How Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic Nuggets pairing almost came to be in 2018 Draft trade
11/18/2024 03:20 PM
Look back at the long history of the National Basketball Association, and you’ll find countless What If’s that could’ve changed the trajectory of the decade or so that followed. What if Michael Jordan didn’t retire after the 1993 NBA Finals? What if the Detroit Pistons had selected Carmelo Anthony instead of Darko Milicic? What if the Lakers obliged and moved Kobe Bryant when he demanded a trade? Now, it turns out, the Denver Nuggets have their own What If.
According to Michael Singer, a current employee of the Denver Nuggets and former reporter for the Denver Post, on the night of the 2018 NBA Draft, the Nuggets believed ‘for 30 seconds’ that they were about to make a trade that would move them up to the 2nd overall pick, where they planned to select Luka Doncic.
Singer recounted the anxious moments during an appearance on The Hoop Collective Podcast with Brian Windhorst:
“The Nuggets knew that Vlade Divac was not particularly high on Luka Doncic,” Singer told Windhorst The Hoop Collective. “And they had designs on pairing Nikola Jokic with Luka Doncic. On draft night in 2018, they tried. There was a call placed. There was a proposal and the Nuggets attempted to get the No. 2 pick for Gary Harris and two first round picks was what I was told.”
Now, a couple of things.
First, at that point in time, Nikola Jokic was only three seasons into his NBA career, and while he was coming off of a season in which he looked like a franchise cornerstone — 18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists — nobody had any idea that we were looking at what would come to be one of the greatest offensive players in the history of professional basketball.
Second, as Singer would go on to address, this does seem like an absurdly low price to pay for Luka Doncic, but again, in 2018, to imagine that Doncic would go on to become one of the most prolific scorers and offensive weapons in NBA history would’ve seemed like a stretch. Even still, the idea of pairing Doncic and Jokic was one that excited the Nuggets.
“I’m not saying this trade was imminent. All I’m saying is this trade was discussed and considered because the Nuggets knew Vlade Divac was not particularly high on Luka Doncic and they tried to exploit it,” Singer explained, before noting that Denver could’ve done one thing to further entice the Kings.
“The wrinkle in this is if the Nuggets had ever been willing to part with Jamal Murray, we have a hell of a what-if in the annals of NBA history.
Instead of selecting Luka Doncic, or trading out of the pick, Sacramento decided to select Marvin Bagley III, who wore a Kings uniform for 148 games before being traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2022.
The Atlanta Hawks, who owned the 3rd pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, opted to make a trade with the Dallas Mavericks, who pursued and gleefully selected Doncic. Atlanta grabbed Trae Young with the 5th overall pick, which is admittedly a far better outcome than Sacramento was dealt, though revisionist history clearly shows that every team that passed on Luka Doncic made a mistake.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets would go on to select Michael Porter Jr. with the 14th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Porter, despite his ups and downs, played a key role in Denver’s 2023 NBA Title run, averaging 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 20 postseason games.
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