Bulls' Vucevic Names Best European Starting 5; Mavs' Luka on List?

Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic was asked who he'd put in his 'best European starting five,' and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic made the list.

The FIBA World Cup is about to get underway, and national teams are going through their final preparations before taking the court on Friday.

During a recent media session, Chicago Bulls and Montenegro big man Nikola Vucevic was presented with an interesting question: Who is in his starting five for active European players?

"[I'd probably put Luka Doncic at the point guard," Vucevic said. "Shooting guard, Bogdan Bogdanovic. At the three, I'd probably put Lauri Markkanen. [At the] four, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and five, Nikola Jokic."

There is a lot of mutual respect between all of those NBA players who also share the court in international play, and it was a nice tip of the hat from Vucevic to include Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic on his list without hesitation.

Vucevic has faced off against Doncic many times in his career, but his most recent match happened just two weeks ago, as Doncic put up a triple-double to power Slovenia past Montenegro, 104-100, in a friendly exhibition match. Doncic finished the game with 34 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists, including some huge, clutch shots down the stretch of the fourth quarter.

"If I don't point him out, it looks like it's a normal thing," Slovenian national team coach Aleksander Sekulic said of Doncic. "It's not a normal thing what he does on the court. We took it for granted, but it's not. This is really a big thing, not only because he achieved it, but also because he makes his teammates better."

Slovenia and Montenegro aren't in the same group for the first round of play at the FIBA World Cup, but they could end up playing each other again at some points in the tournament. Slovenia is No. 8 in the pre-tournament power rankings, and Montenegro is No. 17.

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