DALLAS — If anyone knows Luka Doncic pretty well, it’s Dallas Mavericks center Salah Mejri.

In 2015, Mejri and Doncic were teammates with Real Madrid in the EuroLeague. At the time, Doncic was just 16 years old and was the third-youngest player to make his debut in the history of the Liga ACB competition.

But despite Doncic’s age, it didn’t take Mejri long to see that a star was about to be born and that Real Madrid had something special on its hands.

“I remember we brought him in the playoffs against Valencia and it was very, very hard…and a very hard team to play against,” Mejri said. “They’re very aggressive, their arena is pretty loud, and it was the semifinals, and he played great.

“He made a huge big shot to amp up the game to help us win the game, and since then he kept doing it throughout playoff games. He was only 16 and playing with grown men. He did a lot in the playoffs and it was in crunch time, so I guess he’s going to do the same here. He will not be afraid to play.”

The Mavs acquired Doncic is a draft-day trade with the Atlanta Hawks this past June. The 19-year old guard/forward has been the talk of Dallas and one of the players many are picking to win this season’s Rookie of the Year award.

“He’s a great player,” Mejri said. “He’s a good person who’s a great locker room guy, he’s very coachable, so I think he’s going to be special for this league.

“He’s got everything any player needs to be successful. He’s young, he’s smart, he’s been playing pro basketball for the last five-four years, so I’m happy and excited for him to be here and I’m happy because we played together, too.”

While Mejri is thrilled to be teaming with Doncic again, he also is glad he doesn’t have to go head-to-head against DeAndre Jordan any more — except in practice.

“He’s a great player, he’s very strong, he’s a beast,” Mejri said of Jordan. “For sure, he’s going to help us a lot this year and he’s going to bring good love for this team.

“Everybody knows who he is and what he can do. He’s a great locker room guy, too. He helps everybody, he’s talking to everybody. He jokes a lot, which is good to me.”

Mejri is glad to be in position to learn from Jordan, a two-time NBA rebounding champion who spent the first 10 years of his career with the Los Angeles Clippers before he joined the Mavs this past July.

“He’s got a lot of experience,” Merji said, “and I’ve got a lot to learn from him and from everybody that’s here who has more years than me in the NBA.”

A 7-2, 235-pounder, Mejri pushed aside questions concerning the many physical battles he and Jordan have had on the court.

“It’s funny for people to say, ‘Hey, you’ve had something with this player or with that player,’ ” Mejri said. “When we are in between these lines, even if my father plays against me I’m going to have a physical battle with him. Once we’re out, we’re going to hug and go to dinner. There is nothing personal. I’m just playing, I’m just trying to help our team win without being dirty.

“I’m just being physical. I’m a big man and I’m aggressive. . .not really aggressive. I’m not doing anything bad to anybody. As I said, if you are playing, I’m going to play as best I can, even in practice. I’m not going to try to hurt anybody, but I’m just going to do my job and that’s what the coaches want me to do. Once we’re outside, we are good to go. We are all athletes, we are all basketball players. We know what it takes to survive.”

Mejri, 32, is approaching his fourth season with the Mavs and had a very busy summer while playing with the Tunisian National Basketball Team.

“In the FIBA tournament he played more than any of our other guys,’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “They played more games for some reason. They had more preliminary, what they call friendship games.

“If there was any concern it was more about the wear and tear of that. But for the most part he was with our starting group as a sub with DeAndre, so he was getting some work but not pushing it, which was good. So far he’s doing very well.”

NOTES: Forward Harrison Barnes and guard J. J. Barea won’t be playing with the Mavs for a while. Barnes will be sidelined for seven to 10 days with a strained right hamstring, and Barea is sidelined indefinitely with a strained left hamstring. Coach Rick Carlisle said Barnes will sat out Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. CT preseason opener at American Airlines Center against the Beijing Ducks, and will also said miss the Oct. 5 and Oct. 8 preseason games in China against the Philadelphia 76ers. “Harrison tweaked his hamstring yesterday, so he’s going to miss some time,” Carlisle said. “Barea has a little bit of a hamstring issue. He missed a few days of contact.” Carlisle said he doesn’t have a timetable for Barnes’ return, but that he’ll be out for a while. “I don’t have any kind of even estimated timetable on when he’ll be back,” Carlisle said. As for Barea’s return, Carlisle said: “I don’t know exactly the timetable, but he’ll be back before Harrison.”. .The Mavs will practice Monday morning, then leave for China on Monday afternoon and return home on Oct. 9 at 2 a.m. . .For those salivating at the thought of Dennis Smith Jr. and Luka Doncic operating in the same backcourt for the Mavs, think again. “I don’t see Luka and Dennis as our backcourt,” Carlisle said. “But they’re playing together and playing well together. (Wesley) Matthews is really the (shooting guard). Luka is either the (small forward) or the (power forward) depending on how you want to look at the numbers.”. .Carlisle said new center DeAndre Jordan is fitting in “extremely well” with the Mavs. “He’s a great culture guy, he’s active, he’s vocal, he’s a leader,” Carlisle said. “He’s got a loveable personality. He’s perfect for what we need and he’s been great so far.”. .Carlisle reiterated his stance on having less dribbling by one player and more of having the ball touch a lot of hands. “We need to get away from an ugly brand of non-winning basketball of the last two years of a lot of dribbling,” Carlisle said. “Period! High usage rates and low efficiency is a ticket to death in this league, and we’re not going there.”