Kings Reportedly Passed on Luka Doncic Because Vlade Divac Didn't Like His Dad

El Bombi

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If this is true :dead:






Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks front office look like geniuses for making the draft day trade to acquire Luka Doncic. On the other hand, the Sacramento Kings could be ruing the day they passed on the young superstar. And thanks to some new intel courtesy of ESPN's Tim MacMahon, we may know why.

The Sacramento Kings had the second pick in the 2018 draft, but instead of grabbing Doncic, the Kings elected to move forward with Marvin Bagley. Doncic had a lot of hype coming into the draft as he was just named the EuroLeague MVP at 19-years-old. Some may have wondered why the Kings' general manager, Vlade Divac,—who is well connected with EuroLeague hoopers—decided to take the Duke freshman over Doncic. But according to MacMahon, Vlade had some unresolved issues with Luka's dad.


"My understanding is that [Divac] being so close to Luka and knowing his dad so well factored into their decision," MacMahon told The Woj Pod. "Basically, he didn’t think a whole lot of Luka’s dad, and the whole like father like son … well … no, this is a different dude. You messed that one up, Vlade."

Luka's dad, Sasha Doncic, is a professional basketball coach and former EuroLeague player. Along with playing for teams in Slovenia and France, Doncic also played for clubs in Vlade's native Serbia. That makes it possible that the two crossed paths during their time on the EuroLeague circuit.

From a pure basketball standpoint, it does make sense that the Kings took Bagley over Doncic. The year prior, the team selected De'Aaron Fox, who is now the Kings' primary ball-handler. And as we've seen so far, Doncic loves having the ball in his hands.
 

NatiboyB

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Welp hopefully bagley is good but so far Vlade fukked up...I’m not even going to knock the suns taking Ayton to be 100...But taking Bagley may be an issue...Also I can’t knock the hawks for taking that trade either...That hawks/Mavs was a win win.
 

The G.O.D II

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Welp hopefully bagley is good but so far Vlade fukked up...I’m not even going to knock the suns taking Ayton to be 100...But taking Bagley may be an issue...Also I can’t knock the hawks for taking that trade either...That hawks/Mavs was a win win.

Naw they can hold the L too. I think that Euro coach last year also coached Luka. Sarver is a dikkhead and was obsessed with Ayton due to the whole AZ shyt. Baynes is a journeyman big and has shown Ayton can be replaceable. Doncic and Booker would have been fire
 

NatiboyB

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Naw they can hold the L too. I think that Euro coach last year also coached Luka. Sarver is a dikkhead and was obsessed with Ayton due to the whole AZ shyt. Baynes is a journeyman big and has shown Ayton can be replaceable. Doncic and Booker would have been fire


That’s akin to saying the rockets fukked up taking Olajuwon over Jordan...



Ayton will be a monster but Luka will likely be the best player in the league.

Going into that draft I would of taken Ayton also but I would of immediately tried to find a PG to lead that team see how they improved with Rubio.
 

The G.O.D II

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That’s akin to saying the rockets fukked up taking Olajuwon over Jordan...



Ayton will be a monster but Luka will likely be the best player in the league.

Going into that draft I would of taken Ayton also but I would of immediately tried to find a PG to lead that team see how they improved with Rubio.

:scust: Olajuwon was an elite two way big. Ayton will be a double double guy and nothing else. Also he could have some Hedo falloff now that he’s been busted. Doncic was hyped for a reason. Even scouts didn’t know how good Jordan was coming out
 

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:scust: Olajuwon was an elite two way big. Ayton will be a double double guy and nothing else. Also he could have some Hedo falloff now that he’s been busted. Doncic was hyped for a reason. Even scouts didn’t know how good Jordan was coming out
Nah nikkas knew MJ was up next Sam Bowie and Olajuwon just fit the mold of how basketball was played at the time
 

Morethan1

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Welp hopefully bagley is good but so far Vlade fukked up...I’m not even going to knock the suns taking Ayton to be 100...But taking Bagley may be an issue...Also I can’t knock the hawks for taking that trade either...That hawks/Mavs was a win win.


No it wasn't a win win. Young will be a good player and Luka will be a multi Mvp winner.
 

Anerdyblackguy

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That’s akin to saying the rockets fukked up taking Olajuwon over Jordan...



Ayton will be a monster but Luka will likely be the best player in the league.

Going into that draft I would of taken Ayton also but I would of immediately tried to find a PG to lead that team see how they improved with Rubio.
But Luka people made it known he didn’t want to be in Phoenix.
 
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