Nikola Jokic has won one NBA title with Jamal Murray as his point guard, but how much more scary — and how many more rings might there be — if Jokic played next to Luka Doncic?
Denver tried to trade up to get Doncic on the draft night back in 2018, former Nuggets beat writer turned team employee Mike Singer told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on the Hoop Collective Podcast. Going into the 2018 NBA Draft the Nuggets were high on two players: Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (who ended up being drafted by the Clippers — at the urging of Jerry West, Windhorst notes — at No. 11, three spots in front of where the Nuggets picked).
“The Nuggets knew that [then Kings GM] Vlade Divac was not particularly high on Luka Doncic, 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.”
Famously (or infamously, if you ask Kings fans), Divac decided to keep the No. 2 pick and draft Marvin Bagley III. Doncic was drafted at No. 3 by the Hawks, who traded him later that night to Dallas for Trae Young (the No. 5 pick in the draft), plus a future first-round pick (that became Cam Redish).
Doncic has thrived in Dallas, becoming one of the top-five players in the league and leading the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season. Jokic has racked up an NBA title and three MVPs in Denver leading a solid core of Murray, Aaron Gordon and the player Denver ended up taking in the 2018 NBA Draft, Michael Porter Jr.
Still, it’s a sliding doors moment — what if Doncic and Nikola Jokic had been paired? Might that have been the current dynasty in the NBA?