Luka Doncic (pre and post-draft discussion thread)

[206Fan]

Man. I keep getting worked. One person says one name. Another rumor sparks another.

NO ONE KNOWS UNTIL THE PICK IS MADE!!!

(I'm yelling that pretty much at myself)

I really want to think this is all 1 big troll job by Vlade.. but he never threw much smokescreen out there at all in previous drafts. Everyone knew we were going with WCS. 2016 was more of a toss up, but then we went back to 2017 where we saw no smoke screen. Fox was their guy 100%.

I have to wonder if the NBA is making the Kings with hold the information of who they're picking at #2. They told the Suns not to reveal anything. It would be the perfect media frenzy to attract attention to the draft. There's only two major storylines from this year's draft: MPJ's draft stock AND who the Kings are drafting at #2.

 

[funkykingston]

He thinks no team in the top 10 should touch Luka. That is just absurd. You have all these teams that are clammoring to move up into 2/3 to pick Luka and yet Pollard thinks he shouldn't go top 10.

His rationale with Doncic was that he's only seen highlights and that he doesn't trust highlights.

He also said Bamba would be better than Ayton with the rationale that Ayton didn't have much room to improve and Bamba has longer arms.

I love Pollard but he's not a draft expert.

 

[206Fan]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1009879648308637696

 

[funkykingston]

I really want to think this is all 1 big troll job by Vlade.. but he never threw much smokescreen out there at all in previous drafts. Everyone knew we were going with WCS. 2016 was more of a toss up, but then we went back to 2017 where we saw no smoke screen. Fox was their guy 100%.

I have to wonder if the NBA is making the Kings with hold the information of who they're picking at #2. They told the Suns not to reveal anything. It would be the perfect media frenzy to attract attention to the draft. There's only two major storylines from this year's draft: MPJ's draft stock AND who the Kings are drafting at #2.

Like everyone else, I believe the Suns are taking Ayton. But IF Doncic were at the top of Vlade's board you wouldn't want to telegraph that to the only team who could draft him above you. Especially when having Kokoskov as their head coach cracks open that possible window just a bit.

All completely hypothetical of course, but if it were the case the you have to do your due diligence in the off chance the Suns take Doncic. Then you have to decide whether to grab Ayton or go with Bagley.

Or maybe they have Ayton & Bagley 1 & 2. Who knows?

The only thing I'm thinking is that the Kings don't really have any interest in trading down. Because if they did I think we'd hear that they love Doncic.

The opposite case is Atlanta who I think might really want to trade down. Just on the last day or two we heard that Luka was at the top of their board after being linked (mostly) to JJJ and Bamba. So I think the Luka talk from them is just putting info out there to entice teams to try to trade up to #3.

If the Kings wanted to trade down I think we'd hear that they love Doncic and Bagley and maybe another player or two. Anything to make teams picking at 3-6 or so think the Kings could take their guy.

 

[tyguy]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1009879648308637696

Ohh my science. Worried about taking the ball out of the hands of a guy who is under 2:1 assist to turnover ratio (and was the same in college). That kind of reasoning is Kangz.

 

[SLAB]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1009879648308637696

You gotta be kidding me. Please be smoke.

If not, I could understand if Fox had showings of anything transcendent as a rookie. He absolutely did not. Reasoning like this is why the franchise is in the state it's in.

But I'll go with smoke.

 

[hrdboild]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1009879648308637696

Where were those concerns last season when Coach Joerger had Fox pass the ball in to Zach Randolph and stand out of the way? If this is actually a concern I really hope these people are not in the front office much longer. "Too many guys who can pass" has never been a problem for any NBA team ever -- least of all the teams Vlade and Peja were a part of in Sacramento. Too many guys who like to dribble without doing much? That is a serious concern. Too many guys who would rather shoot than pass? That's been a problem for pretty much every Kings team in the last 10 years. Passing on a kid because he might actually be a better PG than the one you drafted last year -- even though he's 6'8" and the only SFs on the roster are Justin Jackson and guys playing out of position -- would be insane.

 

[Kings Faithful]

I didn't want to post this in the official draft thread, but here's what a redditor claims: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/8sulq8
Mike Trudell (Lakers writer) just commented on ESPN LA radio that yesterday Mychal Thompson (Klays dad) subtly said yesterday that Divac told him he was taking Doncic. Just putting that out there.

I have a suspicion the whole bagley thing is a giant smoke screen to get the other teams enamoured with the thought of stealing Doncic, and making trades that harm themselves when they realize he wont be available anymore.

 

[macadocious]

Like everyone else, I believe the Suns are taking Ayton. But IF Doncic were at the top of Vlade's board you wouldn't want to telegraph that to the only team who could draft him above you. Especially when having Kokoskov as their head coach cracks open that possible window just a bit.

All completely hypothetical of course, but if it were the case the you have to do your due diligence in the off chance the Suns take Doncic. Then you have to decide whether to grab Ayton or go with Bagley.

Or maybe they have Ayton & Bagley 1 & 2. Who knows?

The only thing I'm thinking is that the Kings don't really have any interest in trading down. Because if they did I think we'd hear that they love Doncic.

The opposite case is Atlanta who I think might really want to trade down. Just on the last day or two we heard that Luka was at the top of their board after being linked (mostly) to JJJ and Bamba. So I think the Luka talk from them is just putting info out there to entice teams to try to trade up to #3.

If the Kings wanted to trade down I think we'd hear that they love Doncic and Bagley and maybe another player or two. Anything to make teams picking at 3-6 or so think the Kings could take their guy.

I'm glad you brought this up. Everyone assumes PHX is going Ayton, but with their coach being who he is, it makes some sense to throw them off as well.

 

[206Fan]

Where were those concerns last season when Coach Joerger had Fox pass the ball in to Zach Randolph and stand out of the way? If this is actually a concern I really hope these people are not in the front office much longer. "Too many guys who can pass" has never been a problem for any NBA team ever -- least of all the teams Vlade and Peja were a part of in Sacramento. Too many guys who like to dribble without doing much? That is a serious concern. Too many guys who would rather shoot than pass? That's been a problem for pretty much every Kings team in the last 10 years. Passing on a kid because he might actually be a better PG than the one you drafted last year -- even though he's 6'8" and the only SFs on the roster are Justin Jackson and guys playing out of position -- would be insane.

The Kings did detail their plan at the beginning of the season and stuck to it, but Joerger was barely able to manage the rotation of Fox-Bogdan-Buddy (all a little bit more ball dominant), so I wonder if Joerger himself will factor into this draft pick.

 

[funkykingston]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1009879648308637696

I just had a conversation about this topic yesterday. The gist of it was that Fox needs the ball to be successful. When I mentioned Luka playing well with Dragic as the leaders of the Slovenian team the rebuttal was, "yeah, but Dragic can shoot, that changes everything."

Which is true, but is also the one thing standing in Fox's way of being a good to great NBA player. If the idea is that you can't draft Doncic because Fox is a ball dominant PG who can't shoot from outside and won't be able to develop an outside shot, then Fox isn't really the cornerstone we're hoping for.

Now if Fox CAN improve significantly from outside then you have a secondary (or even primary) ballhandler at SF who can spoon feed him easy looks from outside and who he can share the playmaking load with.

And this isn't just a Doncic thing either. Even if Bagley is the pick Fox will need to improve his outside shooting to have an effective pick and roll.

In short, I don't see an issue unless Fox doesn't improve as a shooter. And if he doesn't the issue isn't with Doncic and his fit, it's with Fox and his future.

 

[gunks]

The Kings did detail their plan at the beginning of the season and stuck to it, but Joerger was barely able to manage the rotation of Fox-Bogdan-Buddy (all a little bit more ball dominant), so I wonder if Joerger himself will factor into this draft pick.

I've thought about that. Joerger doesn't exactly strike me as some kind of modern NBA offense mastermind.

If we pass on Doncic because we genuinely like Bagley more, that's one thing. But if we pass on him because of Fox (who I like, but his rookie season was pretty garbage) or Joerger (who is looking more and more like a dinosaur in today's NBA) I'll be a little irked.

 

[SLAB]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1009887011401031680

 

[tyguy]

I just had a conversation about this topic yesterday. The gist of it was that Fox needs the ball to be successful. When I mentioned Luka playing well with Dragic as the leaders of the Slovenian team the rebuttal was, "yeah, but Dragic can shoot, that changes everything."

Which is true, but is also the one thing standing in Fox's way of being a good to great NBA player. If the idea is that you can't draft Doncic because Fox is a ball dominant PG who can't shoot from outside and won't be able to develop an outside shot, then Fox isn't really the cornerstone we're hoping for.

Now if Fox CAN improve significantly from outside then you have a secondary (or even primary) ballhandler at SF who can spoon feed him easy looks from outside and who he can share the playmaking load with.

And this isn't just a Doncic thing either. Even if Bagley is the pick Fox will need to improve his outside shooting to have an effective pick and roll.

In short, I don't see an issue unless Fox doesn't improve as a shooter. And if he doesn't the issue isn't with Doncic and his fit, it's with Fox and his future.

The idea that the Kings can't take a guy who will take the ball out of the hands of a ball dominant player that can't shoot is just mind boggling. Zero chance Fox becoems an elite player if he can't shoot and he's the supposed road block to taking Doncic? Absurd, just absurd.

 

[tyguy]

I've thought about that. Joerger doesn't exactly strike me as some kind of modern NBA offense mastermind.

If we pass on Doncic because we genuinely like Bagley more, that's one thing. But if we pass on him because of Fox (who I like, but his rookie season was pretty garbage) or Joerger (who is looking more and more like a dinosaur in today's NBA) I'll be a little irked.

I''ll be more than irked. That isn't a product I can monetarily support.

 

[SLAB]

I've gone from elated to deflated. Sure Bagley's better than what we would have gotten at 7... but damn.

If this holds true I pray Luka doesn't become some transcendent talent. All while we watch with forlorn eyes at what could have been.

Bagley's better than Porter Jr, so that will save my sanity I guess.

 

[gunks]

The idea that the Kings can't take a guy who will take the ball out of the hands of a ball dominant player that can't shoot is just mind boggling. Zero chance Fox becoems an elite player if he can't shoot and he's the supposed road block to taking Doncic? Absurd, just absurd.

#Kangz!

 

[Gguod]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1009887011401031680

Whats wrong with this franchise..?

 

[Blob]

Picking Luka would be a #Kangz move compared to Bagley. Vlade for Executive of the Year Day

 

[Telemachus]

Where are all these 20/10 athletic freak pfs that never play for a winner? I can think of Malone, Kemp, Amare, and Blake. Do you have some other good comps cause those guys are all big time winners.

You missed Webber, Garnett and Barkley.

 

[tyguy]

Picking Luka would be a #Kangz move compared to Bagley. Vlade for Executive of the Year Day

 

[tyguy]

You missed Webber, Garnett and Barkley.

All elite defensively except for Barkely... Who at his prime was the very best offensive big man in the last 30 years.

 

[sergmatt]

Picking Luka would be a #Kangz move compared to Bagley. Vlade for Executive of the Year Day

How is it a KANGZ move? The consensus from just about all the draft "experts" (and I use that term loosely) is that Luka is better than Bagley.

Let's face it none of us (including me and you) really know how these guys are going to turn out. Remember you trashed Tatum last year and basically said in multiple posts that he was overrated. I wasn't posting here at the time but I liked Fox better than Tatum too and didn't think Tatum was anything special. I wasn't fond of Fultz because he's not a winner and just seemed like a selfish volume shooter.

 

[206Fan]

I don't want to ruin anything, but go check Sham's twitter if you wanted to be spoiled.

 

[Blob]

How is it a KANGZ move? The consensus from just about all the draft "experts" (and I use that term loosely) is that Luka is better than Bagley.

I have explained my justification to take Bagley over Luka ad nauseum for the past few weeks. I do not want to repeat myself. I am not anti-Luka. He's a good player. But this decision is not difficult. I also strongly believe in Fox. Other fans should too. The guy is going to be great and Bagley will be the perfect complement.

 

[sergmatt]

I have explained my justification to take Bagley over Luka ad nauseum for the past few weeks. I do not want to repeat myself. I am not anti-Luka. He's a good player. But this decision is not difficult. I also strongly believe in Fox. Other fans should too. The guy is going to be great and Bagley will be the perfect complement.

When picking 2nd in the draft you don't draft for fit you draft for best player. With that said you're basically saying that Bagley is better than Doncic. Most draft experts are saying that Doncic is the better player. Many have Doncic as the best player in the draft. You know more than all of them? Who knows maybe you do but you don't have proof of being 100% right either.

 

[FoxOnTheRun]

Fox, Bogi and Luka could have been something special. We already have two big man projects in Skal and Giles.

Rememeber when Vlade straight up said that there was a better offer on the table for Cousins just days before he was traded? Absolutely nobody respects this front office, Every team not named the Suns wants Luka, if you can't find a way to trade the 2nd pick and get your guy, you are garbage. This franchise is a joke.

 

[206Fan]

It's pretty obvious that this FO praises the hell out of Fox. If the rumors are true, that explains why they're picking who they're picking. I don't think anybody on this roster is good enough to get any kind of draft consideration. A couple clutch shots at the end of the season where games don't even matter anymore??? if it weren't for those clutch shots, I'm pretty sure Fox would have a different narrative right now.

 

[SLAB]

Avoiding Doncic to appease Fox is kind of asinine reason this franchise will forever remain in the gutter.

I'm going to root like hell for Bagley, but don't mind me when I'm off watching DeMarcus Cousins do his thing instead wherever he winds up.

 

[sergmatt]

Fox, Bogi and Luka could have been something special. We already have two big man projects in Skal and Giles.

Rememeber when Vlade straight up said that there was a better offer on the table for Cousins just days before he was traded? Absolutely nobody respects this front office, Every team not named the Suns wants Luka, if you can't find a way to trade the 2nd pick and get your guy, you are garbage. This franchise is a joke.

Boston fans like Bill Simmons are already on twitter thanking Vlade and Vivek. Sad really that Vlade and Vivek just can't do the easy and obvious choice and will be ridiculed yet again.