Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic entered the NBA in 2018 having already won the EuroLeague MVP award with Real Madrid at age 19 — the youngest recipient in the history of that competition. Most American players his age were finishing their freshman year of college. Doncic had spent six years in Madrid's youth academy, worked under professional coaching since he was 13, and won a EuroLeague championship before he was eligible for the NBA draft.

The adjustment period that teams anticipated did not arrive. Doncic won Rookie of the Year in 2018-19, then established himself as one of the league's primary offensive forces before he turned 23. His 2023-24 season with Dallas — 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game in 70 games on 48.7 percent shooting — represented one of the most complete individual seasons the league had seen. He averaged nearly a triple-double across the full season, led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals, and scored 73 points against Atlanta in December 2023, the fourth-highest single-game total in league history.

What makes his game difficult to stop is the combination of his step-back three-pointer — which he can take off one or two dribbles, from either direction, from 30 feet — and his Euro-step through the paint, which he executes with the footwork precision of a player who came up on international basketball floors where the step-back was basic vocabulary. Defenses that crowd him get beaten off the dribble; defenses that give him space absorb the step-back three.

He was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in early 2025. In 40 games that season, playing with an unfamiliar roster, he averaged 28.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 8.0 assists on 47 percent shooting.