NBA 2018-19: Who won the Luka Doncic and Trae Young draft-night deal?

The NBA Draft is the 'Association's attempt to realign the balance of power that separates its franchises. Some teams are good and some are bad. The reason is some teams have lots of talent other teams, not enough.

Sometimes that disparity is due to players aging and declining skills or just bad draft selections or trades from previous years. The process is usually cyclical, although, some franchises seem to be eternally bad and cannot break the cycle.

There are the Los Angeles Clippers, who from the 1980’s right through the 1990’s had continually made horrible choices like drafting Michael Olowakandi. There are teams like the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted Tim Duncan but are also known for their late draft gems like Manu Ginobili. There are teams, like the Boston Celtics, who stockpile draft picks, and then use them to add young talent to their roster or swap those picks, for proven talent.

The Boston Celtics used this method to acquire Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, which returned the Celtics to championship status. The Celtics did it again to acquire Kyrie Irving, by trading their rights, to the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first round pick, along, with Isaiah Thomas.

In the 2018 NBA draft, two teams, that were competitive just a few years ago, now in a rebuild phase, swapped their picks to obtain the player they wanted. Luka Doncic was drafted 3rd overall, by the Atlanta Hawks and, in a draft day deal, was sent to the Dallas Mavericks, for a protected future 1st rounder and Trae Young, the 5th overall pick, in the draft.

These two young stars will forever be linked as everyone tries to examine who won the deal. As things stand now, both players are representing their teams well and giving a good showcase of their talents. Here is a quick review of Trae Young and Luka Doncic.

Trae Young

The Atlanta Hawks are currently 5-17 with a .227 winning percentage. They are 13 games behind the Toronto Raptors, who lead the Eastern Conference and the Hawks are the 2nd worst team in the East.

The bright spot is the crown jewel, who the Hawks traded, with the Mavericks, to acquire, at the draft. Trae Young is not just young, he is young and brilliant. He has shown great speed and quickness and an undeniable ability to get to the basket, when driving. He has a good shot and from long range already, as well. His passing skills are good and he has great offensive awareness.

The only real flaw, that’s obvious, is he needs to get better with his perimeter defense one on one. He also needs to improve his shooting percentage, at 38.3%, he either needs to shoot less or be more selective. Atlanta are not very good and Young's shooting percentage might be because Atlanta are relying on him too much.

So far, in his young career, Trae has had a game of 35 points and 11 assists, against Cleveland. He also had a 25 point 17 assist game, against the Clippers. Young is averaging 15.9 points per game and 7.6 assists per game, so far this season.

Luka Doncic

Golden State Warriors v Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are, in a better shape, than the Atlanta Hawks, at 10-9 and momentarily holding 8th spot, in the Western Conference. Luka Doncic, like Trae Young, has been very good.

Doncic, is a 6’ 7 small forward/shooting guard. He blends the skill set of the two positions very well. He isn’t afraid, for a young player, to put the ball, on the floor and attack a defender either with crossover, step back or post maneuvers.

He can create off the dribble if the defender takes shooting space away, and he’s not afraid to absorb contact, in the lane. He shows an affinity for the corner three but might have unlimited range.

He also shows great passing vision and creativity, with his passes. Doncic is averaging 19.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He is shooting 45.7% from the field and 39.8% from 3 point range. Doncic appears to be, in his element, with a basketball, in his hand.

Trae Young and Luka Doncic are being asked to do different things for their franchise and they are the top rookie scorers so far. If the rookie of the year award were to be awarded right now, Luka Doncic would be the recipient.

He just appears to have the more complete game all around. This duo of Trae Young and Luka Doncic will be fun to watch hopefully for years to come. As they mature into the best basketball players they can be, hopefully, they can raise the profile of their teams, as well.