Luka Doncic Fits with Memphis Grizzlies

 The Memphis Grizzlies are the worst team in the NBA. This of course means that they have the highest percentage of getting the number one pick.

It’s the night of the draft lottery and two teams remain unrevealed. Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum opens the envelope and reveals that the Phoenix Suns have the second pick. This means that the Memphis Grizzlies will hold the number one overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. Are you excited? If you’re not excited, I can understand. However, if the Grizzlies do have the number one pick, they should take the best Euro basketball player and NBA prospect in the draft this season.

I’ve never been a fan of taking players from overseas in the NBA draft at all, and definitely not number one, but Luka Doncic fits everything the Grizzlies are missing. We saw it with Rade Zagorac who also played overseas– he looked a step slow. Doncic, on the other hand, looks like he is three or four steps ahead of everyone in Europe right now. He has to the tools to play several positions for Memphis immediately.

If you get the number one pick, are you not looking for someone that can come in and start immediately? Doncic is 6’6 with the court vision and handles of a point guard. He can shoot from anywhere on the floor with consistency. He continues to prove it.

How has he proven it? Unlike the NCAA, Euro ball has the three point line back at NBA length, and Doncic has been shooting 34% over his three years in Europe. Since he has to create his own shot on nearly every play, that number should only rise when he gets to be more of a spot-up shooter in the NBA.

There are a lot of positives to Doncic’s game, but with every NBA prospect there are some negatives.

Negative number one would be, as Cam Rose points out, his lack of burst off the dribble. If you can see it against European talent, then how bad could it be in the NBA? Answer: it can get better, and we’ve seen it with a current Grizzly in Andrew Harrison. Harrison lacked burst, but learned how to use it to create contact. However, the two are polar opposites. Doncic has clearly more talent that can make up for his explosiveness, but it is definitely something to study.

Next: Grizzlies Draft Board 2.0

Then, Parker Fleming makes a good point of what we could expect from Doncic, which is not that bad. Doncic reminds me a lot of Miller in a Grizzlies uniform, and if that is all we get from him, that is not a wasted draft pick at all. If Luka Doncic can have the impact Miller had back in the 2000’s with this current roster, that would be huge for the Grizzlies.