Nuggets tried to deal for Luka Doncic to pair with Nikola Jokic

What if Nikola Jokic had a teammate who was also capable of winning the NBA’s MVP award, that hypothetical was closer to happening than some may think as the Denver Nuggets attempted to trade for Luka Doncic on the night of the 2018 NBA Draft.

Former Nuggets beat writer for the Denver Post and current team employee Mike Singer told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on the Hoop Collective Podcast about a proposed trade and who ranked on the Nuggets draft board that night. While it is easy to say now that the team was interested in the two since they are both getting MVP votes, Singer shared that the Nuggets were high on both Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going into that evening.

“The Nuggets knew that [Kings general manager at the time] Vlade Divac was not particularly high on Luka Doncic, and they had designs on pairing Nikola Jokic with Luka Doncic,” Singer said. “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.”

Somehow that also would’ve been a better move for the Kings who infamously messed up that night by selecting Marvin Bagley III at No. 2, a pick after the Suns selected Deandre Ayton and a pick before the Hawks took Doncic. A few picks later at No. 5 the Mavericks drafted Trae Young. Atlanta and Dallas swapped the two prospects plus a future first-round pick that became Cam Redish.

The Nuggets did end up with one of the better players on that night, taking Michael Porter Jr. at No. 14. The Clippers passed on MPJ twice, flagging his medical allowing one of the best high school prospects from a year before to fall to Denver. After sitting out his first season, MPJ has recovered from back injuries to become one of the better shooters in the league at a giant 6-foot-10. He’s slowly grown into an all-around player and earned a max contract. Porter’s play, a huge part of the Nuggets first title, dampens the what-if quite a bit because Denver still improved that night.

Meanwhile, Doncic has become one of the best players in the league, making five All-NBA teams and leading the Mavs to an NBA Finals appearance last year. Cool Hand’s sweet scoring and ball-dominating style would’ve been fun next to the slick-passing Joker. The two would’ve no doubt dominated the NBA and heck may have brought Serbia and Slovenia’s relations to their best place since they were each part of Yugoslavia. Of course, 40 years ago both Jokic and Doncic would have played internationally together—another fun what-if.

At the time, Harris was coming off one of the best years of his career. Injuries and a move to the Magic have lessened the two guard’s impact but he will always hold a soft spot in Nuggets fans’ hearts. After 387 games in Denver, the team dealt him to Orlando with that year’s first-round pick RJ Hampton and a 2025 pick that has yet to convey—basically two first-rounders—for Aaron Gordon.

While the Nuggets have assembled a strong enough contingent of good and role players to win a single title—Jokic is still the lone MVP in league history to never have played with an All-NBA, All-Star or All-Defensive Team teammate. Of course, Jokic has won three MVPs so that makes his lack of a great partner all the more crazy. Jamal Murray is a very good player but what if he was also playing next to Doncic? How would the fit all work? Would Denver’s defense even be viable?

On that night in 2018, the Nuggets landed MPJ and kept the assets they would’ve dealt for Doncic that later scored them Gordon. Many will say Doncic and Jokic, that would be sick—but do the Nuggets win a title without MPJ and Gordon and Doncic instead? We’ll never really know.