As far as the entire 2018-19 NB season is concerned, there’s no question that Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic is the more dominant and consistent player. The Slovenian star had already made his mark on the professional league within just the first month of the regular season, averaging a team-high 18.5 points. 6.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game, notes sports buff Michael Volitich.
By the time he logged in his first 10 games, Luka had chalked in 198 points, 66 rebounds, and 44 assists, the first teenager (he just turned 20 this past February) to do so in NBA history. Even that early, most NBA experts thought the 6’7” was the shoo-in Rookie of the Year winner. And this trend continued until the end of 2018.
But Trae Young, the player he was traded for by the Hawks during draft night, had other things in mind. The equally young point guard started to post monster numbers after the NBA All-Star break, averaging 25.8 points, 9 assists, and 4.4 rebounds since. He also became only the eighth rookie in league history to score at least 35 points and dish out 11 assists in a game.
As of this writing, there’s just a couple of games left per team in the regular season. And talks are now turning to whether Young has done enough to best Doncic for the coveted rookie award. But while the crafty Atlanta guard has been flashy and has led his team with few game-winners, Doncic still has the edge. For one, the larger rookie is less of a defensive liability than Young. Moreover, it’s not as though Doncic has slacked off in the second half of the season. In fact, he became just the fourth rookie in NBA history to record at least seven triple-doubles in a game against the Kings.
So, as the season ends, is it now Young over Doncic? It’s highly unlikely, says Michael Volitich. With Antetokounmpo also playing stellar basketball, the NBA might just be on the eve of crowning two foreign-born players as ROTY and MVP.
Michael Volitich is a University of Florida Creative Writing student, sports writer and fanatic, lit geek, film buff, and occasional traveler. More on Michael’s hobbies and interests here.
Michael Volitich 