Does NBA Draft Feature 'The Next Luka'?

DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks watchers just endured a decade-and-a-half of listening to lame comparisons of prospects labeled "The Next Dirk.''

We should brace ourselves now for the follow-up chapter: A decade-and-a-half of listening to lame comparisons of prospects labeled "The Next Luka.''

Former Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Deni Avdija is considered by some to be the most intriguing prospect in the upcoming Nov. 18 2020 NBA Draft, and among the reasons for the intrigue?

The Luka comp.

“What Luka he’s doing right now is great,’’ Avdika said, via Marc Berman of the New York Post. "I understand why people, they see familiar things. I want to make it clear he’s a great player and has his own path and skills and I have my own path and skills. I have my own abilities — the good and bad.

"I just don’t want to be compared to anybody.”

Unfortunately, that's not the way scouting and mock drafts work. Every single big man with a perimeter shot (especially if he's white) is compared to Dirk Nowitzki, and it's been that way for almost 20 years. Every jump-out-of-the-gym swingman was for years given a "Baby Jordan'' sort of nickname.

And now? Yes, if you're a 19-year-old Israeli-Serbian with an unselfish all-around floor game poised to come to America via a top slot in the NBA Draft?

Yes, you are "The Next Luka.''

Avdija also happens to be 6-9, oversized for a guy with his skills, like Doncic. He's a three-time Israeli League champion, so he's got some trophies like EuroLeague MVP Luka. And he's got one more Doncic-like trait: He speaks with a matter-of-fact confidence about what he's planning to achieve.

“I don’t like to talk about my game,’’ he said. “I just trying to do what’s best for team at that moment. At the end of the game, I just like to win.''