Kevin Durant Praises Luka Doncic: 'He's Seeing Everything Before It Even Happens'

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant offered up some high praise for Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic on the latest episode of his podcast The ETCs with Kevin Durant.

While chatting about the 22-year-old Slovenian, Durant touted Doncic's vision and pace.

Said Durant (h/t Eurohoops.net):

"He's just smooth out there. He's seeing everything before it even happens. He can dictate every pass that he wants. He's got a nice pace.

"He can get you up in the air because everybody is pressing him. He might get a foul on one play—boom, you loosened up now. He gets into the paint, pump-fakes you, you jump, pump-fakes you again because he's moving so slow, one leg fade. His pace is so incredible to me. ...

"He's deceptively quick too. He'll get around you fast, he'll slip around you fast for a layup, then slow down. That's how he gets a lot of fouls too. He'll act like he doesn't have any athleticism."

Doncic certainly has the numbers to back up the praise. Not only is he averaging 28.4 points, 8.7 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game, but Friday he also became the fastest active player to reach 5,000 points—requiring just 194 games. He's the fourth-youngest player to reach that mark in NBA history behind LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and—no surprise—Durant.

Given the success the other three have had, it's easy to imagine Doncic following a similar path.