Let’s pick up with the No. 16 pick in last night’s NBA draft.
The Suns were on the clock and planning to pick Donte DiVincenzo. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7:
Being told the Phoenix Suns will select Donte Divencenzo with the 16th pick
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 22, 2018
But then 76ers called Phoenix about trading No. 10 pick Mikel Bridges for the No. 16 pick and a future first-rounder. The teams agreed to the deal (causing this heartbreaking moment), and the Suns picked Zhaire Smith for Philadelphia.
Ok here is how it went down according to the Suns - 30 seconds before the Suns were going to select Donte DiVincenzo they got a call from Philly who proposed a trade that Phoenix couldn’t pass up.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 22, 2018
The next three picks:
17. Donte DiVincenzo, Bucks
18. Lonnie Walker, Spurs
19. Kevin Huerter, Hawks
Atlanta general manager Travis Schlenk on 95.7 The Game, via ESPN:“Last night, for instance, we had the 19th pick, and we’re coming down and we’re actually talking to Milwaukee on the 17th pick, talking about trading up to get a guy we like,” Schlenk said. “There’s were a couple of guys we felt really good about on the 19th pick, obviously Kevin [Huerter] was one of them, and it leaked who Milwaukee was going to take.
“So, all of a sudden, we were able to pull back out of that deal and keep the draft pick instead of packaging picks to move up because we knew that, two guys on the board we felt really good about and only one team in between us, so that was beneficial to us last night.”
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports and Jeff Goodman of ESPN reported the Bucks picking DiVincenzo at 9:18 p.m.:
Sources: The Milwaukee Bucks have selected Donte DiVincenzo with the No. 17 pick in the NBA draft.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 22, 2018
Milwaukee will take Donte DiVincenzo with the 17th pick, per source.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 22, 2018
The pick became official at 9:22 p.m.:
With the 17th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks select Donte DiVincenzo!! ✌️#BucksDraft x #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/8CFoFcSlCi
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) June 22, 2018
Clearly, Atlanta wanted Huerter or “Mystery Player Not Named Donte DiVincenzo."* Once they learned Milwaukee would take DiVincenzo at No. 17, the Hawks knew at least one of Huerter or “Mystery Player Not Named Donte DiVincenzo” would be available at No. 19.
*I think there’s a good chance it was Walker, whom San Antonio picked No. 18.
That saved the Hawks an asset(s) and cost the Bucks an asset(s), though perhaps Milwaukee couldn’t have gotten DiVincenzo at No. 19. Maybe the Spurs would’ve selected him at No. 18.
Still, the Bucks didn’t protect their internal plans well enough. Maybe that’s an organizational flaw. But this also could have been a fluky sequence of events. Perhaps, after hearing Phoenix would take DiVincenzo, someone in Milwaukee felt comfortable sharing that the Bucks wanted him. Then, when he surprisingly fell, it was too late. The information was already out there – allowing Atlanta to stand pat.
