The 30 most painful NBA Draft pass-ups since 2000

NBA Draft Mistake #12: Sacramento drafting Marvin Bagley Jr. over Luka Doncic.

Up until recently, the Sacramento Kings were considered to be one of the worst-run franchises in the NBA. That has begun to change now, but not before their front office made some pretty blatant mistakes. Chief among them is their decision to select Marvin Bagley Jr. second overall over Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft.

We’ve already discussed how the Suns passed over Doncic, but at least they chose a future starting center in Ayton, and he flashed star potential. Bagley hasn’t in his five seasons in the NBA, and he is already on his second team after having a falling out with the Kings, who chose to bench him in his fourth season.

He is now a member of the Detroit Pistons but has yet to catch on there either. Whether he does or doesn’t is irrelevant at this point since he is no longer with the Kings and they passed over Doncic, who has become a top-five player in the NBA. He was also the youngest MVP of Euroleague, proving that he could dominate against other pros even as a teenager.

Sacramento chose wrong, even passing up two-time all-star Trae Young, who was picked fifth in the same draft. While missing out on both will likely sting for years to come, the Kings have at least built a very good team, but they could have been even better had they not wasted the second pick in the draft.