Adrian Wojnarowski's clever use of verbs to circumvent a supposed agreement between the NBA and its major media partners on draft night probably didn't sit well with certain suits, but the general manager of the Atlanta Hawks was grateful for the media's enterprising nature.
Travis Schlenk said that a reporter's projection saved him from trading up with the Milwaukee Bucks, because it informed him that Milwaukee wouldn't be taking Atlanta's preferred targets.
"We had the 19th pick ... and we're actually talking to Milwaukee on the 17th pick, talking about trading up to get a guy we like," Schlenk told 95.7 The Game, per ESPN. "There's 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."
In this case, Yahoo's Shams Charania tipped off Schlenk.
Sources: The Milwaukee Bucks have selected Donte DiVincenzo with the No. 17 pick in the NBA draft.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 22, 2018
That allowed the Hawks to pick Huerter at 19.
"So, all of a sudden, we were able to pull back out of that deal," Schlenk added. "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."
Wojnarowski then broke the news of Atlanta's selection, with evasive (although tactical-sounding) precision.
Atlanta has zeroed in on Maryland's Kevin Huerter with the 19 pick, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2018
