Creepy Internet Fawning Over His Mom Aside, Luka Doncic is an Absolute Steal for Mavericks: Mark Cuban Just Won the NBA Draft

Few franchises ever needed a draft night like this quite like the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks went from infamy to relevant again in one bold move. From a #MeToo cautionary tale to a feel good European star.

By trading up in the NBA Draft to steal Luka Doncic, likely the best player in the entire draft, at No. 3, Mark Cuban’s franchise is suddenly basketball interesting again. And not just a case study in human resources failure.

Doncic  gives Cuban’s team a potential franchise player — and makes a great fit with last year’s excellent pick, Dennis Smith Jr. (the Knicks should still be kicking themselves for letting the Mavericks get Smith). Doncic isn’t a new age Dirk Nowitzki. He’s a better passer than Nowitzki (Cuban himself’s compared Doncic to a “6-7 Steve Nash”). He’s only 19 — and somehow still proven. And he’s one of the few legit possible franchise shifters that ever become available.

This night could not have gone any better for Cuban, whose fingerprints seem to be all over this move. In fact, it’s worth a 10 season renewal of Shark Tank.

After being completely unwatchable for two seasons, even more boring than the putrid Sacramento Kings, the Mavericks are set to be fascinating for years to come. Doncic’s potential does that instantly.

This is a teenager who excelled against some of the very best players in Europe. He won the Euroleague MVP at 19, an unheard of feat in a league of grizzled men. You just don’t expect to land a future star like this on draft night unless you win the lottery.

The Mavericks didn’t come close to winning the lottery. It turns out, they only needed to win the trade.

Robert Sarver’s Folly

Luka probably should have went first overall to the Phoenix Suns. But Robert Sarver has been proving he’s one of the worst owners in all of professional sports ever since he let an in-his-prime Joe Johnson walk out of Mike D’Antoni’s life, cheapening out on a championship. This time, University of Arizona guy Sarver just needed to have Wildcats center DeAndre Ayton, who looks better in the workout gym than on a basketball court.

Then, the Kings did their usual Kings thing and muffed the No. 2 pick. The Atlanta Hawks then went fishing, somehow seeing Stephen Curry in Trae Young.

Dallas could not have asked for “better” teams to be ahead of them in the draft. It’s like going to an IQ showdown and seeing Kim Jung-un and Dennis Rodman as the competition. Doncic could have been the No. 1 pick in this draft, probably should have been the No. 1 pick.

Instead, the Mavericks get him by trading another potential lottery pick in next year’s draft. That price is worth it. There will be no Luka Doncic in next year’s draft. Playmakers like this do not come along every year.

Now, the Mavs have one — arguably the first jersey buying worthy star the franchise’s had since Nowitzki.

And Luka Doncic seems genuinely excited to be going to Dallas, to Nowitzki U.

“The Mavericks have] been talking to me,” Doncic says on ESPN, minutes after getting drafted. “They were so nice to me. And I’m glad, you know? Just happy to be in the NBA. Just happy to be a part of that.”

Aside from some creepy Internet fawning over his attractive former model mother, this was a great Texas night for Doncic. Dallas is a franchise where he can win big eventually. Even if the controlling, restrictive Rick Carlisle probably isn’t the right coach for Doncic or Smith Jr.

But it’s an even better night for Mark Cuban and the Mavs. They’re NBA relevant again — for basketball reasons. This is how you conjure up a future star — and a real new start.