In a chat with IndexHR, former Kings GM Vlade Divac finally offered an explanation for why he passed up on Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft. In his view, Luka would not have been a good pairing with De’Aaron Fox, who was set to take up the mantle as the franchise point guard.
Sasa Cobanov: “It is a well-known story that you, as the GM of [the Kings] at the time, skipped over Doncic in the draft. With the time gap of six years, can you explain to us the reason for not choosing him?”
Vlade Divac: “I had De’Aaron Fox at that position, who I drafted a year earlier. At that moment, I thought Fox was a player who could become a franchise player in the future. Time will tell if I was wrong. As things stand now it looks like I am, but I have faith in young Fox that he will have a better career.”
Sasa Cobanov: “You didn’t think that Fox and Doncic could play together like Doncic and Kyrie Irving play together today?”
Vlade Divac: “Fox is a point guard who needs the ball, just [like] Luka. I could [have taken] Luka, but then I would have to trade Fox. I love watching Luka. I really love his game, but I had my own reasons for deciding the way I did. Maybe I was wrong, but time will tell.”
Divac remains a Kings legend for his role in their success in the early 2000s. He was an important member of the squad that won 61 games in 2002 and made it to the West Finals before the infamous series against the Lakers crushed their title ambitions.
Divac retired in 2005 as a member of the Lakers but his deep-rooted ties to the Kings led him to take on a front office role in 2013. In 2015, he took over as the Kings’ GM and he was the one who made the final call during that iconic 2018 Draft.
With the second pick that year, and the Suns all but certain to select Deandre Ayton first overall, the Kings had an easy path to pick Jaren Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Trae Young, or even Jaren Jackson Jr., who all went on to become All-Stars.
Instead, Divac told the Kings to select Marvin Bagley III out of Duke. Coming out of a strong college campaign, scouts were high on Bagley’s potential as a versatile two-way big who could stretch the floor. In his first few years, Marvin did occasionally show flashes of his potential, with averages of 13.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game on 49.4% shooting, but it wasn’t long before he was traded and began to make his rounds across the league.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic has emerged as a bonafide superstar for the Mavericks. Since trading for him on draft night, Luka has been a hero for the franchise and he’s elevated them to a position of dominance in the Western Conference.
Even with the rise of De’Aaron Fox, it’s hard to deny that Divac made a mistake by not drafting Doncic. Trying to make it work with them together is surely a better choice than letting a generational talent like Luka Doncic slip through your grasp. While Fox is more of a ball-handler than a shooter, he still could have made it work with Luka, who has found success alongside various co-stars from Jalen Brunson to Kyrie Irving.
Doncic, who is still just 25, could have taken the Kings to a new level in the West and he might have had them in the Finals last year just like he did with the Mavericks. Unfortunately for the Kings, they’ll never get the chance to find out and they have nothing else to do but trust in their guys and hope that they prove everyone wrong.
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