NBA Fans Debate Who Would Take No. 1 In A 2018 Re-Draft Between Lakers And Thunder Stars

The 2018 NBA Draft Class might go down in history as one of the best of the modern era. The way people talk about 1984, 1996, and 2003 might be replicated by the 2018 Draft, which features multiple All-NBA caliber players.

No. 3 pick Luka Doncic has been the runaway best player from this class for a while now, but No. 11 pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might pip Doncic to become the first MVP winner of this class. No. 10 pick Mikal Bridges was a Defensive Player of the Year runner-up before No. 4 pick Jaren Jackson Jr. outright won the award in 2022-23.

We haven't even mentioned All-NBA guards such as No. 5 pick Trae Young and No. 33 pick Jalen Brunson. All these names are often thrown in as the best players from this class, but fans on Reddit had a pretty heated conversation about who goes No. 1 in a redraft of that title. Naturally, the conversation revolved around Luka and Shai.

"Luka's ability to drag extremely flawed rosters to deep playoff runs makes him #1 IMO. Though it seems like SGA is going to get MVP before Luka."

"People are confusing two different things in this thread. You take Luka 1st overall, his career has been better. Shai is better right now. Those don’t mean the same thing and can both be true."

"I have SGA. I feel like how high that team is vs the actual roster gets understated by quite a bit. I've seen people claim that it's still a play-in team if he's not on it (not sure if that's actually true if you look at the talented rosters in the WC)."

"For those thinking SGA, don't forget who has 2 WCFs and 1 Finals appearance."

"Trae Young might be the most damn disrespected NBA player ever. People swear he’s 10x worse than he really is."

"Luka, Shai, Trae, Brunson, JJJ, Bridges, MPJ, and Ayton."

"SGA this year has played better than Luka ever has. Far more efficient and far less vulnerable on defense. It’s wild that this sub is so consensus Luka when OKC are pretty heavy favorites to win a title, to cap off an insane MVP regular season."

This Draft class isn't all about Luka and Shai, as it also features solid role-players such as Collin Sexton (No. 8), Miles Bridges (No. 12), Michael Porter Jr. (No. 14), Donte DiVincenzo (No. 17), Grayson Allen (No. 21), Anfernee Simons (No. 24), among many others.

A few years after their draft, it seems Doncic was a runaway choice as the best player in the Draft. For years, his biggest competitor was Trae Young, who also finished as the runner-up in the 2019 Rookie of the Year race next to Doncic. However, Young has lost some stature, being passed over by guards like Jalen Brunson and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The battle for No. 1 is between Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander now, with Shai looking set to be the first player from the class to win MVP. However, Doncic does have a much superior body of work up until now with a Finals and Conference Finals appearance (one over OKC), compared to Shai having just two Playoff appearances.

Doncic has averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.2 assists in 443 regular-season games and 30.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 8.0 assists in 50 Playoff games over his career so far. Shai is averaging 24.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 457 regular-season games and 21.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 23 Playoff games. 

Doncic is a five-time All-NBA First Team selection and All-Star, while Shai is a three-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA First Team selection. The career accolades are massively in Doncic's favor, as is the Playoff record, with Doncic defeating Shai in the second round of the Playoffs last season.

The battle between them won't be solved much later into their careers, but it's safe to say Shai would take a slight edge if he wins a title and championship this season. Doncic will have his opportunities at taking the crown back, but he should be aware it's slipping and falling onto the head of an equally dynamic guard.