NBA 2018-19: Who won the Luka Doncic and Trae Young draft-night deal?

The NBA Draft is the 'Association's attempt to realign the balance of power that separates its franchises. Some teams are good and some are bad. The reason is some teams have lots of talent other teams, not enough.

Sometimes that disparity is due to players aging and declining skills or just bad draft selections or trades from previous years. The process is usually cyclical, although, some franchises seem to be eternally bad and cannot break the cycle.

There are the Los Angeles Clippers, who from the 1980’s right through the 1990’s had continually made horrible choices like drafting Michael Olowakandi. There are teams like the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted Tim Duncan but are also known for their late draft gems like Manu Ginobili. There are teams, like the Boston Celtics, who stockpile draft picks, and then use them to add young talent to their roster or swap those picks, for proven talent.

The Boston Celtics used this method to acquire Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, which returned the Celtics to championship status. The Celtics did it again to acquire Kyrie Irving, by trading their rights, to the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first round pick, along, with Isaiah Thomas.

In the 2018 NBA draft, two teams, that were competitive just a few years ago, now in a rebuild phase, swapped their picks to obtain the player they wanted. Luka Doncic was drafted 3rd overall, by the Atlanta Hawks and, in a draft day deal, was sent to the Dallas Mavericks, for a protected future 1st rounder and Trae Young, the 5th overall pick, in the draft.

These two young stars will forever be linked as everyone tries to examine who won the deal. As things stand now, both players are representing their teams well and giving a good showcase of their talents. Here is a quick review of Trae Young and Luka Doncic.