Five years later, the 2018 Draft is starting to reveal itself in more detail. Luka Doncic has established himself as the best player of this vintage, but there are big talents behind him like Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Mikal Bridges. Without forgetting Jaren Jackson Jr., Deandre Ayton or even Jalen Brunson.
Drafted third by the Hawks, then traded to Dallas for Young, the Slovenian prodigy today appears obvious to everyone. Except that at the time, there were skeptics, even among the Mavericks.
“My end of career was not very pretty. We were in difficulty and we were talking about tanking. We needed a spark to change things. I didn't think it would be this kid.”remembers Dirk Nowitzki, speaking of Doncic, for the show All the Smoke.
Will he be fast and athletic enough?
But why, when he had just won everything in Europe with Real Madrid?
“When he first came in, he seemed like a big boy, but I thought, 'I'm not sure this is going to work. Is it fast enough? Is he athletic enough to get past guys like he does in Europe? So there were a lot of doubts, from all the members of the team”thus affirms the 2007 MVP.
An honest answer from Dirk Nowitzki, which confirms certain impressions of the time. Because if the Suns chose Ayton in first position, Vlade Divac and the Kings had, in second position, bet on Marvin Bagley III…
” Yes. It was my decision,” recalled the former pivot in 2020, when he left the Californian franchise. “I still think Marvin has huge potential, but I needed more time to prove it. I'm sure Marvin will prove everyone wrong. But in this league, you have to be productive quickly. People don't have patience, but I understand that. »
