Ex-Kings GM Divac states “time will tell” if Luka draft wrong originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
More than six years removed from the 2018 NBA Draft, Vlade Divac isn’t ready to admit that not drafting Luka Dončić was a mistake.
Divac, the Hall of Fame center who spent five as the Kings’ general manager, doubled down on his decision to draft forward Marvin Bagley III over Dončić with the No. 2 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 was then entering his second season.
“At that position, I already had De’Aaron Fox, who I drafted a year earlier,” Divac said. “At the time, I believed that Fox was a player who could become a franchise star in the coming years.”
And while it seems apparent now that Divac made the wrong choice in passing up a five-time NBA All-Star and potential Future Hall of Famer, he still doesn’t want to admit it.
“Time will tell if I was wrong,” Divac added. “As things stand now, it looks like I was, but I still believe that Fox has a great career.”
Fox, an All-NBA, All-Star and Clutch Player of the Year award winner, lived up to his end of the bargain, becoming the undisputed leader and face of the Kings organization.
The same cannot be said for Bagley, however.
The Duke product left Sacramento for the Detroit Pistons before the 2022 NBA trade deadline after three and a half underwhelming seasons with the Kings.
Certainly, at the time, Bagley’s ceiling was projected to be higher than Dončić’s by many league scouts.
But has Divac considered a scenario in which the Kings could be paired with Fox and Dončić — like the Dallas Mavericks are doing with Kyrie Irving and Dončić?
“No,” Divac added. “Irving is a classic scorer, just like Luka. Fox is not; he’s a playmaker who needs the ball, just like Luka.
“I could have taken Luka, but then I would have had to trade Fox. Interestingly, Phoenix also passed Luka, and at the time, their coach was Igor Kokoškov, who coached Luka in Slovenia. Atlanta drafted Luka, but they traded him away.
“It was Dallas that finally took him. I love watching Luka; I really enjoy his style of basketball. I had my own reasons for making that decision. Maybe I was wrong, but time will tell.”
Last season, Dončić seemed chirped Divac during the final seconds of the Mavericks’ 107-103 victory over the Kings at Ora 1 Center.
The Maverick guard waved goodbye to Divac before telling his teammates and coaches that “he (Divac) should have drafted me.”
Admitting the mistake or not, it seems that passing Dončić will continue to haunt Divac.