2. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
You can make the argument that the next two players should be in a tier on their own and I wouldn’t budge. However, I’m not sure what tier is about elite status. We start here at No. 2 with Luka Doncic who is probably already considered a top 5 NBA player across the board, regardless of position. If there’s any early-career knock on Doncic, it’s the fact that he hasn’t had the playoff success that many other superstars have. In fairness, he is just 24 years old and the Dallas Mavericks haven’t done a tremendous job to surround him with the necessary talent to compete for a championship year in and year out.
Nevertheless, it’s pretty unprecedented for a 24-year-old to be averaging 32 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists on 50 percent shooting from the field. That’s inching closer and closer to LeBron James territory. Luka is clearly on the right track and the scariest part of it all is the fact that he’s still getting better.
With the path and strides he’s made through the first few seasons of his career, it wouldn’t be al that surprising if he emerges as the best player in the NBA in a few years.