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Mark Cuban claims that he was the one who turned down Giannis’s deal towards the Maverick side
If given a choice to pick a player from any team most of us would come up with the “Greek Freak” Giannis, but this was not the same case for the Dallas Maverick back in 2013.
Mavericks were set to pick the 13th pick of the 2013 NBA Draft but the owner Mark Cuban passed on selecting him and instead picked Kelly Olynk and later traded his rights to Boston Celtics, which he later claimed on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
“It was me. Donnie [Nelson] was like, ‘OK, I’m putting my you-know-whats on the table.’ He was doing the Sam Cassell, Nick Van Exel dance. … It’s all in. And I’m like, ‘Donnie, we have this plan.’ Because even as good as the Greek Freak has turned out to be, he was still three years away, and we wanted to try to get somebody who could help get us to the top right there and then. Didn’t turn out that way, it is what it is, that happens.”
The 7ft power guard has undoubtedly turned out as one of the best deals that Buck’s side could have ever considered in their trading history. After being picked as the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Giannis has provided many delights to his NBA side.
He made his debut at 18 years and 311 days, as one of the youngest players in the history of the NBA and made his way into the NBA All-Rookie second team. His fourth year on the side turned into his breakout year which is season 2016-17 in which he also grabbed the Most Improved Player Of The Season Award the rest is history with his tremendous growth in the NBA making him counted among the Best Players in NBA history.
Giannis received his first Championship ring in the season 2021, taking the Bucks to the NBA Finals for the first time in 47 years and bringing the trophy home.
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