I Love Luka Doncic and So Should the Atlanta Hawks

The 2017-18 NBA season has been rather uneventful for the Atlanta Hawks.

Buyouts of Marco Bellinelli and Ersan Ilyasova have opened up roster spots and minutes that are soon to be filled with youth and 10-day contracts. John Collins has been historically awesome, Tyler Dorsey has improved his play of late and Taurean Prince shows flashes of dominance on certain nights.

But there is pretty much only one thing the city of Atlanta cares about when it comes to the Hawks and that is the 2018 NBA Draft. The Hawks seem poised to have an extremely high draft pick in what most scouts and analysts consider one of the most loaded classes in years. It is up for debate, however, on who the #1 overall pick will end up being.

All this draft talk assumes that Atlanta will continue to lose, lose and lose some more. The Hawks are tied with Sacramento for the second-worst winning percentage in the league, trailing only Phoenix. Statistics website FiveThirtyEight projects Atlanta to finish with the second-worst record in the league. That would guarantee us a top-5 pick and a puncher’s chance at the #1 pick.

With that in mind, I’m here to profess that the Hawks need to do absolutely everything necessary to draft Slovenian PG/SG/SF Luka Doncic. Doncic currently plays in the second best league in the world (behind the NBA) and is averaging stats per-36 minutes of 22.8 points, 6.5 assists and 7.9 rebounds.

A 19-year-old averaging absolutely elite numbers in a league 5 times harder than the NCAA while playing limited minutes (as is common in European leagues) is unbelievable.

Yes, DeAndre Ayton has the body of Zeus and Marvin Bagley III consistently puts up 22 and 10 a night, but Doncic seems to be on another level, and it doesn’t seem particularly close.

Doncic would be the primary ballhandler the moment he sets foot in Atlanta and that could cause fit issues, but I think it’s pretty obvious that Dennis Schröder is not our point guard of the future.

If the Hawks finish with a pick in the 2-6 range, I am all for a trade up, no matter (with exceptions) the asset. If a trade that involves one or both of our other first-rounders or involving anyone but Prince, Collins and maybe Dorsey, I think GM Travis Schlenk and co. should pull the trigger.

Next: 2018 Draft: 5 Possible Top-Five Picks for the Atlanta Hawks

I am buying all current and future Luka Doncic stock, and I am going to need everyone to hop on the bandwagon before it gets too crowded.