Twenty years after discovering Dirk Nowitzki in the German wine country, the Dallas Mavericks find Luka Doncic, another generational player from Central Europe, in the city of Madrid. The “Wonder Boy” from Ljubljana, Slovenia, this kid who first attracted the Mavericks’ attention as a 13-year-old and whose talents once inspired their executives to hide out in a nondescript hotel on a scouting trip just to disguise their affections, takes fewer than two seasons to assert himself as an MVP candidate who can carry their franchise for the next two decades.



The serendipity of it all is nothing short of storybook.



And how’s this for a reminder that the draft has the power to both humble or help any team: If Mavs owner Mark Cuban hadn’t overruled general manager Donnie Nelson in 2013 when he wanted to take a skinny Greek kid named Giannis Antetokounmpo, who would go on to become the reigning MVP, Dallas would never have been in this position to...