The Dallas Mavericks had their eye on Luka Doncic for years. Many NBA teams did. He was a Euro sensation. Doncic played against NBA teams in preseason games as a 16-year-old for Real Madrid. He transformed himself into their star play by 18. Luka was winning EuroLeague MVP before he was allowed to play in the NBA.
The Mavericks saw an opportunity to acquire him and pounced. They traded up from fifth overall to third. It cost Dallas their first round pick in 2019 draft too. That was a small price to pay to secure Luka, though.