The 2018 Draft class is one of the best in recent history as far as the achievements of certain players go. As with every group of young players who arrive in the league, there was some controversy over the draft order.
The biggest question mark was definitely over the first overall pick, where the Phoenix Suns selected DeAndre Ayton over Luka Doncic . Even though Ayton was better suited to the Suns' roster, Doncic had a body of work at 18 that showed he was too good to pass up as the No. 1 pick.
During the years, questions were always being asked and comparisons were constantly being made between the two of them. With Luka winning Rookie of the Year and becoming one of the best players in the league, Ayton's selection looked increasingly bad.
Still, in all those comparisons, two of the best playmakers today were slightly forgotten as part of that Draft class. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson .
During the NBA draft, the head coach for the Suns was Igor Kokoskov. Despite knowing all the details about both top prospects, he believes that today Shai and Brunson deserve more attention, as they are not named immediately when discussing the 2018 Draft class.
"However, we forget that two NBA Champions and MVP-caliber players were drafted after them, yet we only talk about Luka and Ayton," said Kokoskov, "With all due respect to both – Shai was last year's Finals MVP and a Champion. Jalen Brunson , whom I worked with in Dallas, also a champion and Finals MVP."
After the 2018 Draft, Kokoskov spent the next 7 out of 8 seasons in the NBA, mainly as an assistant coach. During that time, he had a front row seat to watch Shai and Jalen prove critics wrong.
What is interesting is the fact that Kokoskov had the opportunity to work with both guys before they became NBA stars. With Shai shortly at the pre-draft workouts and with Brunson while they were both on the Dallas Mavericks .
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Still, in the 2017-18 season, Ayton and Doncic seemed like a sure thing. DeAndre was the star player for Arizona, averaging 20.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. On the other side, Luka won the EuroLeague regular-season MVP and Final Four MVP awards and was considered the best European prospect ever.
Today, Ayton is no longer really part of the conversation when discussing the best players from the 2018 Draft. Luka, on the other hand, has justified the hype that followed him into the league, becoming one of the NBA's biggest stars and proving he was absolutely worthy of being one of the top prospects.
Still, when it comes to winning, Shai and Brunson got there first. Brunson already has a championship and Finals MVP to his name, while Shai has taken things even further individually by winning that and back-to-back MVP awards.
" We spend all this time debating Ayton vs Luka, when maybe we should be talking about Shai and JB. Because, at this moment, they've accomplished even more than Ayton and Luka," said Kokoskov.
The funny part is that the 2018 Draft was supposed to be remembered for the Ayton-Luka debate. At this point, the biggest mistake may be thinking that was ever the whole story.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Sep 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
