So would you have rather traded for Isaiah or had a top 8-12 pick?

[krumeto]

I'd still go the Ainge route:
- get IT with a late 1st rounder of which you have plenty. IT is on such a reasonable contract that you can always flip him for the same or better.
- in case he helps the team get to the playoffs, package a tonne of picks (cause we have more than a tonne of those) trying to move up. Chances are if you overpay, you will get a deal done.

There was absolutely no guarantee IT would be available later. With that contract and the situation in PHO, somebody else would have given up a pick to get him.

Now, if Ainge had not caught Charlotte's management in a minor case of dementia, we would have had Winslow AND IT, and a lot less 1st rounders. The discussion would then be if Winslow is worth it.

MJ did not agree (still cannot believe it) , Riley would never agree. Well, stuff happens. Still, it was not a bad plan.

You make some very good points and they are all true, especially about Charlotte's insanity and Danny's plain bad luck. Although I think Danny could have made a handshake deal with his buddy McDonough in Phoenix for IT after the season, he Suns may well have dealt IT to someone else given the contract situation. Good points, TP.

If we use hindsight, what would you prefer more....

1) Acquiring IT, making the playoffs.
2) Missing the playoffs, acquiring Justise Winslow

In this scenario, it comes down to:
IT+ Rozier and the playoff experience of the rest of the team (for what that is worth)
vs.
Winslow + Cavs pick in 2016.

I'd go with Winslow, but it is close. To me it comes down to the highest potential guy, in addition to having 2 potentially core players at different positions in Smart and Winslow on the same development path.

It should be noted, that I still do not like the Rozier pick. Had Ainge picked one of my draft favorites, I would have had other opinion.

It is close due to IT's contract. For the production he gives, that is superb value for money.

I also have no idea what going to the playoffs mean for our current young players. Some would say it is important, some - that it is not. I just have no idea.

[No Nickname]

Who's to say Winslow will be that great anyway?  Justin Anderson (Mavs got him in the high teens) looked much better than Winslow in the Summer League. And as someone who saw every Virginia game last year Anderson is a stud who broke his finger in the middle of an All American-type year. Then had his appendix removed.  And still came back a week later to score 19 in the NCAAs.

So the C's could have gotten IT and gotten a better player than Winslow (if they had drafted Anderson at 16).

In either case I liked getting IT and think we might like our own draft picks much better than Winslow anyway. Rozier, Mickey, and Hunter could all be solid players.

[LilRip]

i think i would've opted for the Justise route. I think Smart-Winslow would've been an interesting core, and we still probably would've ended up with Hunter too.

I like IT. I'm glad he's on the team. I like his attitude and I like watching him play. But if Miami offered us Winslow for IT4, i'd probably bite.

[Big333223]

Knowing everything we know now, I still make the Thomas trade. Winslow has a ton of potential and if they hadn't made the trade, the Celtics would likely have had a shot at any even higher prospect, but we don't know who that would've been and since no one from that draft has played a single NBA game yet, we still don't know what any of them will turn out to be.

Meanwhile, Thomas brings something the team desperately needed and we got him for next to nothing. A good deal is always a good deal.

[Endless Paradise]

Isaiah Thomas worth a top 2 pick? Holy homerism.