After Doncic scores 27 points against …

After Doncic scores 27 points against Latvia – while facing, ironically, his future teammate Kristaps Porzingis – Carmenati texts his own teammates, Alvydas Pazdrazdis, the Mavericks’ director of international scouting, and Tony Ronzone, the team’s director of player personnel. “Luka’s doing magic,” Carmenati tells them. “That’s our guy. That is the first guy to watch (in this draft class).”

The Mavericks’ close relationship with …

The Mavericks’ close relationship with Doncic’s agent, Bill Duffy of BDA Sports, helps alleviate some worries. So, too, does their own legwork. As Ronzone remembers it, years of tracking Doncic plus close ties with his coaches enable them to determine what was nonsense. “We knew all the concerns,” Ronzone, who is longtime friends with Duffy, said.

“We’d heard it all. We’d seen it all. …

“We’d heard it all. We’d seen it all. And I talked to enough coaches (to know the truth) … I’ve been to Madrid a lot, and if you’ve lived in Europe, (for) one, you’re allowed to go out at an earlier age. You don’t have to be 21 to go out. “So yes, he’s going to be around that. They don’t card you when you go into a club in Madrid, especially if you’re Luka Doncic or (his former Real Madrid teammate) Serge Llull. You’re not going to get carded, because the athletes are treated with a great deal of respect. The work ethic did not bother me because I’d seen a kid at 13 years old leave his country and come on his own and learn to live on his own and become a pro and be at practice and be on time. That was never an issue with his coach. But once the game came on, when the bell rang, I mean, the kid was ready to play every single night.”