Ex-Suns Coach: We Didn't Even Consider Drafting Luka Doncic

The Suns made one of the most costly moves in franchise history in 2018 when they passed on drafting Luka Doncic.

Dec 1, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) moves to the basket against Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have had several "what ifs" throughout their franchise history, but their string of not hitting on top picks early on in the last decade is right up among their biggest missed opportunities.

At the top of this list is Phoenix passing on Luka Doncic to select Deandre Ayton No. 1 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft, and according to former coach Igor Kokoskov, the Suns never even really considered drafting Doncic.

“We never, literally never, had a single serious strategic conversation about who we were going to draft, which gave me more than enough of an indication that the decision had already been made. So, (former Suns owner) Robert Sarver went to Arizona, so he had an emotional connection to Ayton,” Kokoskov said on the “X&O’s Chat” podcast (h/t Basketball Network's Bruno Feliks).

“We had signed Devin Booker, and we projected Luka, I’m guessing here, as a high-usage shooter who could pass, but not a pure point guard to put alongside Booker at shooting guard, meaning they’d overlap as two off-guards.”

He added: “Their skill sets wouldn’t complement each other. That was probably Sarver’s logic. Sarver only watched Luka play live once and had one dinner with him. think if he had spent more time tracking him and watching him, things might have been different. He had already made up his mind, and everything regarding Luka was just him looking for reasons to justify taking Ayton as the number one pick.”

The Suns made several costly mistakes over Sarver's tenure, as he was infamously known for not spending much on the team and eventually announced his intention to sell the team in Sept. 2022 after being suspended for one year following an NBA investigation that found a long history of racist and sexist behavior.

Doncic, who is one of the best players in the league, has gone on to have a much more successful career than Ayton, who is now on his fourth team in five years, and it became a big talking point just how costly Phoenix's draft mistake was when Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks blew out the Suns in Game 7 of the second round in 2022 just one year after Phoenix made it to the Finals and was favored to do so again after posting a franchise-record 64 wins.

Kokoskov, who was hired earlier that offseason by Phoenix and had a connection to Doncic after being the head coach of the Slovenian national team that upset Serbia to win the gold medal at the 2017 EuroBasket, felt the Suns should have drafted Doncic.

“As (Sarver) was leaving the office, he turned to Corliss Williamson, who is now an assistant coach in San Antonio, a great guy and a good friend of mine, turned to Corliss and asked, ‘Corliss, who are we drafting tonight?’ He asked it so brazenly, right in front of everyone, including the coaches,” Kokoskov said (h/t Feliks).

“He asks him who we’re drafting! Corliss looks at me, and I tell him, ‘Do I tell him the truth, or what he wants to hear?’ He turns to me and says, ‘Coach, what are we doing?’ I say, ‘We draft Luka, sign Capela in free agency, and see if Atlanta is willing to trade their pick.’ And Sarver says, ‘Okay.’ I told him, ‘I’m really glad you asked me, the first time you’ve asked me, half an hour before the draft, but I’m glad you asked.'"

Looking back, it would have been a little unpopular at the time to pass on Ayton, who was a local product and had all the physical tools to be a dominant inside presence next to Booker, but, in hindsight, drafting Doncic could have changed the trajectory of the franchise for years to come.