Finally, the infamous “Deng scouting report” has been found.
Working jointly, WSB’s Zach Klein and the AJC’s Chris Vivlamore — both of whom have been on top of this story — obtained the scouting report that Ferry was supposedly reading from.
While the audio suggests that Ferry was on specifically reading off of the report, the scouting report on Deng makes the African comment that Danny Ferry referenced over the conference call.
Comment in Deng report "He's a good guy on the cover but he's an African. He has a little two-step in him=says what you like to hear, (1/2)
— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) September 12, 2014
2/2 ".. But behind closed doors he could be killing you. Con isn't bad, but it's there."
— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) September 12, 2014
While the comments being used over the conference call show a bit of a problem with the team’s front office, Ferry is somewhat vindicated by the report. It shows that even if he was speaking off the cuff during the call, the words were not his own. It does not make the situation too much better, but it definitely helps out Ferry’s credibility in that he wasn’t lying when he said the comments are from a scouting report.
Is that enough to help Ferry keep the job that he is clinging to? Probably not, but this does help Ferry in that if he has to go, then the entire ownership group is going to have to go out that door with him.