I was p---ed when I initially saw the protections on the Lakers pick. I figured LA would stink and end up with the 1st pick, and we'd be SOL. Now that we see it's the tenth pick, Danny's insistence on the 2-3 protection looks to be another master stroke on his resume. I remember hearing DA on the radio after the trade and I almost spit out my coffee when he said it was the Celtics who insisted on the protections, but it turns out he was right. I've been a fan of Ainge since the start, but what he's done over the past few years is truly unbelievable
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I was pretty obvious that the 2-5 protection was for both teams. The sixers wanted to protect themselves in case the pick landed at #1 while the celts protected themselves in case it landed at anything worse that #5.
Of course, the kings may end up in the same range at the lakers pick this year but as it turns out, Tatum is a beast so that pick is gravy anyway.
The only protection the Sixers wanted was 1. Ainge picked 2-3. There's no chance that Philly is happy with the way it played out now that they have 10. While you're right that the SAC pick might end up in the same ballpark, it has a chance of being much higher which is all you can ask for at this point. It's a small thing, but it's something everyone questioned at the time. I'm sure you can find plenty of posts on here that questioned why the protections were so restrictive.
As for Tatum, he's a compete stud, but that doesn't mean I don't want the SAC pick to be as high as possible. Maybe I'm greedy, but simply wining the trade is not enough for me; I crave evisceration.