Luka Dončić Is Living Up To Preseason MVP Buzz

Before the start of the 2022-2023 NBA season, Luka Dončić was widely regarded as a strong candidate to walk away with the annual MVP award.

The only potential hiccup, which remains an unknown for now, was team success and whether or not the Dallas Mavericks could find their way to 50 wins.

While the Mavericks are just four games into their season, sitting at 2-2, the play of Dončić has been undeniable. The 23-year-old superstar is looking fitter than ever, and has thus been capable of handling an even bigger load of the offense, which almost defies logic considering how much he usually carries.

Dončić is netting 36.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 9.3 assists per game. While some may be inclined to call those numbers unsustainable, it’s at worst a modest decline we can expect – if any at all – given how often he’s been close to a 30-9-9 line.

Dončić is sporting a few outlier numbers in the efficiency department, which we’ll have to wait to see if they even out. He’s hitting 50% of his shots, having hit roughly 45% in every season besides his first.

His two-point percentage sits at a ridiculous 63.6% efficiency, despite the fact he’s never even cracked 58% there before. And it does so while sitting on an incredible volume of 16.5 attempts per game.

(In fairness, he’s struggling from three-point territory, hitting just 26.3% on over nine attempts per game, far below that of years past.)

It’s difficult to identify what is just a streak, and what looks like a new norm.

One area where he looks much improved is the free throw line, and fans are assuredly hoping his current 86.1% free throw percentage is a sign of newfound confidence from the charity stripe. Dončić has an unfortunate history from the line, having often bricked key trips to the foul line for varying reasons. He sat at 73.7% for his career coming into this season, it seemed a conundrum how something with that good of a touch couldn’t excel at that area of the game.

Well, for now he is.

More important than the numbers is his on-court growth, and how it relates to his long-term potential.

Dončić has always been formidable in his ability to decelerate on the fast break, and he’s arguably the most patient player in the game, as he will squeeze every single second out of a shot clock, looking for the best opportunity. Yet, somehow, he’s successfully sharpened those skills even more, refining himself to a point where the game looks almost like it runs in slow-motion for him, when he’s reading angles, and is determining the next course of action.

It further underlines how players with high levels of understanding of the game will more often than not realize their potential, even if their athletic prowess aren’t top-shelf.

(Dončić does have elite side-to-side movement due to his impeccable footwork, but he’ll never be among the fastest or highest jumping players in the association.)

The Slovenian does look slimmed down, and thus faster than usual, but he remains a half-court magician who’ll mostly utilize his skills in slower settings, which was on full display in Brooklyn, when he put up 41 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists, and three steals against the Nets, leading Dallas to a tough overtime win.

He routinely maneuvered around several defenders, often overcoming help from the weak side, and using his wide frame to absorb contact while planning his next move.

Dončić appears to have reached the point in his career where his experience level, his skill set, and his confidence have come together, and the result is the perception of a game that’s slowed down to his eyes, affording him more time to scan the floor, and more time to react to changing defenses.

Will Dončić win MVP? It’s tough to say, as the award is often tied closely to team success. If we disregard that however, Dončić would have plenty of arguments to look like the favorite.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.