The 2018 No. 3 Pick: Dončić and the Trae Young Blockbuster
On draft night June 2018 at the Barclays Center, when Adam Silver read "Luka Dončić, selected by the Atlanta Hawks," the Slovenian teenager in the stands barely flinched. Everyone knew the pick was only the start of a trade.
That night, Atlanta and Dallas struck a deal revisited for years: the Hawks sent the third pick, Dončić, to Dallas for the fifth pick, Trae Young, plus a protected first-rounder. Two teams betting on "win-now" versus "foundation."
For Dallas it was a gamble. The Dirk Nowitzki era was ending; they needed a face for a decade. Owner Mark Cuban later said: "We watched every Euro tape. The conclusion was clear — he was an NBA-level lead guard by birth."
Atlanta’s choice was sound too: Young’s deep threes and flashy passing fit the "small-ball" guard aesthetic. They believed he could plug in and rebuild.
A decade on, the trade is a "Dallas-leaning" win-win. Young became an All-Star scorer; but Dončić’s ceiling blew past projections — Finals 2024, scoring title, multiple First-Team nods.
Ironically, in 2024 Dončić hung 73 on the very Hawks who drafted and dealt him, writing a franchise record against the team that let him go. In early 2025 he was shock-traded to the Lakers to join LeBron. The 2018 swap’s butterfly effect still ripples. The No. 3 pick of 2018 permanently altered Dallas and Atlanta.
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