Imagine the possibilities if Luka Doncic landed in Los Angeles in 2018. The Slovenian point guard has become one of the top names in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, but his career could have started differently.
We already know he could have gone to Phoenix if it wasn’t for Deandre Ayton. The Sacramento Kings missed out on the chance to land Luka, too, going for Marvin Bagley III, and he ultimately landed in Dallas as the 3rd overall pick.
Well, that story could have taken another turn if the Los Angeles Clippers traded to get a higher pick that year. During an appearance on Yahoo Sports NBA Podcast with Chris Mannix, Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed that the Clips were interested in the Slovenian. They could make a trade to have a bigger chance to land him.
“I think there’s a lot of fluidity to this draft,” Charania said, as transcribed by Alec Nathan of Bleacher Report. “You could see a lot of pick movement. The Clippers have looked to trade up. I think a guy that they have really looked at heavily is Luka Doncic of Real Madrid. I think it’ll be a lot of movement in this draft, potentially.”
They had the No. 12 and No. 13 overall picks that year, selecting Miles Bridges, who was traded to Charlotte, and Jerome Robinson. Luka was part of a trade that night, with the Atlanta Hawks sending him to Dallas in exchange for Trae Young.
Three years later, it’s fair to say they made a good move. Luka is working his magic with the Mavs while Young is doing the same with the Hawks. To make things worse for the Clippers, they have faced the former Real Madrid player in the last two postseason, having hard times trying to stop him.
Luka has become an excellent player and he’s not even the quiet man he was last year. He’s on a mission against the Clippers and doesn’t care who is in front of him; Doncic is ready to trash talk and bash the Californians if they don’t find a way to stop him.
Back in the day, many people weren’t so fond of Luka, but the Clippers were. Imagine if they pulled that off and still added Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to the roster…
