It was a long wait for Henri Veesaar, far longer than anyone could expect and one that likely came at a hefty price.
However, the nightmare eventually ended in the second round, and the Tar Heels big man was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 52nd pick of the NBA Draft. Now everyone just wants to know why this happened. Veesaar slipping out of the first round was enough of a surprise, but there was no reason not to expect he would be selected very early in the second round. Instead, as ESPN's Brian Windhorst explains it, Veesaar could've gone undrafted if not for some late negotiations.
"I don't know Henri Veesaar's game the way you college guys do, but Veesaar was going to go out of this draft. He was going to be a borderline first-round pick," Windhorst said on the network's NBA Draft panel. "What happens with these second-round picks is the team calls the agent, and they say, 'Will you play for a two-way contract?' If you say no, then the teams are going to pass on him and that's probably why Veesaar was sliding. At some point, it looks like the Hawks and Veesaar got on the same page, had some sort of understanding, and then the Hawks made a maneuver to trade up."
Henri Veesaar was selected by the Atlanta Hawks, avoiding total NBA Draft disaster
Windhorst would certainly know how this part of the NBA draft process works out. Veesaar could've very simply decided not to budge given the point in the draft when he was selected, but obviously the Hawks came up with a situation that he feels good about.
Others on the ESPN panel felt good about Veesaar's game and what he could bring to the Hawks. Jay Bilas, one of the many that projected the second-team All-ACC center as a first-round pick, said that Veesaar offers a special skill set that isn't often available in the bottom of the draft.
"To get a guy with size that can rebound and also can knock down a three. He can step away and shoot. You're not going to get too many of those guys late in the second round," Bilas said.
Veesaar is certainly going to have additional motivation as he begins his NBA journey and when he gets the opportunity, he's going to make a lot of teams regret passing up on him.
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