The Sacramento Kings haven’t looked great, and don’t seem close to breaking their 14-year playoff drought. Ownership is angry — and it all stems from one horror Luka Doncic decision.

Ahead of the 2018 NBA Draft, the Kings had the second overall pick, so with Deandre Ayton off the board, they had their pick of talent.

In hindsight, Doncic would have been the easy pick. Right now, he’s averaging 28.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 8.7 assists a game for a Dalla Mavericks team that looks bound for the postseason.

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Sunday September 20th

Instead, the Kings went for Marvin Bagley III, and a new feature in The Athletic explained what went into their selection.

“Throughout the Kings’ pre-draft process in 2018, the Kings scouted Doncic heavily, including a dinner with the young prodigy led by Ranadive that also included Vivek’s son, Aneel, and Divac; the gathering was shared on Aneel’s social media,” Shams Charania, Sam Amick, and Jason Jones reported.

“There was ownership support for the drafting of Doncic at No. 2 overall, but Divac, along with then-assistant general manager Brandon Williams and Stojakovic had concerns about his upside compared to Bagley’s, sources said. As The Athletic reported last month, the belief that Doncic’s ball-dominance would limit Fox’s ability to grow and that they were better suited pairing him with a talented big like Bagley were driving forces behind the decision.”

The concerns about De’Aaron Fox’s development being stifled by another ball-dominant guard aren’t wrong, but it’s clear now that Doncic’s upside is out of this world.

All eyes are on Vlade Divac. Source: News Limited

The botched scouting effort has led Kings owner Vivek Ranadive to dig deeper into that department in his organisation, according to The Athletic, with an eye toward figuring out what went wrong.

The report also indicates that Ranadive has expressed frustration with the way the franchise is being run, particularly by general manager Vlade Divas, and head coach Luke Walton.

“The complaints, sources say, have been focused on the team’s underachievement and the part they all played in it,” the report says.

The Kings haven’t made the NBA Playoffs since 2006, and while injuries have played a role in their demise this season, the team is having trouble looking past the fact that the player they could have drafted is about to start in an All-Star Game.

That’s compounded by The Athletic’s reporting which says that Bagley III’s thumb injury may be worse than what the team has led on, and that he could miss even more time.