DALLAS – For those Dallas Mavericks fans looking to see rookie Luka Doncic play in the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2018 in Las Vegas, that excitement needs to be tempered a bit.
Because Doncic has been playing non-stop basketball overseas for nearly 10 months, the Mavs don’t plan on playing him in every one of their summer league games. That, they believe, will be too taxing on his body.
“I think it’s safe to say that the likelihood of him playing a full summer league schedule is not very good,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’re going to have to bring him along slowly.
“This kid, he’s been through an amazing grind. In the European league and in the international leagues they don’t play as many games per week as the NBA, but they have multiple tournaments and it’s a lot of pressurized stuff and there aren’t a lot of breaks.”
Day One of summer league practice for the Mavs start on Monday, and then they fly to Las Vegas on July 5. The Mavs will play their first summer league game on July 6 at 8:30 p.m. CT against the Phoenix Suns at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Doncic led Real Madrid to the EuroLeague championship on June 19, and took home Most Valuable Player of the Final 4 along the way. The next day he was on a plane to New York for the NBA Draft.
Ultimately, last Thursday in a pre-arranged deal, the Atlanta Hawks drafted Doncic third overall, then quickly traded his draft rights to the Mavs. In return the Mavs sent the draft rights to Trae Young – Dallas drafted him fifth overall – and a protected 2019 first-round pick to the Hawks.
While the Mavs steadfastly believe they were able to land the best player in the draft in Doncic, they don’t want to burn out the 19-year multi-talented player before training camp starts in the fall.
“The kid has had an amazing run in international basketball, and we’re really excited to take the reins and go forward from here,” Carlisle said. “It’s important right now that he gets a breather and gets to catch his breath a little bit.”
As he catches his breath, Doncic (6-7, 218) will do so knowing has the skill set to play every position on the court except the center spot. He’s a talented ball handler, has great court vision, is adapt at attacking the basket, and has exceptional range that reaches beyond the 3-point stripe.
“In terms of athleticism, I believe he’s going to prove to be a deceptively good athlete in the NBA,’ Carlisle said. “And I know this, that guys that have his level of skill become more athletic because of how you’ve got to run at them at the 3-point line and beyond because of their shooting abilities.
“Again, I think you look at his record and the accomplishments that he has at this young age. This is a guy that’s proven he can get better, he can play with the best and he can be the best of the best in that league. Those leagues are high-level leagues.”
And those leagues overseas is where Doncic made his name. Now, he can make his fame in the NBA.
But first, Doncic needs to find a pillow and a bed and get some much-needed rest.
“He’s been playing for months and months and months,” Carlisle said. “He just finished international play (seven) days ago. Summer league is right around the corner, and we’re going to have to think out how we’re going to approach that.
“Again, he finished (seven) days ago in a season that started back in September, so he needs a break. To what extent he will participate with the summer league team, we’ve got to work through those kinds of things.”
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