No comparisons, please
Mavs determined to let Doncic, 19, ‘ be himself’
DALLAS — Luka Doncic didn’t get compared to Hall of Famer Larry Bird when he was introduced at a news conference Friday, a day after the Mavericks traded up to select him with the third pick of the NBA Draft.
That was progress for president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, based on his last experience of getting a tender- aged European in hopes of lifting the Mavericks out of the doldrums.
Twenty years later, Dirk Nowitzki is the highest- scoring foreign- born player in NBA history. Back then, the big German wasn’t remotely comparable to Bird — and his rough first two seasons proved it.
So ask Nelson about Doncic, a 19- year- old from Slovenia, and he’ll choose his words carefully. Doncic won’t turn 20 until after the All- Star break of his rookie season, which is expected to be Nowitzki’s record 21st with the same franchise.
‘‘ Dirk and I had a long talk coming in,’’ Nelson said about Nowitzki, whom the Mavericks drafted days after his 20th birthday in 1998. ‘‘ We’re obviously very excited to have [ Doncic], but he’s got a very tough road ahead of him. Dirk wasn’t done any favors in his first two years. We are going to steer away from any of those comparisons. Luka is his own guy. He’s got his own challenges.’’
Coach Rick Carlisle dropped a few international names in trying to describe the versatility the Mavericks think the 6- 7 Doncic brings to the team. After offering comparisons to the late Drazen Petrovic, former Bulls star Toni Kukoc and longtime Spurs standout Manu Ginobili, Carlisle stopped.
‘‘ I really feel it’s important that we shouldn’t try to compare this guy to anybody,’’ Carlisle said during the news conference for Doncic and second- round pick Jalen Brunson. ‘‘ Let him be himself. Let his game take its own form.’’
Doncic figures to shape the future of the Mavericks in some form. They are coming off consecutive losing seasons for the first time since Nowitzki’s two difficult years at the start of his career.
Those 1990s- era Mavericks had 10 consecutive losing seasons. But with Doncic to go with point guard Dennis Smith Jr. — the Maver- icks’ first- round pick last year — and leading scorer Harrison Barnes, Carlisle said he expects the losing to stop soon.
‘‘[ Thursday] was symbolic to me because it was kind of a defining moment in this rebuild,’’ said Carlisle, who had only one losing season as a coach before the Mavericks’ current slide. ‘‘ We’re going propel forward with the idea that we’ve got to start winning games.’’
The Mavericks haven’t won a postseason series since capturing their only NBA title in 2011 and have missed the playoffs in three of the last six seasons. Doncic might get only one chance to get them back on track with Nowitzki, who has hinted that 40 is a nice round number as a retirement age.
‘‘ I REALLY FEEL IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE SHOULDN’T TRY TO COMPARE THIS GUY TO ANYBODY. LET HIM BE HIMSELF. LET HIS GAME TAKE ITS OWN FORM.’’ RICK CARLISLE, Mavericks’ coach, on Luka Doncic