We try and find out why multiple teams passed on the young phenom, Luka Doncic, during the 2018 NBA draft. Follow Nonstop Instagram: / nonstop TikTok: / nonstop Twitter: / nonstop Imagery supplied by Getty Images
I remember this well. I was watching the euro tourney for Porzingis. This kid was killing Latvia. He was undeniable. The same thing happens in the NFL draft too, this is how Travon Walker went number 1. Recency bias.
@Marius Gheorghița KD is getting older and has had a few major injuries. When he's around he can do his thing, but I'd bet he'll be around less as seasons pass.
@@codywood1295 idk bro. My dawg CP took them to the finals in his past prime old age. KD might be getting older but he’s still the best player in the NBA. Their window might not be massive but I could easily see them getting to the WCF for the next few years. From there anything’s possible
@Slime Season ひ I do agree the suns have a great roster. I'd be surprised if he/they don't reach at least 1 finals, and probably win it. I'm not sure if Paul is still on the suns but it'd be nice to see him get 1.
It isn't the same. Both Jokic and Giannis played for insignificant local clubs in their respective countries, whereas Luka played at the highest level of European Basketball - Real Madrid - and won the MVP at the age of 18. So Luka entered the NBA with a far greater track record of accomplishments than the other two who were drafted solely on potential.
Not the same at all Luka had won it all overseas before been drafted Giannis played for a local second Greek division team No 15 Giannis got was super high for the time given his resume (kudos to whoever saw and drafted him his is the real MVP)
@@TheOtherGuy021 It is kinda crazy that Donny Nelson from the Mavs wanted to draft Giannis and they had a pick before the Bucks that year if I’m not mistaken. Like it’s crazy some people had an eye on him.
Not surprising, people remember the Dirks and the Jokics and the Lukas and the Giannises, but for every Euro player who comes over and dominates, there’s a ton more who come over and are mid at best, and even more who wash out completely.
I played bball in Madrid at the same time as Luka and some coaches have told me that before every game they handed out scouting reports for every player made by the coaches, some reports where 6 pages long but lukas... 0 scouting tips on how to guard him because 40year old coaches didn't know how the hell they where going to guard a 13 year old Luka
@@aubinaps1427 you're talking about coaches who don't even attempt to try. That makes you just as ignorant as those coaches you speak of. Don't be that Steven A.
@@keithjoseph128 now I understand why you're saying shit. He never said they weren't trying. He said they had no idea how to stop him, BIG DIFFERENCE. They also have no idea how to stop him in NBA, do you think they're not trying?
I love the fact that Dallas was so confident about Luka falling to them that they didn't bother trading for a higher pick. I also love the fact that Atlanta was privy to this information and decided to fuq with dallas
I felt like I won the lottery when I saw that the Kings got Marvin Bagley. The absolute anguish I felt when I was watching the draft and they said the Hawks are involved with a trade with the Mavs cannot be explained in words. I was so hyped on Luka and for them to slip through our hands like that with all those clear highlights in the second best league. It was a no brainier. I was heated and sad. Thankfully Trae developed and has helped bring some success to Atlanta but I still can't help but to think "what could have been".
You should’ve known as a Hawks fan lol. I watched as we passed on CP3 for Marvin Williams when we desperately needed a PG. wasn’t surprised when we traded Luka for Trae. And doesn’t matter if Trae ever matches Luka offensively. It was clear from draft day Trae will be a defensive liability his entire career. Luka ain’t a defensive specialist by any means but he can definitely become league average/above league average.
I am from Europe and i watched Luka when he was playing in Europe, he was a kid who was playing with grownup people, and he was one of the best at age 17. He was European champion 🏆 and he was the MVP. The majority of the American journalist and ex NBA players were comparing some college kids with Luka. Kids who never played one min of professional basketball, in the end couple of NBA clubs have chosen some of those college kids over Luka, that is insane.
we know there is professional being well paid to have a close look into who is good and who is not, but lets not forget all the "Europeans" busts. There is always mistakes in the draft and that is beautiful!
I didn´t know Europe is a country, let me guess, you are from such a small, poor and insignificant country so you have to say Europe. There is only a few decent teams in spain, Germany, France and you guys did good in creating a continental league to increase the level, if it was not the case the level would be even lower than it is
If there's anything I've learnt is that athleticism is relative in the NBA. As much as it is needed, skill is much more necessary and in-demand in the NBA
Europe in general does a better job of devolving players. Its just like their soccer programs. Youth focus 80% of their time on drills, and only play 1 game a week. AAU for example is having these kids play tons of games, so they find 1-2 skills that work for them and only use that. It's like dwight howard vs tim duncan. Duncan with way less athletism played 19 years at a high level. The second howard started to lose a bit of hop his career tanked, as he had no skills. Sadly it seems like this is becoming the norm.
@@AB-nv7bz - not to mention a shorter shot clock…. this meant that bigs couldn’t get stuck on the perimeter with their only option to be a pass so they became better shooters and ball handlers than traditional bigs in the US.
@@AB-nv7bz same with Derrick rose, once he got injured he had to develop his skills in order to score. Before he was piercing through defense with speed and athleticism, contorting in the air like crazy. Never seen anyone play like that before, no wonder his knees gave out on him.
But it would’ve meant trading away their first round pick the next year which was ja. Not saying ja is better but ja and jaren combined is better than just luka
@@ethanray6629 Ummm, Ja and Jaren combined is not better than having Luka. Especially with the fact that Ja most likely will suffer a DRose type injury.
I used to be a steward in the Real Madrid Arena back in the days when Luka was in the team, and that's so crazy but at the same time no surprising how far did he got his game. Luka dominated very fast ACB and Euroleague and you could appreciate easily the beast inside of him. It feels great see how arrogant were the American reporters and journalists with him for no more reason that making his way far away from NCAA and became a top class doing his own way, always with smile in his face. I'll never forget his RM years. He made me so happy to go work there. Madrid will always love him 🤍💜
I think a really interesting video idea is why wasn’t Jokic a first round pick. Where you go over Jokic pre NBA history and see if there was any reason he got picked mid second round. Like if his pre NBA career had any signs pointing to him having MVP level potential.
Jokic fits the case of most young Euros. Either play sparingly for a top team or play decently in a lower tier league. You had to see him in person in order to understand his potential and project his growth.
That 2014 draft was loaded and Jokic as a prospect was awful. Undersized center wo a paint game and no defense? Puerly as a prospect he was tough to fit in. Happens. Ben Wallace went undrafted.
@TheGoldenBoot 5350 6'11 for a center is practically standard nowadays plus he has long arms and a wide frame. Not undersized. I agree with everything else though.
everyone in Europe knew that Luka is going to be a superstar just no way around it, when Luka popped off in EuroBasket final against Serbia, Valde was watching that game you can't ignore that. It was 100% set up by the owner of Kings.
People outside of Europe that didn't witness his rise and bring up can't really understand how crazy special Luka was. In fact, all of my friends were absolutely confident that he will become top 5 players in NBA, including me. Like, it wasn't even a question, it was just obvious he was him.
Agree. They thought that his talent would not be converted in the NBA. I expected him to be great cause he got MVP on Euroleague at a young age but did not expect him to be this great in early age of his career in NBA
Sergio Llull is a legendary point guard in Real Madrid. He is one of the best ever in European basketball. Too bad he never played for Rockets. An excellent floor general, really good at drawing fouls, scores when needed. Luka took his spot back in 2017 before Eurobasket. Then he single handedly defeated juggernauts of European basketball. Next year does the same against European clubs. He was a damn terminator that won everything possible in Europe BEFORE EVEN BEING DRAFTED. Sadly this was right after Olympics. The next Olympics his team narrowly missed a medal with one block by Batum. The things he can achieve is insane. I know every European wishes they had someone like Luka. The way he took over European basketball is insane. Even Jokic or Giannis, has no accolades with Serbia yet.
Jokic is Serbian. Both Greek and Serbian are almost evenly matched with Slovenia. The American dude that joined Slovenia is what would tip the balance in favor of Slovenia. I wish we had those matches last Eurobasket, it would have been great games for sure It is simple in Europe we have many teams that are more or less evenly matched for different reasons: France, Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Serbia, Germany, Croatia Then we have a couple more that aren't as good on paper but yet always there: Lithuania and Italy
He's only a role player on the suns because of the system. Dude had a 35 and 15 game recently. That's not a role player. He has the ability to be top dog on other teams.
This oversight of Luka might have caused an overcorrection for some scouts. Not saying that Wembanyama is overrated, just that , teams might be regretting passing on Luka a bit too much.
Wembanyama played last Season Euroleague with Lyon he was not that Impressive Luka was the Best Player on the Best EuroLeague Team i hope Victor can live up to the Hype
Simple answer, it was the unknown. Despite what other players have shown us, scouts CONTINUE to underestimate the Euroleague compared to college. Although I can forgive the Suns a little because Ayton did seem like the perfect pick. He was right in the Suns backyard since he went to UofA and they had way more scouting info on him compared to anyone else. Plus they had been looking for a competent big man for the franchise since Amare damn Stoudemire 🤣. So I give them a pass. But the Kings screwed the hell up 💀
Because drafting a European at high draft pick has always resulted to a bust. European stars were a handful in 2018. Gianni's and Jokic weren't close to being as good as they are now at that time. All high European draft pick ended in a bust.
@@blowc1612 it's not the same tho those high draft picks weren't the euroleague and their local leagues mvp luca won it all when he was 18 and won an international tournament with slovenia
@@shenxir9705 zero to do with anything, many other Europeans accomplished similar things and didnt pan out. It's even worse how risky it is to draft Luka for a team considering how you g he is.
@@blowc1612 which names had the same accomplishments with the same involvements as luka doncic lol you don't know anything about european basketball buddy
As a Barcelona fan, this guy appeared in my nightmares, when he went to the NBA i was happy he wasn't in Madrid anymore. And when I heard about the doubts media had regarding him, I was just waiting for the moment he proved them wrong, after suffering him, NBA fans had to understand my pain.
To be fair for as good as Luka is all the teams made very logical choices and we look back with hindsight and rose tinted goggles. But both Phoenix & Sacramento both had their point guards in Booker & Fox so they were looking for big men to go part with them and didn't want 2 of the same ball dominant guards. And as for Luka & Trae I think while Luka will have a better career overall I don't think either side is unhappy with who they got in the trade & I'm not sure either guy works in the other city.
Booker was clearly struggling with primary ball handling duties, the suns knew they had to get him a true pg. The problem is the suns have been chasing Kareem since the 70's and have always wanted a dominant center. It's baked into the team culture. Why do you think they traded for a washed Shaq? Everyone in Phoenix who knew anything about the suns knew the suns wouldn't even look at another player the ayton. Even though it was obvious Luka was exactly what the team needed.
Nobody disrespects them, they are easily top 5 on everyone's list currently. They didn't draft him first because of what the video said, there were a lot of people drafted from the euro league who didn't turn out well.
He was the 18 year old MVP of the 2nd best league in the world, and it wasnt even close, he was most dominant by far…there’s no justification for NOT taking him #1
What was overlooked and talent or not has shown in time was his attitude. Vlade new luka as a kid being from the same area and one of the head guys with the suns had coached luka before… both had concerns about his work ethic and attitude
Vlade & Luka's dad don't get along. Bad call by Vlade, hence him no longer having that job. The Suns brought in that assistant coach for Luka, but went with Deandre Ayton instead. Don't blame them, because DA's potential was and still is insane. They oberthought it, should have gone w/ Luka. BTW, that assistant coach left the suns after that season and joined the Mavs. He's gone now because he got a bigger role with another team
That is actually false for Kokoskov , he praised Luka work ethic and said that he was pushing hard for Suns to draft him but of course they did not care about it .. Vlade , i dont know what Vlade was thinking but i never saw him once said about his work ethic or the attitude , it might be the rumors about his father not being in good relationship with Vlade or it might be that owner demanded Bagley either way anyone who ever worked with Luka Doncic never said those things EVER
At the time we were coming off many failed European prospects… think Dragan Bender, Frank Ntilikina, Mario Hezonja, etc. This played a huge factor in the doubt for Luka, many saw a slow unathletic player who’s game wouldn’t translate. Hindsight is always 20/20 though of course.
i reckon they should do a pickup game with the next top draft picks of the next draft during all star weekend to give the people who don't have easy access to collage basketball games so the world can witness the possible future without mixtapes and media stuff
Becouse people are delusional, thinking that their own predictions are more valuable than actual fact, and the fact was that Dončić is MVP of Euro ligue, strongest bball ligue outside NBA. Euro ligue is not some school competition, it's grown man ligue and when you are DOMINANT there, you can play anywhere
My guess for the reason that explains Luka's slippage in that draft is that "the suits" feared Luka would turn into a similar version of Ricky Rubio, who failed to justify his high draft pick.
no possibilty for this to happen.Ricky Rubio had no shot abilities.Everybody knew that,most people in Europe think he was overrated and gone much higher in the draft than he deserved
I've never held a NBA stars draft selection against. I'm not a Luka fan but he was drafted accordingly. A team with a higher draft selection, might not want to stack their team full of Forwards when they're looking for a Guard or Center.
@@jokerofmorocco 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 exactly i swear it doesn't even need a video ,its obvious skin related in the nba you have to be an athletic black guy coming from college basketball to be picked n hyped n luka was the complete opposite "as white as it can get not the typical athletic guy n coming from euroleague"
As a Magic fan that thought Hezona was gonna set the league on fire.. I foolishly assumed Doncic was mid due to how mediocre Hezona ended up being. I can see why NBA teams may have been hesitant.
@@randomyeatfan4509 Re-reading my comment, I can see it wasn’t worded the best and could come off confusing. Let me clarify: During the draft process a lot of pundits were super high on Hezona and most Magic fans were ecstatic when we landed him. Of course, he ended up being a *massive bust* but at the time I truly thought he was going to be a perennial all-star.. 🫣 Due to the similarities between Hezona and Doncic (both hyped up European shooting guards, unproven in the NBA but the best players in their former league), and the ultimate letdown of Hezona, I convinced myself I wouldn’t be fooled again by the “can’t miss” European product. Thus.. I thought Doncic would be a bust like Hezona. I’m sure NBA teams were hesitant for similar reasons. Now in hindsight, I clearly didn’t study Doncic’s tape enough or pay attention to how different they were: One was Uber athletic with a high ceiling but overall raw as a prospect, while the other was a great shooter, a fundamentally sound high basketball IQ player, with a technical skillset and advanced ability.
Short answer: the Suns were already loaded at the guard position and needed size inside. Ayton already being a big name in Arizona made the decision easier.
Mmm. The father beef story has some truth to it. Luka att was terrified to be drafted by Sacramento, he didnt made contact with them in europe while Suns, Hawks and Mavs activley were interested. Maybe you couldve drafted but he most definetly wouldve asked for a trade, the friction was just too much.
Luka was so underrated in that draft. The vast majority of Americans didn't have a clue who he was, 2 teams passed on him and he was selected just because Donnie Nelson convinced Mark Cuban how great Luka is. And let's not forget that Mark Cuban passed on Giannis in the past. Rick Carlisle played Luka because he was forced to. Carlisle hates to play young players. That is one of the reasons why Brunson and Josh Green barely saw the court and played when there were no other options. Ironically, Mavs were super lucky to get Luka with 5th pick and Brunson with 33rd. Still, the whole organization sucks from top to bottom as they don't believe in their players. Thanks God, Jaden Hardy sees far more minutes than Brunson and Josh Green did in their rookie season.
I remember before the draft, it seemed like everyone knew Luka was gonna be the best player, but teams were more worried about making a "safe" pick, hence why Ayton and Bagley went 1 and 2. I don't think anyone was surprised the draft went that way either. I think Luka may have finally broken the stereotype of European players though, I don't think teams will be dumb enough to pass up on a generational prospect like that again.
@@bradyhayes9818 exact.Also its a bit rare for a true European top player to become a bust if you think about it.Most of the ''european busts'' were player that had no career at European basketball
Fun fact: Luka was actually drafted 3rd by the Hawks, and Trae Young was drafted 5th by the Mavs , then they switched picks and it all changed history. Edit: so the Grizzlies wouldn’t have a chance to draft Luka even if they wanted to, unless they traded.
Divac later said Luka did not want to play for Sacramento. Don't know if it's true but sounds similar to Kobe and Charlotte situation. I will never forget, before this draft there was that Kawhi and Spurs controversy and everybody talked where will Kawhi go. In one video I suggested trading Kawhi for a pick in the draft and draft Luka because Spurs are familiar with European players and some Spurs fan said to me "we are in a win now mode and have no time to develop talent" lol
It’s a total lie by divac to cover his mistake. It was widely reported that divac hated Lukas dad and Vivek the owner had a hard on for bagley. Yes this is why the kings have been mostly terrible for their entire existence. If the bs reason was true why didn’t they take a good player with the pick like trae young? Divac knew what a major idea he looked like and only said this lie after luka was playing well in the nba
@@MC-kj7dy I think that story about him hating Luka dad was made up by journalists. There are pics od two of them together even before Luka was a thing. My take is that people around Luka said to Divac he would not play-aka won't resign after rookie contract so Sacramento did not want to risk it and lose top pic for nothing. They made the worst choice because of who they pick instead, an injury prone player. Trae was a big risk before the draft, he could become a bust because of small size and just not being good enough to transfer to the NBA with his style of play.