Luka Doncic: Offensive Juggernaut

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Luka Doncic in just four seasons has emerged as one of the very best players in the world and he has shown this through his offensive brilliance. His ability to score the basketball at every level is nearly unmatched, in addition to being one of the very best playmakers and passers in the world. And not just in the regular season, but in the playoffs as well. Let’s take a look at Luka Doncic and what separates him as one of the best offensive players in the world. 


First up, lets talk about Luka’s ability to put the ball into the basket. After all, putting the orange ball through the metal hoop is the overall objective of the game. Luka being 6’7 and weighing 230 pounds as a guard is absurd. He has a clear size advantage over virtually every guard in the NBA. This enables him to attack the basket and cause mayhem at will given that he’s being defended by a much smaller player more times than not. And his weight allows him to power into the lane and and finish at the rim. This past season Luka finished an incredible 78.1% of his shots at the basket, and he made 67.2% of his layup attempts. 


In the mid range, Luka is still deadly. He isn’t as prolific as a Kevin Durant in the mid range, but if the defense plays him for the drive, he can create and get a bucket in the mid range. This past season, we saw Luka turn to a mid range, Larry Bird esque fadeaway more often. On shots between 10 and 16 feet, Luka shot an impressive 45.4%. 


And how can we discuss Luka Doncic without discussing his production from behind the arc. He’s far from a spot up shooter. When looking at the stat sheet, you might think he’s a mediocre shooter from three, but that’s where watching the games comes into play. Luka is one of the very best at creating his own shots for three. Whether it be a size up stepback, or a side step, Luka is elite. Very James Harden esque, in the way he creates his own baskets from three. Last season he shot 35.3% from three which is equal to league average, but when it comes to his step back jumpers, he shot an amazing 40.1% on 338 attempts. 


When it comes to scoring the rock, and getting buckets, Luka does this at the highest level. Whether it be in the paint, in the mid range or from three, he’s simply unstoppable. And here’s a nice graphic of his shots from the season. 


Moving on, not only is Luka completely elite at scoring the basketball, he’s also completely dominant as a passer and playmaker. It can be argued that he’s the very best playmaker in the NBA. First, being the elite scorer that he is, is key to his playmaking. Because he’s such a threat to score the basketball, the defense has to pay tons of attention to him in order to slow him down. This creates MANY opportunities for him to create offense for his teammates. 


When it comes to creating open shots for his teammates, this is no difficult task for Luka. As I mentioned earlier, because Luka is so great at attacking the basket and finishing, the defense HAS to collapse in to try to stop him, and by doing this, shooters are left open. Luka, having a very high IQ is able to find the open man and deliver crisp and accurate passes. 

Now Luka may not be as good as Trae Young at lob passes, he still is great. Coming off a screen and turning the corner, Luka has great feel and court vision to deliver accurate lob passes to teammates for the most efficient shot in basketball. Luka is a master of using his scoring gravity to create efficient looks for his teammates. Luka is also great at operating in the pick and roll, as he normally makes the correct pass or decision. 

In transition, Luka truly earns his nickname of “Luka Magic”. Off a rebound he can spot a teammate dashing 80 feet up court and make clean full court passes. And when Luka has a full head of steam on a fast break, he can delivery highlight worthy no look passes that remind you of Magic. 


Lastly, what separates a great offensive player from an all time great offensive player is two things; Longevity and playoff elevation. And Luka has already shown to be an elite playoff performer. In fact, elite isn’t strong enough of a word to describe Luka in the playoffs. At the young age of 22, Luka is currently 2nd all time in points per game for the playoffs with 32.5 behind only the best basketball player ever in Michael Jordan. The playoffs is where legends are made. Some players fall off in effectiveness and production when the games become more important, but this is something that Luka can’t relate to. In 2020, as a 20 year old, Luka went up against two of the best perimeter defenders ever in Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, and yet he wasn’t phased. In that series, he put up a monstrous 31.8 points per game to go with 9.8 boards and and 8.7 assists against the Clippers who were the 5th best defensive team in the NBA. And who can forget that nasty stepback three ball for the win over Reggie Jackson in game 4. 


Luka would then follow that up in the 2021 playoffs by playing even better against the SAME team in the Clippers. This year, the Clippers were the 8th best defensive team and allowed the 4th fewest points per game among any team in the NBA. But once again, Luka Doncic showed the world that he couldn’t be stopped and even took Kawhi and PG to a game 7. Going toe to toe with Kawhi Leonard, a proven playoff performer as well, Luka outscored Kawhi in 4 out of 7 games. Luka would drop 30+ in 5 out of the 7 games including three 40 point masterpieces. In Game 7 with everything on the line, Luka would drop an incredible 46 points. 

And just this past post season, Luka put on a show to remember, taking his team all the way to the Western Conference Finals as a 22 year old. Not to mention, he faced some amazing defensive teams. In round 1 he faced the Utah Jazz, who were ranked 9th in defense, and had the best rim protector in the NBA in Rudy Gobert. Against this team, Luka would torch them in 6 games sporting stats of 29 points per game to go with 10 boards a night as well. 


In the second round, Luka faced the Phoenix Suns, who held the best record in the NBA and were ranked 3rd in defense. Coming into that series, the Suns were favored, but Luka being an elite playoff performer and goated offensive talent, he was able to lead his team past them in 7, posting averages of  32.6 points per game, 9.9 boards and 7.0 dimes per contest. He dominated the Suns in game 7, dropping a cool 27 points in the 1st half, which was equivalent to the amount points the Suns had as a TEAM!!!! 


In the Conference Finals, Luka and the Mavs would face the future champions in the Golden State Warriors. He would fall short in 5 games but despite the loss, Luka didn’t disappoint. He put up two back to back 40 point games in game 2 and 3 and he finished the series with averages of 32.0 points per game, 9.2 boards and 6.0 dimes. 


All in all, Luka is arguably the very best offensive player in the NBA. This is due to his combination of otherworldly scoring ability paired with his all time playmaking ability. Someone like a Kevin Durant can’t playmake like Luka, and on the other end, players like CP3 can’t score and takeover like Luka. What makes Luka such an offensive juggernaut, is he can score exceptionally well from all three levels of the floor, his playmaking and passing prowess are almost unmatched in the league, and he turns it up in the Playoffs at a high level when the games get more important. 



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