Giannis Antetokounmpo has shown a great deal of progress 20 games into his second NBA season, and that's already enough for teams to reflect upon the 2013 draft. The 15th overall selection is averaging 11.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this year, furthering the acceptance that he was a steal of a pick by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Teams are regretting they didn’t draft Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo may have been a mystery, but a number of teams might regret not taking the Greek Freak.
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
The latest evidence comes out of Dallas. The Mavericks owned the 13th pick in that 2013 draft, and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson wanted Antetokounmpo, according to The Dallas Morning News' Eddie Sefko.
Owner Mark Cuban shot that idea down. Instead of using the 13th pick, the Mavs traded down to select point guard Shane Larkin with the 18th pick, as the Mavs hoped a little salary savings could help them pay a free agent that summer. Dwight Howard was the main target, but it didn't happen. And while Larkin was involved in the trade that helped Dallas acquire Tyson Chandler this offseason, hindsight says the Mavericks missed an opportunity.
Cuban is still confident that he made the right call.
“He’s making us look bad for sticking to our plan,” Cuban said Tuesday. “The whole point was that I wanted to stick to the plan and Donnie was like, this guy’s going to be good. I’ll risk everything that he’s going to be good. I said, ‘I believe you Donnie.’
“But still, what if all of the sudden we find out that so-and-so (free agent) is dying to come to the Mavs and now you don’t have the cap room? That’s why we put together a plan and our consolation wasn’t too bad.”
Coming into the draft, Antetokounmpo indeed had some secrecy to him. He played in a low-level division as a professional, and there wasn’t much film on him. He was young (he turns 20 on Saturday), and there was reason for teams to be apprehensive about selecting him.
The Mavericks aren't the only team that had interest in Antetokounmpo. Word had it that the Atlanta Hawks promised Antetokounmpo would be selected if he lasted until their 17th pick, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski also reported last year that Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri attempted to move into the top 15 to draft the Greek Freak.
It’s hard to imagine how many more teams have any regrets. After all, a lot of hoops heads, including ESPN’s Chad Ford and Sports Illustrated’s Rob Mahoney, were calling Antetokounmpo the No. 1 overall pick if they could redraft the 2013 class.
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