Vlade Divac explains why he passed on the future Hall of Famer during the 2018 NBA Draft. The Sacramento Kings made an all-time bad judgment in the 2018 NBA Draft by picking Marvin Bagley III over Luka Doncic at second overall. The Atlanta Hawks drafted Doncic third overall before trading him to the Dallas Mavericks on draft night. Most draft observers acknowledged that drafting Bagley over Doncic was a mistake at the moment. Bagley is just hanging on in the NBA, but Doncic has already earned five First-Team All-NBA honors and guided Dallas to the NBA Finals last season. The executive who decided to draft Bagley is still not sure he made the incorrect move.
Former Kings General Manager Vlade Divac spoke with Croatian website Index about why he chose Bagley over Doncic. “In that position, I had De’Aaron Fox, who I drafted a year earlier,” Divac recalled. “At the time, I believed Fox had the potential to become a franchise player in the future. Time will tell if I was mistaken. As things stand, it appears that I am, but I believe in young Fox’s ability to advance in his career… Fox is a point guard who need the ball, just like Luka. I could have taken Luka, but it would require me to sell Fox. I enjoy watching Luka. I truly enjoyed his game, although I had I had my own motives for making the decision. Perhaps I was mistaken, but time will tell.” Divac also addressed claims that he had a strained connection with Doncic’s father, sending him in a different way on draft night, saying, “I know Sasa [Doncic] very well; I love and appreciate him. He even played in Kraljevo [together with Divac] when Luka was a child. It has nothing to do with our connection. I follow Luka and see that he is on the correct path. I repeat, he will only have to monitor his physique.”
It appears Divac is attempting to cover up for a poor selection decision. Even if he didn’t want two point guards, choosing Marvin Bagley over Jaren Jackson Jr. didn’t make sense. Jackson, a long defensive forward with three-point range, was a popular pick among analysts during that selection cycle. Bagley was an athletic rebounder who couldn’t do much else, resembling a tiny Zach Randolph who wouldn’t make an ideal hypothetical player.
Even if you believe Divac when he says he does not want two point guards, Doncic has proven he can make it work. He reached the Western Conference Finals in 2022, alongside Jalen Brunson, and the NBA Finals this season with Kyrie Irving. Having several ball handlers. On the court has become a major aspect of modern NBA offenses, but it was not something teams used six years ago. Divac resigned as general manager following the 2020 NBA bubble, and the Kings selected Tyrese Haliburton, a point guard, a few months later in that year’s selection. The next season, he was traded for Domantas Sabonis, but he enjoyed some success alongside De’Aaron Fox. The ship may also have sailed on Fox’s future career being better than Doncic’s, as Divac believed. As previously stated, Doncic has already made five All-NBA First-Teams and two Conference Finals, whereas Fox has made only one All-NBA Third-Team and one All-Star Game in 2023 and hasn’t lifted the Kings past the first round of the playoffs.
yet. Fox is a great guard, but he isn’t a perennial MVP candidate like Doncic.
Doncic is a grudge-holder, and he made it clear to Divac that the Kings made a mistake in passing on him. Last season, Doncic was seen saying “He should have drafted me” to Divac, who was sitting courtside.
Leave a Reply