap space, using none of our cap space to acquire future assets but on veteran contracts, losing value on a pick swap for cap space, trading back 8 places in the 2nd round for cash, traded Boogie way too late and got a fraction of the value he could have had he traded him earlier. It's not good that Justin James looking solid in his first 6 games might be one of the better draft moves this team has made in 5 years being at the helm.
Just hard to see this team ever getting over the hump with him at the helm. Might be a team that can compete for 7-8 seeds, but I don't have any confidence Vlade can turn this into a consistent powerhouse team that's top 4 in the conference.
Not one of.
The.
It's the biggest draft miss in NBA history barring injury or some inexplicable regression, and it's not close.
Oden over Durant was a two-way race the entire draft process, and may have even been a little better of a prospect, and of course injuries.
Darko was heavily scouted and was a darkhorse #1. Even if he didn't have any serious consideration over Lebron, he was still more touted than the three that came behind him.
Bowie over Jordan happened in an era that was much more big-friendly and Jordan iirc was hidden in North Carolina's system compared what his talent actually was.
The Kings took the worse fit for their position of need, era, and style of play, and the inferior talent where everybody and their mom knew it even without the benefit of hindsight. This was idiot-proof, the rest of these draft picks to at least some extent were not.
The.
It's the biggest draft miss in NBA history barring injury or some inexplicable regression, and it's not close.
Oden over Durant was a two-way race the entire draft process, and may have even been a little better of a prospect, and of course injuries.
Darko was heavily scouted and was a darkhorse #1. Even if he didn't have any serious consideration over Lebron, he was still more touted than the three that came behind him.
Bowie over Jordan happened in an era that was much more big-friendly and Jordan iirc was hidden in North Carolina's system compared what his talent actually was.
The Kings took the worse fit for their position of need, era, and style of play, and the inferior talent where everybody and their mom knew it even without the benefit of hindsight. This was idiot-proof, the rest of these draft picks to at least some extent were not.
Vlade should have been fired when he made those insane trades to Philly to appease DMC (not a franchise player not even close) and maybe make a run at a 8th seed where the team gave up cause he hated George Karl. I'm not going to lie I thought JJJ would be better than both Luka and Bagley but Vlade couldn't judge a franchise talent a long time ago (neither could I in the Doncic case) when he went all or nothing on a guy that the corpse of Zach Randolph matched in terms of W/L as a #1 option. Investing in the empty per 36 stat ticking time bomb was pure insanity.
I give him props on Holmes/Bjelica and James and Fox.
I give him props on Holmes/Bjelica and James and Fox.
I've watched a couple of Luka's games and he seems to get away with a lot dropping his shoulders into his defenders to make space. He would back them down and then drop a shoulder to clear space and then hit a fall away jumper. He also gets a ton of fouls called for him and he goes to the line a lot to help his PPG. Most any other NBA player not named LeBron would be called for an offensive foul on those moves. Luka is already getting a ton of "superstar" calls from the refs.
He seems to lull his defender to sleep with his moves. He's very crafty and has a very high BBIQ to make his passes or moves, but he moves very slow to me. He doesn't have the quickness to blow by defenders, but he uses his body well to create space.
Watching the Clipper game, they seemed to have the recipe to contain him. The Clippers were being very physical with him and you could tell he wasn't allowed to get comfortable and dictate the pace of that game. Luka will always be a force on the offensive side of the ball, but once teams start realizing that they need to get more physical with him to contain him, I can see some of his numbers eventually dropping.
He seems to lull his defender to sleep with his moves. He's very crafty and has a very high BBIQ to make his passes or moves, but he moves very slow to me. He doesn't have the quickness to blow by defenders, but he uses his body well to create space.
Watching the Clipper game, they seemed to have the recipe to contain him. The Clippers were being very physical with him and you could tell he wasn't allowed to get comfortable and dictate the pace of that game. Luka will always be a force on the offensive side of the ball, but once teams start realizing that they need to get more physical with him to contain him, I can see some of his numbers eventually dropping.
Again, my comment was in reference to the talk of someone breaking records of the past when the rules of doing so are quite different. The points and assists are one thing, the rebounds another. Any big worth their salt is going to tell a guard to get the F out of my paint and break out. It's like with Westbrook this year so far. Capella has put the kabosh on those Westbrooks triple dubs. Harden as well since he's sharing the ball. I just don't think you can look at the numbers anymore and gather a whole lot. I mean it's gotten cartoonish how many players are up in that 25-30 ppg zone. When numbers are easier to get, they simply don't mean as much.
I have purposely not watched Dallas games since the pick. I watched a good bit of the Pels game and Luka is as good as advertised.
It is hard to understand how the Kings missed a Euro sensation with Vlade and Peja in the front office???
At this point Kings Fans just have to hope Bagley can stay healthy and be a good 20 and 10 a night All Star.
And always remember Luka was the FOURTH Third pick (Thanks Capt). 3 teams passed on him. ATL went out of their way to trade him to Big D. The Mavs deserve credit for standing tall and making that trade.
Edit- The Suns, Kings and ATL all passed on Doncic
It is hard to understand how the Kings missed a Euro sensation with Vlade and Peja in the front office???
At this point Kings Fans just have to hope Bagley can stay healthy and be a good 20 and 10 a night All Star.
And always remember Luka was the FOURTH Third pick (Thanks Capt). 3 teams passed on him. ATL went out of their way to trade him to Big D. The Mavs deserve credit for standing tall and making that trade.
Edit- The Suns, Kings and ATL all passed on Doncic
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