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In 2010, Rod Thorn was president of basketball operations with the Nets and going into the Draft with three picks, at #3, #27 and #31. He had missed out on the overall #1 in the Lottery.
He took Derrick Favors at #3, then traded #27 (Jordan Crawford) and #31 (Tibor Pleiss) for #24 (Damion James). The day after the draft, the Nets signed undrafted rookies Brian Zoubek and Ben Uzoh, giving them partial guarantees of $50,000 and $35,000.
So asks Al Iannazzone, was Thorn ever interested in Jeremy Lin on Draft Night or the morning after? Nope. "I wish I could say we were," Thorn said. "But the fact is no. Looking back at the scouting reports, back in the days when I was with the Nets, nobody was that high on him or felt he was going to be an NBA player."
No one on the Nets anyway. A number of draftniks put Lin at the top of their undrafted list and the Warriors did give him a guaranteed deal reportedly worth $200,000.
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Knicks insider: Thorn didn't see it - Al Iannazzone - New York Newsday