OT: How the Hawks missed out on Giannis

[Jamaaliver]

Just an interesting story I came across in my research. All stuff we'd heard before, but a few lessons still there to be learned:

Came across this funny story from the 2013 draft about how we acquired Giannis. Some Jazz guys were telling it on their post game show. Starts at about 12 mins
http://weareutahjazz.com/lockedonjazz/2016/03/20/special-postcast-joined-by-the-tv-crew-after-jazz-beat-bucks/

I'll summarise it if you can't be bothered listening, some of you have probably heard it before. Basically there was a team that really wanted Giannis and saw his potential. So they tried to hide him from everyone else. According to the Jazz guy they basically housed Giannis right up until the draft to make sure he didnt work out for other teams. Then on draft day they were like WTF when the bucks picked giannis out of nowhere.

It's very likely that the other team was the Atlanta Hawks who had the 17th pick in the draft. It is rumoured that Larry Drew brought the information about Giannis from the hawks when he was hired here and that's why we drafted him.

We had multiple draft picks that summer, were waiting for a player we loved...and missed out on him.

Larry Drew went to a rival franchise and took his draft knowledge with him as well. Which also begs the question: If we knew LD wasn't going to be our Head Coach moving forward, why was he privy to our draft plans that summer?

You all might recall we openly held interviews with other coaching candidates whilst L Drew was still under contract. We allowed him to interview elsewhere, but refused to outright release him...even when the season was over and we were looking to move in a different direction.

[Jamaaliver]

Watch on YouTube

Zaza confirms that Giannis was on Hawks radar so much so that they TOLD HIM about it him

[Geaux_Hawks]

I thought we were going to get him and Dennis that draft. Then boom! In comes Milwaukee like a wrecking ball.

[ATL Boy]

I always had a hunch that Drew was the reason they ended up taking Giannis before us, but kept telling myself: "no, he was probably on their radar too." This sort of confirms my suspicions.

Why would we let Drew in on that if Ferry knew he wouldn't be our head coach?! Why couldn't Ferry have just made that Josh read which would've landed us their pick, instead of pulling out in the last 5 minutes of the deadline. The entire situation is so infuriating, and it gets even more so when you realize that the pick we did make after missing out on Giannis, Bebe, was traded for cap space. Just a full on blunder by Ferry on all fronts.


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[Jamaaliver]

Report: Hawks were ‘really determined’ to get Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013 NBA draft

Mike Budenholzer just worked his way out of Atlanta to Milwaukee to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo, just 23, is already a superstar. Helping to mold him is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

But what if Budenholzer could have been coaching Antetokounmpo all along?

The Bucks drafted Antetokounmpo No. 15 in 2013, but they had competition from the Hawks, as Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst of ESPN detailed on The Woj Pod:

•Wojnarowski: “That night with Giannis, Atlanta was really – Brian, you both know this. Atlanta was really determined to get him.”
•Windhorst: “Oh, yes. I’ve listened to Danny Ferry’s sob story about this one.”
•Wojnarowski: “Danny Ferry, Wes Wilcox were really focused on him.”


The Hawks entered the draft with the No. 17 and No. 18 picks. How determined were they if they couldn’t move ahead of Milwaukee picking 15th?

I believe Ferry and Wilcox, both since ousted, liked Antetokounmpo more than most teams did. But if they had an inkling Antetokounmpo would even near the level he actually has, the Hawks would have gotten him. He fell all the way to No. 15!

Instead, Atlanta traded up from No. 18 to No. 16 with the Mavericks – who have their own Antetokounmpo draft-night story – and got Lucas Nogueira. The Hawks took Dennis Schroder No. 17.

NBC Sports

[dms269]

Report: Hawks were ‘really determined’ to get Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013 NBA draft

Mike Budenholzer just worked his way out of Atlanta to Milwaukee to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo, just 23, is already a superstar. Helping to mold him is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

But what if Budenholzer could have been coaching Antetokounmpo all along?

The Bucks drafted Antetokounmpo No. 15 in 2013, but they had competition from the Hawks, as Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst of ESPN detailed on The Woj Pod:

•Wojnarowski: “That night with Giannis, Atlanta was really – Brian, you both know this. Atlanta was really determined to get him.”
•Windhorst: “Oh, yes. I’ve listened to Danny Ferry’s sob story about this one.”
•Wojnarowski: “Danny Ferry, Wes Wilcox were really focused on him.”


The Hawks entered the draft with the No. 17 and No. 18 picks. How determined were they if they couldn’t move ahead of Milwaukee picking 15th?

I believe Ferry and Wilcox, both since ousted, liked Antetokounmpo more than most teams did. But if they had an inkling Antetokounmpo would even near the level he actually has, the Hawks would have gotten him. He fell all the way to No. 15!

Instead, Atlanta traded up from No. 18 to No. 16 with the Mavericks – who have their own Antetokounmpo draft-night story – and got Lucas Nogueira. The Hawks took Dennis Schroder No. 17.

NBC Sports

Just makes me further hate Windhorst. "Son story", gimme a break. What is he going to do when LeBron retires and he doesn't have a coattails to ride on anymore?

[Shaffty]

Watch on YouTube

Zaza confirms that Giannis was on Hawks radar so much so that they TOLD HIM about it him

While there is probably some substance to the idea that Larry Drew told the Bucks about Giannis. Hammond had already made 2 trips to greece to scout him that year. He was def on the Bucks radar.

[Jamaaliver]

Great reporting by Chris Vivlamore.
We finally have some finality/clarification.

Curse you, Danny Ferry!!!!

Anatomy of 2013 NBA Draft: Antetokounmpo was so close to being a Hawk

An inside look at the organized chaos of the draft process


The Hawks gambled in the 2013 NBA Draft – and it cost them Giannis Antetokounmpo.

They were close to a huge payout. Closer than most know.

Antetokounmpo was snatched away. The franchise-defining moment came just two selections before the Hawks were to make the first of two first-round picks, a matter of minutes, despite a top-secret draft process. A large plant and at least one beverage went flying in the inner sanctum of the Hawks’ draft room that night.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in a series of off-the-record interviews to ensure complete candor, has constructed an anatomy of the 2013 draft to illustrate the uncertainty of the process.

General Manager Danny Ferry went to see him play live in Greece. Antetokounmpo came to United States before the draft and worked out for one team. He was examined by doctors for medical reports for one team. That team was the Hawks.

How secret did the Hawks try to keep their interest in Antetokounmpo? Doctors in New York, and not team doctors, performed a full physical. He stayed with Ferry for the two days he spent in Atlanta. Key members of the organization did not know the extent of the team’s interest in Antetokounmpo until after the draft.

The Hawks held picks Nos. 17 and 18. They had two targets - Dennis Schroder and Antetokounmpo. The Hawks had seen Schroder at the Nike Hoop Summit and the German teenager impressed.

Antetokounmpo and Schroder. That was the plan.

The morning of the draft, June 27, 2013, the Hawks got word that the Bucks might have an interest in Antetokounmpo with the No. 15 pick. The Hawks explored the option of moving up, but ultimately decided to wait. There will be conspiracy theories to explore on the Bucks’ late interest.

“Had we thought he was an MVP, we probably should have traded the whole franchise for him.”

Here is the Hawks’ thinking on waiting on Antetokounmpo. “In theory, the chances of 15, 17 and 18 succeeding or failing in the draft are about same,” one person said. “We’d rather have two shots at hitting than one shot.”

However, the plan blew up when the Bucks selected the little-known Antetokounmpo with the No. 15 pick.

[Jamaaliver]

continued

Anatomy of 2013 NBA Draft: Antetokounmpo was so close to being a Hawk

An inside look at the organized chaos of the draft process


The draft saga would not be complete without conspiracy theories. And there were plenty in the days, months and now years after the Hawks missed out on Antetokounmpo. Here are a few:


> Larry Drew was the Hawks’ head coach before Budenholzer, and he was not retained after his contract expired at the end of the 2012-13 season. Budenholzer was hired May 28, just a month before the draft. Drew was hired as head coach of the Bucks on May 31. It would seem that Drew had some knowledge of the Hawks’ interest in Antetokounmpo and desire to select the prospect. Might this have been a chance to stick it to his former franchise? Several other lower-level members of the front office also were suspected although the circle of trust was tight.


> A rumor circulated that Jeff Teague saw Antetokounmpo in for a workout. Teague was entering his restricted free agent year and would later sign an offer sheet from the Bucks and, immediately after, made his desire that the Hawks not match publicly known. Could Teague have tipped off the Bucks?


> Antetokounmpo and Schroder shared an agent. It seems he would know of interest from NBA teams. Could a higher selection mean more money for one client?


The Hawks ownership, front office and coaching and support staff have gone through major changes since the fateful day in 2013. Just five years later, most are gone and just a handful remain. It’s another reality of the NBA.

AJC

[reazun]

Watching the draft combine and hearing the bucks GM talk about why he selected Giannis is so annoying...

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[Jamaaliver]

The old DF front office for the Hawks still reminiscing on how they almost got Giannis with one of the two 1st round picks they possessed in that year's draft.

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[D21]

There was a missing part on Vivalmore piece quoted by Jamaaliver that was interesting : after MIL picked Giannis, they called ATL to ask for the medical report, while the medical report was done in NY and had to be kept secret... in other words, no other team than ATL was supposed to know the existence of this medical report done in NY

It would also have been one of the best draft ever made if you succeed to pick Giannis and Dennis at 16 and 17 (or 17 and 18 before the pick trade)