A leap of faith.

That's what Mavericks fans are taking when it comes to prized draft pick Luka Doncic.

He's 19 years old. He's been a professional in Europe for four years. He's been an MVP at that level.

And virtually nobody in Dallas knows anything about him.

All that fans can really do is bank on the wisdom of owner Mark Cuban, president Donnie Nelson and coach Rick Carlisle.

Even a lot of the Mavericks' players have yet to get a pulse on how good Doncic can be. Though he technically came in a trade with Atlanta, he's the highest-drafted rookie (third) the franchise has had since Jason Kidd was taken second in 1994. But Kidd was a more known commodity.

Doncic? With less than two weeks left until training camp, it's more question marks than anything else, and the preseason might not provide a lot of answers. The Mavericks have only four exhibition games, two of which will be in China and a third, their opener on Sept. 29, will be against a Chinese professional team.

Knowing what to expect isn't easy.

At least one Maverick came away smiling from the first impression he got of the 6-8 Doncic, who will either play point guard or point forward or somewhere in between in his rookie season.

"Overseas I saw him a little, and I played against him in some pickup games [last week]," J.J. Barea said. "He's bigger than I thought he was. He knows the game. He's a rookie, but he's a pro rookie, if you know what I mean.

"You can tell it in one pickup game, the difference between a college player and a player who has had pro experience. In college, coaches just say, 'Play hard, play hard.' Over there [in Europe], you've got to know how to play -- especially when you have the ball in his hands the whole time."

Doncic is not going to blow people away with his quickness, like Dennis Smith Jr. does. He's a different kind of player. But just because he's not an athletic freak doesn't mean he won't be impactful quickly.

Kidd was never a speedster, either. But Doncic's knowledge of the game and his skill set seem to have him set up to be a strong contributor from the get-go.

Carlisle doesn't make predictions about players or seasons. But he did give a hint about what fans might expect from Doncic in his rookie season.

"Off of what I've seen over the last two days," Carlisle said last week, "anybody who doesn't jump on season tickets now is going to sorely regret it later, that's all I'll say."

Doncic has been in Dallas for the past week and has played pickup games at the Mavs' practice facility with Dirk Nowitzki, Barea, DeAndre Jordan and others.

Barea said he can understand why fans would have reservations about Doncic.

"They don't know him," Barea said. "He's not quick, but he's going to play at a good pace, always under control. He's tall and can pass over people. He's a great passer. And he can shoot it, too, so you've got to guard him."

Those are all reasons why the Mavericks invested so heavily in Doncic. They sent the fifth pick (Trae Young) and next year's first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks to trade up two spots to get the Slovenian teenager.

It's going to be a process for Doncic to get to know the NBA style and Carlisle's system.

The same can be said of Mavericks fans getting to know Doncic.

Twitter: @ESefko

First impressions

A look at how Mavericks who were top-10 draft picks did in their rookie seasons (since 1990):