Potential top NBA Draft pick Luka Doncic posts rare triple-double
May 9, 2018, 4:23 PM | Updated: 4:24 pm
Luka Doncic against Real Betis today: 17 PTS/10 REB/10 AST on 4-for-4 shooting (with an insane 128 TS%).
— Frank Urbina (@FrankUrbina_) May 9, 2018
First triple-double in Liga ACB in over 11 years. And Doncic did it in 22 minutes.
Not too shabby. pic.twitter.com/1vnYXw6uP4
While March Madness is far in the past, potential top NBA Draft pick Luka Doncic is still going through his season in Spain for Real Madrid.
Playing in Liga ACB on Wednesday against Real Betis, Doncic scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists for his first career triple-double.
For the context of how rare that is, it’s the first triple-double in Liga ACB in over 11 years and only the seventh in league history.
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The rarity can be attributed to games going for 40 minutes and a rather slow pace of play, but the standout nugget of Doncic’s performance was that he pulled off the feat in only 22 minutes. Oh, and he didn’t miss a shot either.
Doncic, of course, at the age of 19 also became the youngest to record a triple-double in league history.
The 19-year-old Slovenian has been playing in competitions since the beginning of September in EuroBasket for new Phoenix Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov.
From there, his season won’t end until mid-May at the highest point of his season in the EuroLeague Final Four.
Arizona’s Deandre Ayton, meanwhile, started competitive play in mid-November and his season was over in mid-March.
The EuroLeague Final Four takes place on May 18 and 20, the same time other top NBA Draft prospects like Marvin Bagley III and Michael Porter Jr. will be participating in the NBA Combine.
Doncic’s agent made headlines when he said Doncic will not be working out for any team, but with Doncic being the most extensively scouted European prospect of all time by a considerable margin and coming off a long season, it does not seem like an outlandish request.
The Suns will find out if they will have the opportunity to pick from Doncic or any other available prospect on May 15 after the NBA Draft Lottery. They are currently slated with the best odds to land the No. 1 overall selection at 25 percent.
