Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic underrated in The Athletic’s player tiers

The Dallas Mavericks were this close to knocking off the LA Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. Luka Doncic led them to three wins in Los Angeles, but the Mavs could not finish the job. The 22-year-old averaged 35.7 points, 10.3 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game in the series. He was unstoppable, but the Clippers had a bit too much talent.

Doncic was far from done there. He led Slovenia in their first Olympic appearance to the semifinals. They defeated the second-ranked team in the world to win their group and were one play away from topping France to play in the gold medal game. Luka was at the center of it and was arguably the best player in Tokyo. He produced historic numbers, including having just the third triple-double in Olympic history.

The Athletic put NBA players into tiers. They broke down the top 125 players and underrated Luka Doncic in the process. Let us take a closer look.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic underrated in The Athletic’s player tiers

Tier one was the top seven players in the NBA but did not feature Luka. He was at the top of tier two. The Athletic recognized him as one of the ten best players in the league. That is still a massive honor, but Doncic is a top-five player at this moment. He is the conversation for number one overall.

Luka earned first-team All-NBA honors two straight years. He finished fourth and sixth in MVP voting the last two seasons. Doncic produced $51.8 million in The Athletic’s BORD$ value last season. Only Giannis Antetokounmpo produced more. Doncic was tied with Nikola Jokic for second and Kawhi Leonard finished at $51.7.

Luka is also the youngest player in the top two tiers. His value is only going to improve which The Athletic recognized (subscription required) when discussing Doncic. The Dallas Mavericks superstar was underrated in their theirs, but do not expect that to continue. Luka Doncic is just too good.