DALLAS — Bulls big man Lauri Markkanen saw Mavericks star Luka Doncic coming.
Not Monday. Not even last season, when the then-rookie burst onto the scene and instantly changed the direction of the Mavericks’ rebuild.
No, the legend of Doncic started when he was playing for Real Madrid as a 16-year-old, and almost every European player has a ‘‘Luka story’’ since that time.
Former Bulls forwards Paul Zipser and Nikola Mirotic played against Doncic, as did Markkanen.
‘‘Yeah, I played him from my rookie year in the European Championship, so I obviously knew how good he was and how good he could be,’’ Markkanen said.