Yeah, it just blows my mind some fans can't comprehend "BPA over all" in the draft and still think need is important. Vlade drafted a big over Luka because it was a bigger "need" with Fox on board. And the only reason it's not the worst draft decision in professional sports is because someone drafted Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan.
Now if Vlade actually thought Bagley was better than Luka... Fine. But that quote very much indicates he drafted Bagley with need in mind.
I wanted Luka. I've grown to dislike him but I wanted Luka.
All that said, there were a lot of people arguing that Luka would bust, that he had reached his ceiling early, that he wasn't athletic enough to play in the NBA. A lot of people mocked him to the Kings and then mocked the Kings for making that pick, sure to be a bust.
Also I think Brandon Williams was the biggest driving factor for Bagley.
In any event, people in the front office fell in love with Bagley to the extent they didn't work out the rest of the top 6.
Phoenix kind of blowing his development and/or Ayton turning out to be a lazy bum has also let us off the hook some. Still what maddens me more than anything was not drafting Luka and trading his rights for the guy we wanted after the fact like ATL did with the next pick.