>before last nights game he had like a -19 plus/minus.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/doncilu01.html

Not sure what you're referencing there.

And even though he's not Top 6 in win shares like he was last season, he's still Top 25 in win shares in the NBA despite his team being sub-.500. Russ hasn't been Top 25 in win shares in three seasons-- and he hasn't had a Top 10 win shares season since 2017.

Also, Russ's peak stat stuffing didn't come til age 27 or so. Luka averaged 29-9-9 as a twenty year old. With top six win share numbers and top four plus-minus numbers. Like... dude affects winning in a big way for a player so young.

Like, do I think the Luka hype is overblown? Sure, because he's still crazy young, so there's no doubt that he still has things to figure out, and people assuming that he can just shoulder a team to title contention by himself isn't realistic at this point. And as others mentioned, the Mavs made some stupid personnel choices this offseason, and Zingis clearly hasn't quite been himself yet this year either.

But he's still reeeeeal fucking good. And I don't think a Russ stat-stuff comparison is fair, lol.