Former general manager of the Sacramento Kings, Vlade Divac, has finally come clean to fans around the NBA and of the franchise as to why he passed on Luka Doncic.
For those who are not aware, Divac decided to take Marvin Bagley III with the second pick in the 2018 pick over Doncic. While Bagley didn’t have the worst run with the Kings, it wasn’t pleasant as he was never available to play, and it became apparent how disconnected both sides were before ending their partnership.
I say all this to say that Bagley isn’t even a tenth of the player Doncic is, but Divac’s reasoning? De’Aaron Fox.
“At that position, I already had De’Aaron Fox, whom I had drafted a year earlier,” Divac told Index. “At the time, I believed Fox was a player who could become a franchise star in the coming years. Time will tell if I was wrong. As things stand now, it seems I was, but I still have faith in Fox having a great career.”
According to the former GM, Divac felt Doncic and Fox couldn’t coexist. On the other hand, fans thought that since Kyrie Irving and Doncic paired together so well, it could have been the same for Doncic and Fox.
However, Divac explains his reasoning:
“No,” Divac said when asked if Fox and Doncic could play together like Irving and Doncic have. “Irving is a classic scorer, just like Luka. Fox isn’t; he’s a playmaker who needs the ball, just like Luka. I could’ve taken Luka, but then I’d have had to trade Fox. Interestingly, Phoenix also passed on Luka, and at the time, their coach was Igor Kokoškov, who had coached Luka in Slovenia. Atlanta drafted Luka, but they traded him away. It was Dallas that eventually took him. I love watching Luka; I really enjoy his style of basketball. I had my own reasons for making that decision. Maybe I made a mistake, but time will tell.”
Since the night these players were drafted, Doncic has cleared these players in terms of individual success and accomplishments.
While making it to the NBA Finals once in his career, Deandre Ayton seemingly had issues in Phoenix and looked to be falling flat with his current team, the Portland Trail Blazers.
Young is a phenomenal player but was in heated rumors and conversations about being traded. This is when the Atlanta Hawks still had Dejounte Murray on their roster. For Young, he hasn’t been to the heights, like the Finals, as the other two men have.
Since the 2018 draft, Doncic has had the most success. His team is on the up-and-up, he’s been in the Finals, he’s playing with Irving, and he has a fantastic roster built around him. Doncic has always been in the MVP conversation.
As Divac said, time will only tell whether the Kings made the right decision by passing up on Doncic for Bagley.
