More than six years removed from the 2018 NBA Draft, Vlade Divac is not ready to admit passing on Luka Dončić was a mistake.
Divac, the Hall of Fame center who spent five as the Kings general manager, doubled down on his decision of drafting forward Marvin Bagley III over Dončić with the No. 2 overall pick in 2018 (h/t Index HR).
The 56-year-old’s reasoning? At the time, Sacramento was betting on the rise of star guard De’Aaron Fox, who then was entering his second NBA season.
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“At that position, I already had De’Aaron Fox, whom I had drafted a year earlier,” Divac said. “At the time, I believed Fox was a player who could become a franchise star in the coming years.”
And although it now seems apparent that Divac made the wrong choice by passing up on a five-time NBA All-Star and potential Hall of Famer, he’s not willing to admit that just yet.
“Time will tell if I was wrong,” Divac added. “As things stand now, it seems I was, but I still have faith in Fox having a great career.”
Fox, an All-NBA, All-Star and Clutch Player of the Year award winner, has lived up to his end of the bargain, becoming the undisputed leader and face of the Kings organization.
NBA
The same can’t be said about Bagley, though.
The Duke product left Sacramento for the Detroit Pistons prior to the 2022 NBA trade deadline after three and a half underwhelming seasons with the Kings.
Sure, at the time, Bagley’s ceiling projected to be higher than Dončić’s by many league scouts.
But did Divac consider a scenario in which the Kings could’ve paired Fox and Dončić – like the Dallas Mavericks do with Kyrie Irving and Dončić?
“No,” Divac added. “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.”
Last season, Dončić appeared to chirp Divac during the final seconds of the Mavericks' 107-103 win over the Kings at Golden 1 Center.
The Mavericks guard waved goodbye to Divac before telling his teammates and coaches that "he (Divac) should have drafted me."
Admitting to the mistake or not, it appears that passing on Dončić will keep haunting Divac.
