Luka Doncic isn’t doing himself any favors with his constant complaining to the officials, Tim Cato of The Athletic writes. The Mavericks superstar was tossed from Slovenia’s quarterfinal loss to Canada in the FIBA World Cup. Doncic’s technical fouls in the NBA have risen in each of his five seasons. Cato notes. Doncic has publicly acknowledged over the years he needs to pipe down, but his actions haven’t reflected it. He’s a master at drawing contact but complaining about non-calls serves no useful purpose, as Cato writes.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- The Nuggets’ new G League general manager, Ben Tenzer, believes forward Peyton Watson will blossom in his second NBA season, he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. “(He) has all the potential in the world. I think it starts with his defense and his energy,” Tenzer said. “He’s such a unique player with his size and his ability to cover the court. His shot-blocking ability. I think we were able to see it a little bit when he played with the Nuggets toward the end of the season, how good he can be. So I think for him it starts with the defensive side. The offensive side will come because of his natural ability to be able to handle and attack the rim.”
- Alex Len and JaVale McGee are expected to make the Kings’ opening night roster and compete for backup minutes at center, James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com tweets. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering they both have guaranteed contracts. That also means Neemias Queta and Nerlens Noel, who have partially guaranteed deals, will essentially be competing for the final roster spot, assuming Sacramento decides to carry 15 players.
- The Spurs have 18 players on guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals. So who will be the odd men out? The Athletic’s John Hollinger and Kelly Iko explore that, plus other Spurs-related topics. Khem Birch and Charles Bassey appear to be the most vulnerable, according to Hollinger. If San Antonio is unable to deal one of its guards, then either Doug McDermott, Reggie Bullock or Cedi Osman could be bought out.
Waive Bullock, Osman and Payne or trade them for a bad expiring contract
Waive Len
Waive Len. Do you need Divac top priority. That 1.7 points per game won’t be missed. Noel can do that
Luka ‘the Complaining’ Doncic.
That’s LeCry James
I love the joy Luka can play the game with…
All these rules designed to make the offensive player bait the defense into a mistake don’t help these young players…
As does the inconsistency of the referees…
That said… Luka and so many other young players need to shut up and and play the game that is coming, not the game that has been…
They leaned it from LeBron, wade and all the best players ever
I really liked Watson in the draft last year. Definitely raw, but has a lot of potential on both ends, especially defensively. Reminded me of a few guys. Derrick Jones jr, Herb Jones, Trevor Ariza, kind of a little Trevor Ariza, maybe a more raw Og Anunoby
I think he has the chance at a good role there this year too, after they lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green
Luka..
NBA players are performing the maneuvers of this game at an elite level. Luka and other “superstars” are performing at elite of elite level. What headspace does he need to be in to perform at such a high level? It’s probably different for each player. Asking him to compose himself while still performing at that elite elite level might not be so easy.
The Spurs having Wemby makes Bassey expendable, but any team looking for a good young Center should be interested in him. Guy is crazy underrated, especially as a defender. He can switch at a high level and he’s really strong.
Maybe, I am baised, but if you imagened go to basket and everytime only way to stop him is fouling.how long could you be quite? I agree that sometime he should not nag, but a lot of times foul is not called.