Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic are set to begin their journey as teammates but it's far from the first time they've been linked.
Both players were drafted in 2018 and their respective careers have trended in opposite directions.
Ayton was the first one to make an NBA Finals with Phoenix in 2021, while Doncic reached the final round in 2024. Neither player won a championship, but Doncic has continued to show he is capable of returning there while Ayton was dumped by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Ironically, Ayton was selected first overall before Luka went to the Hawks two picks later. Atlanta then dealt him to the Mavericks for Trae Young.
Doncic has gone on to have much more success and the strange turn of events in the 2018 draft have led to the pair becoming teammates.
Revisiting why Ayton was selected over Luka in the 2018 NBA Draft
It all starts with need. The 2018 draft was led by Phoenix, who had a ball-dominant guard in Devin Booker, and Sacramento, who also had a backcourt scorer in De'Aaron Fox.
Ayton, fresh off a season averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds at Arizona, was viewed as the safest prospect available who could pair well with a talented ballhandler.
Kane Pitman of The Sporting News analyzed the trade back in 2022. He also referenced the Suns' unsuccessful history of selecting foreign players. Doncic, a EuroLeague MVP, could have been passed on partially because of his basketball development happened overseas.
Is it possible the Suns were shying away from using another top selection on an international player given just two drafts earlier they had used the fourth overall pick on Croatian talent, Dragan Bender?
-Kane Pitman, The Sporting News
There were also rumors that Doncic could pivot and stay in Europe if he wasn't traded to the destination he wanted. The reports were unfounded but the Slovenian did have leverage because of his affiliation with overseas basketball.
On the other hand, Ayton was a blue-chip prospect from a big school who had proved his ability to record a nightly double-double.
From 2018 lottery picks to 2025 Lakers teammates; Luka & Ayton finally link up where the lights shine brightest.
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 2, 2025
It started in Brooklyn.
June 21, 2018.
Deandre Ayton went No. 1. Luka Doncic went No. 3.
Two futures, two paths, both bursting with promise.
Ayton became the anchor… pic.twitter.com/xdqlkGpG58
Looking back, it was an obvious choice to take Doncic but hindsight is always 20/20. There were no guarantees that Doncic would be a superstar or that Ayton would flop.
It's interesting to imagine how the NBA would look if things played out differently. The downfall of the Suns, the dismantling of the Mavericks, and the past five years of the NBA would all be drastically altered.
But with both players on the Lakers and Luka reportedly "excited" to team up with the big man, the past doesn't matter.
The pair of top three picks are now focused on the future together.
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