Our First Draft will be releasing companion articles to 5 of the NBA previews, in an attempt to look more closely at the schematic details that make the best basketball players what they are. Today, the two young European stars in Dallas will be closely examined. Stay tuned for another Inside Look Wednesday, as OFD will examine Nikola Jokic’s impact on the Denver Nuggets.
Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis are two young stars who haven’t shared the floor before, and as they will play together this year, I wanted to take a few moments to discuss their fit together on the court. On paper, this pairing is perfect for modern basketball, and the following paragraphs will explain why.
Porzingis is unique because of the combination of his size and his shooting touch. He displayed this versatility in December 2017 when he became the first player in the history of the NBA to ever have at least 35 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 5 three pointers in a game. Despite these strengths, Porzingis has had an easily exploitable weakness in his first few years in the league. He is not a great playmaker, having averaged more turnovers than assists per game so far in his career. The lack of talent on the Kicks teams Porzingis played for meant that he often had to force late shot-clock shots, reducing his overall efficiency.
This is where Luka comes in. A preternaturally gifted passer, Doncic is a fantastic offensive weapon because of his already elite scoring ability. As a rookie, Doncic finished second in the NBA in step-back 3s made, behind only James Harden. His wizardry with all sorts of passes and his understanding of angles allows him to elevate his teammate’s play by getting them the ball in positions to score. Furthermore, he hit some absolutely ridiculous shots in his rookie season, none more so than the game tying 3 at the end of a game against Portland, showing his ability to be an offense on his lonesome.
His easy demeanor may fool people, but Luka is a born winner, with huge team and individual success in Europe before coming to the States. However, due to his lackluster conditioning and so-so athleticism, Luka will never be much above average on the defensive end in the floor. Porzingis manages to cover this weakness with his ability to erase shots at the rim, and he won’t need to be a playmaker with Luka throwing him passes which lead to easy layups/dunks and open threes.
This will be so effective because of the variety of ways that Doncic and Porzingis can use picks and screens to create mismatches. As a 7’3” big man that can both shoot and roll to the rim, Porzingis can either screen and roll or pop out to the three point line. As I expect Porzingis to play at center much of the time, defenses will have trouble switching on picks and screens, due to Porzingis being able to bully smaller defenders, and Doncic’s ability to toast centers unlucky enough to switch on to him.
If Doncic and Porzingis are playing in a lineup where Kleber is the other big, then Dallas can have 5 threatening 3 point snipers in the same lineup, especially if new addition Seth Curry is spotting up in the corner. The gravity that Doncic creates on the court was able to make a ground-bound DeAndre Jordan look good – imagine what it could look like with a skilled player like Porzingis. All in all, once the two build chemistry, they become an instantly creative offense on their own, capable of knifing to the rim and bombing from downtown in equal measure.
