In '18, the Mavericks sent 2 first-round picks for Doncic, who did the Hawks draft? How are they developing today

There is no 24th in the rivers and lakes

2024-05-29 11:18Posted in Henan Sports Creators

In the 1998 draft, the Mavericks traded Robert Trayler, the sixth pick, for Nowitzki, who had been in love for a long time, and the No. 19 pick from that year.

Although Nowitzki was questioned by many people in the outside world about the Mavericks' decision due to his personal style of play and background (international players were still rare in the NBA at the time), it turned out that the team did not look away, Nowitzki not only became one of the best power forwards in the NBA, but also won the Heat Big Three in 2011 under his leadership, and many fans still believe that this is the most valuable championship in NBA history.

And 20 years later, also in the draft, the Mavericks took a fancy to another international player, and this person was Doncic from Slovenia. However, if the Mavericks wanted to pick Doncic themselves, they would have to pray that the first four teams didn't fancy him, but it was clear that the team didn't want to pin their hopes on other teams, so they actively sought to trade upwards.

Team owner Cuban personally called the owner of the Hawks, who had the No. 3 pick, and the two sides eventually reached a deal, with the Mavericks sending the No. 5 pick that year, plus a protected 2019 first-round pick, in exchange for Doncic. And this time the Mavericks and Cuban still haven't looked away, Doncic is the best player this time, he averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6 assists per game in his rookie season, and finally he beat Ayton and others to get the best rookie.

And this was obviously just the starting point for Doncic, who became a top-five player in the league from his second season, when he averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game, and he was only 20 years old at the time. Since then, Doncic has never been selected every year, and under his leadership, the Mavericks have become a regular in the playoffs, and his personal status among the younger generation has become higher and higher.

In the 2021-2022 season, Doncic led the team to a 52-30 record, eliminated the Jazz 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs, defeated the defending champion Suns 4-3 in the semifinals, and scored 35 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals on 12-19 shooting, with his help the team completely blew up the Suns with a score of 123-90, and that year the Mavericks also entered the Western Conference finals again after 11 years, but unfortunately the Mavericks lost to the Warriors in the end, so they also missed the opportunity to reach the Finals.

Now two years later, Doncic is still improving, averaging 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the regular season this season. In the playoffs, the Mavericks eliminated their old rival Clippers 4-2 in the first round, and Doncic's two first-round trips in the past were due to them, and this year he finally completed his revenge. In the second round against the Thunder, the Mavericks still spent six games to solve the battle, and as the playoffs deepened, Doncic's condition is getting better and better, and he seems to have gotten used to playing with injuries.

Standing on the stage of the Western Conference finals again after two years, Doncic's teammates around him are obviously much better than at that time, and his personal performance did not disappoint the team. G1 scored 33 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals, G2 scored 32 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists and hit a quasi-final shot, and G3 scored 33 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.

So having said all that, the Mavericks originally sent two first-round picks for Doncic, and the Hawks used these two first-round picks, how did they develop in their subsequent careers?

The first is the No. 5 pick that year, the Hawks selected Trae Young at that time, he is the same as Doncic with the ball, and a large part of the reason why the Hawks value him is because Trae Young played in American system basketball. Trae Young averaged 19.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game in his rookie season, and the gap between him and Doncic at this time was not too big, and his performance was relatively outstanding.

Trae Young also ushered in an explosion the following year, he averaged 29.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game, just looking at the data, Trae Young's performance on the offensive end is completely on par with Doncic, his shortcomings may be the average offensive efficiency, plus his defense is indeed more spicy than Doncic. However, this year, the Hawks' record has slipped from their rookie season, and they only won 20 games in the regular season, nine fewer than the previous season.

In the 2020-2021 season, Trae Young's statistics shrunk, but the team reached the playoffs, and they eliminated the Knicks and the 76ers all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, although they eventually lost to the Bucks, but this result also made Trae Young's limelight overshadow Doncic for a while, and Trae Young averaged 28.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game in the playoffs that year.

In the 2021-2022 season, Trae Young averaged 28.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists per game, and he was finally selected to the All-NBA team this year, but at this time he could not catch up with Doncic in terms of personal honors, and with the latter also leading the team to the division finals this season, the gap between the two was completely widened. However, this is not the worst, and what makes the Hawks management regret even more is that in the past two seasons, Trae Young has not only failed to catch up with Doncic, but he has declined both in terms of personal strength and team performance.

After missing the playoffs this season, the media rushed to report that the Hawks were interested in putting Trae Young on the trade shelf, but it seems that his reputation in the trade market is not good, and many teams are concerned about whether there is room for his offensive efficiency and defensive performance to decline further. In fact, a large part of Trae Young's decline is due to the league's deliberate desire to increase the intensity of the game over the years, and as a diminutive guard, Trae Young has become one of the "main victims" of the league's reform.

After talking about Trae Young, the Hawks used another first-round pick to draft Reddish in 2019, but his performance can't be compared with Trae Young and Doncic at all, after he entered the league, he was called a "cold shooter" by fans because of his poor outside touch, and his ball-handling skills were far from reaching the average level of the NBA, and many times the ball couldn't even shoot normally when the ball came into his hands.

However, Reddish also had a highlight moment in the 2021 playoffs, where he had not been able to play in the first two rounds, but he gained playing time in the Eastern Conference finals, especially in G6, where he scored 21 points. However, Reddish did not continue this form, and he was later traded to the Knicks by the Hawks, but even though Thibodeau is a very defense-oriented coach, Reddish's poor performance on the offensive end still left the team without any desire to develop him, so it didn't take long for him to be traded to the Trail Blazers.

Reddish chose to join the Lakers in the spotlight last offseason in order to prove himself, and he was a starter in the regular season this season, but he was quickly replaced by other players due to injuries. After returning from injury, Reddish lost his touch on the offensive end, which also led to his playing time becoming less and less, and he was completely DNP in the playoffs.

Reddish is now 24 years old, but not only has he not improved much from his rookie season, but has also declined a lot, and if he continues like this, he is not far from being eliminated from the NBA.

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