Goran Dragic first met Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic when the latter was a five-year-old kid. Eventually, that five-year-old made waves in his home country of Slovenia when Real Madrid brought in Doncic to join their academy. By then, the current Miami Heat point guard knew that there was something special brewing within the then-13-year-old Doncic.
Via Tim MacMahon of ESPN:
“Everybody started talking about him,” Dragic says. “At that age, we figured out that he was probably something special.”
Dragic eventually had the opportunity to play with and see up close a young Luka Doncic back when they played together for the Serbian national team in the 2017 EuroBasket tournament. Dragic may have earned MVP honors that time, but he had no doubt Doncic would eventually turn out to be the bona fide stud that he is today.
“He's going to be the best player in Europe in a couple of years, trust me on that. In the NBA, too,” Dragic declared after the championship game.
“Mark my words, he's going to be one of the best in the whole world.”
If you don't believe Dragic uttered these very words four years ago, here is some footage of that.
It's safe to say that Dragic absolutely nailed his prediction. Not only did he take the EuroLeague by storm by becoming its youngest MVP in history, Doncic, who will turn 22 within the next month, is already one of the best players in the NBA.
Entering the NBA, despite Doncic's track record in Europe, many still had doubts whether he would succeed in the best league in the world or not. The Phoenix Suns passed on him, taking DeAndre Ayton, the consensus top prospect at the time, with the No. 1 overall pick. The Sacramento Kings also gave up the chance to select Doncic, going with former Duke star Marvin Bagley III, who has struggled with health concerns through his first three NBA seasons so far.
Likewise, the Atlanta Hawks, who had the third overall pick in the 2018 draft, even passed up on making Doncic their franchise star, trading the pick to the Dallas Mavericks, who were eager to land the Slovenian Sensation.
If only they listened to Dragic during those times, they would have already landed the undisputed best player from that class. Nonetheless, the Mavericks are certainly happy things went the way they did.
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