Manafort played a much bigger than people think. He was 100% accurate in his forecast.
I think Trump brought in Manafort to prepare for the case of Trump not getting to 1237, in which case the delegate selection process would have been crucial.
But Trump’s impressive primary victories since then will have put Trump over the top, without Manafort.
In fact, Manafort hurt Trump a little with the comments to the GOP meeting about Trump changing his positions.
Not to say that Manafort wouldn’t have been a big help if it had come down to a brokered convention. But Trump ended up winning this on his own.
And Manafort is a smart cookie who can help down the road in other ways.