(07-01-2021, 11:34 PM)F Gump Wrote: So the story being told is that Bob wasn't a Mav employee, Donnie was The Mavs guy and had been heavily involved in Luka for years, but Bob from the outside was the one responsible for Luka becoming a Mav?
So this was the impression I got (after synthesizing what I heard):
Voulgaris was NOT "responsible" for the pick....but he WAS in Cuban's ear about Luka, praising him effusively as the next big thing and that Cuban would regret passing on Luka if he did. Donnie also liked Luka and wanted him. Voulgaris being on the same page as Donnie about Luka helped Cuban pull the trigger and give up the extra 1st round pick (because all his advisors were saying the same thing).
So the point wasn't that Donnie didn't like Luka, but that Voulgaris liking Luka so much helped 1) Cuban pull the trigger and 2) built Cuban's trust in Voulgaris as knowing what he was talking about (maybe even leading to his hire).