Since last season’s All-Star weekend, the craving to see Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic together has increased several folds. The two Europeans lit up the weekend in Indiana with banters between them, promising to be the best duo ever. That could’ve turned into reality when the Denver Nuggets held the trump card in the 2018 NBA Draft. They could’ve made a decision that could have altered the future trajectory of both their franchise and the league. However, they watched it slip away, what could have been the biggest move to get two superstars in one team, as revealed by front office member Mike Singer.

The discussion broke out on The Hoop Collective podcast where Singer highlighted, “They (Nuggets) had designs on pairing Nikola Jokic with Luka Doncic.” He stated that the franchise tried to take advantage of the Kings’ former GM Vlade Divac’s spite for the Slovenian on the draft night. “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.”

The Kings swooped in and selected Marvin Bagley with the No. 2 pick. “I’m not saying this trade was imminent,” he added. “All I’m saying is this trade was discussed and considered because the Nuggets knew Vlade Divas was not particularly high on Luka Doncic and they tried to exploit it.”

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon had once disclosed on The Woj Pod, “My understanding is that [Divac] being so close to Luka and knowing his dad so well factored into their decision.” The Insider believed that Divac felt Doncic was a lot like his father Sasa Doncic and the Serbian versus Slovenian sentiment made him carry a negative emotion for Doncic.

However, what stood in the way was that Denver didn’t want to part ways with Jamal Murray. “All I know is it was considered, explored, vetted, and I have somebody saying anonymously ‘For 30 seconds, we thought we had Luka.’ Which is a gargantuan statement.” Singer said, who wasn’t present in the room during the incident. And the rest is known by all.

Doncic was selected by the Hawks as the 3rd overall pick which swapped at the final minute thanks to the former major owner Mark Cuban’s call and the Atlanta side went ahead with Trae Young. With that, the NBA community’s dream of seeing Doncic and Nikola Jokic on the same team was shattered. But fans on social media are going wild hearing about the news of the dream union.

Fans react to failed team-up of Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic

“Doncic and Jokic together would’ve been wild,” someone wrote. That indeed would have been a blast considering the kind of impact both of them have on their team’s scores. Moreover, Doncic could have added a championship title to his name if he was suiting up in a Nuggets jersey.

While another fan stated, “Luka and Jokic on the same team wouldn’t be fair thank god that trade never went through.” Both players are known for putting up huge numbers, and according to the fan, it would have been unfair to opponents, as they would have easily overwhelmed any defense.

Many supporters shared a similar view, “Could’ve been the greatest duo the league has ever seen.” If not the greatest, they would have certainly been one of the most dominant pairs in NBA history. The league has seen multiple tandem wrecking havoc in the league from Lakers’ Shaq and Kobe to now Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Surely the Doncic-Jokic duo would’ve ranked somewhere between them.

“They would’ve ran the league if they played together,” read one of the comments. So far, Doncic is averaging 28.2 points with 7.8 rebounds and assists each while Jokic is contributing 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 11.7 assists per night. Had they been playing together, they could have posed a serious challenge to the Western Conference teams. With Jokic already looking like an early favorite to win the MVP award, adding another MVP-calibre player like Doncic next to him would’ve been a stuff out of horror books.

The All-Star Weekends are now the only way to see the duo together in action. But might not be the case anymore with the league exploring the idea of a four-team tournament. The Collective Bargaining Agreement is also a big roadblock of seeing the two together in franchise colors. Maybe, some wishes are just not meant to come true.