Goran Dragic took the path less traveled to NBA stardom.
The Miami Heat point guard played five years of professional basketball in Europe before entering the draft, and wasn't a full-time starter until his sixth season in the league. Still, Dragic signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Heat in 2015, on the heels of a Third-Team All-NBA Selection, and in 2018 made his first All-Star Game.
Needless to say, any NBA player would be lucky to enjoy the career that Goran Dragic has to this point. But in hopes of helping them reach that level of success, the Slovenian superstar is stressing caution to players from overseas are considering entering the draft.
“I just read somewhere that this year for the draft are a lot of players are coming in and only 60 get in,” Dragic said, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “So especially if you're coming from Europe, it's a little bit different. The only thing is I can tell them to work hard and to be patient and when the opportunity comes, to take it. But not to rush it.
“I didn't rush it. I came into the NBA when I was 22,” Dragic continued. “The first couple of seasons were struggles, were tough — different system, different language, different country. But I'm happy how my career has gone.”
This year's crop of international draft prospects, by the way, leaves much to be desired. The only player from overseas who has a realistic chance at being drafted in the lottery is Sekou Doumbouya of France, while Georgia's Goga Bitadze is also projected as a first-round pick.
Will either of them come close to achieving success on the level of Dragic? Only time will tell.
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