DALLAS – Rick Carlisle was analyzing the effects Luka Doncic has had on his team when the Dallas Mavericks coach paused to give credit to the man who helped deliver the rookie from Slovenia to the Mavs.
“Donnie Nelson, who I really think is as good an evaluator of talent as I’ve ever met or come across in this league, told me over a year ago that he thought (Doncic) was going to be the best player in this draft,” Carlisle said. “He was pretty certain of it.”
So certain that Nelson – the president of basketball operations and general manager of the Mavs – helped engineer a draft day trade last June that enabled the Mavs to acquire Doncic from the Atlanta Hawks.