Kings news: Vlade Divac owns up to passing on Luka Doncic in the draft

Vlade Divac destroyed his own career with the Kings. This came from the man himself, who admitted he made the call not to draft Luka Doncic in 2018.

Vlade Divac destroyed his own career with the Sacramento Kings. This came from the man himself, who admitted that he was the one who made the call not to pick Luka Doncic in 2018.

“That was my decision,” Divac said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee about his time as general manager of the Kings following his departure.

“I still believe Marvin has big upside. But I needed more time to prove it. I’m sure Marvin is going to prove everybody wrong. But in this league, you need to produce right now. People don’t have patience but I’m OK with that.”

To recall, Divac and the Kings selected Marvin Bagley III with the second overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, one pick before Doncic who was taken by the Atlanta Hawks and subsequently traded him to the Dallas Mavericks.

Bagley has averaged 14.8 points per game in his first two seasons in the league. This 2019-20, however, has not been good for Bagley after multiple injuries forced him to miss considerable time on the court — only playing in 13 games.

Doncic, on the other hand, has had a breakout career thus far and is considered one of the top players in the league already in just his second year. He won the Rookie of the Year following in 2018-19 and propelled himself in the MVP conversation this campaign after putting up 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per outing.

To say the Kings missed out on a generational talent is an understatement. What's even more ironic about Vlade Divac passing on Luka Doncic is their Eastern European connection, with Vlade being from Serbia while Lukafrom Slovenia.

Divac is taking full responsibility for the mishap though, which is a good sign if he looks to get another job in the front office of another NBA franchise.