Re: Trade season
Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:38 pm
lipoli390 wrote:AbeVigodaLive wrote:lipoli390 wrote:AbeVigodaLive wrote:TheGrey08 wrote:kekgeek1 wrote:According to Kevin O'Conner there was a 3 way deal of Capela to the hawks, Cov to the rockets and picks to the wolves was in place.
Wolves were going to use the picks to flip for Russell. The warriors declined the trade so the 3 way fell apart.
I was seeing that it initially was just one pick back to the Wolves that the Warriors balked at, leading the Wolves to want 2 first rounders instead. Either way the Warriors sound ridiculous and it pisses me off they are going to end up with a high lotto pick when they don't deserve one what so ever.
Why don't they deserve lottery picks?
"Smart" organizations are those who take advantage of the hand they're dealt... even when that's (1) other teams' drafting ineptitude (see Kahn), or (2) a injury-prone player signing a bargain contract than getting healthy and becoming a superstar, or (3) a salary cap hike at the perfect time to land another superstar, (4) wrangling their way into deals during a year when key players are hurt to retool for the following season.
The Warriors, from the owner to the players, are a bit smug. They're kinda annoying. But, they continually take advantage of what they have to work with... call it luck or competence. But it's part of the reason they're the signature franchise of the decade.
I'd call it competence. They drafted Curry after others like the Wolves passed on him. They drafted Thompson with the 11th pick in the first round. They drafted Green in the 2nd round. So they built their core with really smart drafting. And they did all that before going after a vet named Iggy to shore up their team as a championship contender. That's smart because the better organizations build their core with young talent before pursuing vets in their prime via trades. They managed their cap well, enabling them to sign Durant. They found a way to get DLO last summer and they obviously acquired him as an asset, not as a long-term player for the team - very forward looking and strategic. Finally, they're taking this opportunity with Thompson's ACL and Curry's hand injury to tank - taking care not to rush Thompson or Curry back into action. What does Rosas do? He trades up for Garland, whiffs on him and then takes a guy with a broken shot.
It's not hard to distinguish competence from ... the Wolves. :)
Let's not forget the Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut trade.
There were many questions about whether that was wise back in the day. Many had the Warriors as losers in that trade.
"Golden State is really banking on Bogut in a big way for this trade to make any sort of sense for the long haul. It's difficult to understand what the vision in the Warriors' front office is at this time."
Curry was the oft-injured player... Ellis was the perennial 21+ ppg gunner. Bogut was injured and not considered a game-changing dynamic player. But that trade was a lot more about fit and environment than anything else. Or, there's the firing of Mark Jackson after a couple of playoff runs.
The list of savvy or even competent moves goes on and on. They deserve all of it. Bad teams aren't owed anything other than more ping pong balls. And that's a loser mentality/strategy anyway.
All true, Abe. I'll agree that simply losing for sake of more ping pong balls is a losing strategy if that is the end in itself. The point is to optimize assets to produce options that can be used to substantially improve the team. It's about thinking several steps ahead with multiple scenarios. It's about being patient. For the Wolves right now, it means means maximizing valuable assets for next June's draft to produce multiple options, which could include trading up or trading out. That means putting a premium on evaluating the young players we have over winning - something the Wolves appear to be doing. Call that tanking if you want, but it's the smart thing to do. But it can't just be favoring evaluation and experimentation over winning the rest of this season. It also means trading Covington for multiple first round picks and, in my view, getting at least a somewhat protected lottery pick for Wiggins. It means taking all those assets and others into next June's draft with a multi-scenario plan for using those assets to improve the team. Russell will likely be available next June. Booker or Beal might be available. And who knows what other young high-upside talent will be available. Then there's Haliburton who I think would be a game-changer for the Wolves. He's likely going to be a top 3 pick.
Rather than simply attempting to maximize ping pong balls, the Wolves should be mapping out a multi-scenario strategy for next June's draft with an arsenal of assets consisting of their own high lottery pick, two or three additional 1st round picks received for Covington (and perhaps Wiggins), Culver, Layman and Gorgui's expiring deal. Instead, we read repeatedly that the Wolves "are relentlessly pursuing DLO" and that the Wolves are "desperately trying to get DLO." That's the mark of a losing organization - i.e., an organization that amateurishly gets locked into pursing at best a borderline all-star to the point where the whole world knows it and characterizes the pursuit as relentless and desperate. The only good news is that Rosas hasn't yet made any of the ridiculously dumb deals discussed in the media. We have to hope that Rosas is a lot smarter than he appeared to be last June. I'm not optimistic. But then again, I'm a Wolves fan so why would I be.
GS was wildly competent but...was also blessed with a bit of luck as well. They made some of their own luck but some of their "managing of the cap" to get Durant was a bit of fluke. They did a good job not overpaying Curry which was part of that but they were lucky that worked out. I'm not saying this to take away from what GS built I'm just saying they had some good fortune too and it should be mentioned.
Who "deserves" what could be a pretty lengthy philosophical discussion. For all we know GS could get a top pick and they end up being basically a bust. Would they "deserve" that? ;)