Real GM Article....Great In Depth Opinions

[Casperian]

Just to make it clear: I don´t believe in such a trade, either, and just like the rest of you, I thought this was a fairly poor analysis of our off-season. All I wanted to say is that trading expirers for a protected Draft pick is not completely out of the question, imo.
The Bobcats trade proposal seems very unlikely to me, either.

[CoachBo]

I don't think that kind of a deal is out of the question, but this analysis is weak and pretty unremarkable - as are a lot of things RealGM presents as "analysis."

[BballTim]

If the Celtics want a pick so bad why would they trade for a quickly becoming stiff like Mohammed and his salary to get one? Over the next few years, teams with bad financial situations will give you a first round pick for $2-3 million. Heck, Sacramento, Memphis, and Oklahoma City all have two first rounders this year and will probably want to sell their later first rounder. Phoenix might sell their pick if they stay at 14th.

  He's not talking about buying a pick. He's talking about trading for a protected pick by a weaker team in the hopes that it turns out to be a top pick in a few years. Kind of like the Denver pick we had that we could have rolled over into the pick they used on Carmelo.

[cordobes]

Why would the Bobcats trade a non-protected pick to drop some salary? When has that happened? The Pistons traded Thorpe, he was still a productive 15/8 starter at that time. Anyway, there are plenty of teams in a better position than the Celtics to make that kind of deals - especially those not in luxury tax territory.

We´ve traded one of these picks back to Minny in the KG trade. and the Clippers also have one of Minny`s picks. The Utah Jazz have the Knicks first-rounder next year. As I´ve said, the Pistons had the Darko pick from Memphis. If we add a valuable piece (Walker, Tony or Scal), it could happen. Value is relative during an economy crisis.

An expiring contract is an expiring contract. If the Bobcats are in financial trouble, it`s absolutely possible that such a trade could happen, imo. If I were the Bobcats GM (everyone wants to be like Mike^^), and I would consider trading my first for expiring contracts, I´d rather trade it to a contending team than to another troubled team, cause I don`t compete with contending teams in the next years. <--that`s not really smart, but who said that NBA GMs have to be smart?

Teams trade unprotected picks all the time. But not merely as a sweetener to unload 2 years of Nazr Mohammed contract. Besides, why would the Bobcats assume the Celtics would be a contender and them a trouble team in a few years? I mean, that's just nonsensical, it doesn't compute with the trade rationale.

And it`s not always about the "better package". Or do you think Memphis got the best package possible in the Gasol trade?

Yes I do.

However, that's beyond the point I was trying to make: when we're talking about trades whose 1st factor is to cut salaries, the best trading partners are teams bellow the luxury tax threshold - because to them eating that salary is going to be less costly therefore they're willing to make a smaller price.

[Casperian]

Why would the Bobcats trade a non-protected pick to drop some salary? When has that happened? The Pistons traded Thorpe, he was still a productive 15/8 starter at that time. Anyway, there are plenty of teams in a better position than the Celtics to make that kind of deals - especially those not in luxury tax territory.

We´ve traded one of these picks back to Minny in the KG trade. and the Clippers also have one of Minny`s picks. The Utah Jazz have the Knicks first-rounder next year. As I´ve said, the Pistons had the Darko pick from Memphis. If we add a valuable piece (Walker, Tony or Scal), it could happen. Value is relative during an economy crisis.

An expiring contract is an expiring contract. If the Bobcats are in financial trouble, it`s absolutely possible that such a trade could happen, imo. If I were the Bobcats GM (everyone wants to be like Mike^^), and I would consider trading my first for expiring contracts, I´d rather trade it to a contending team than to another troubled team, cause I don`t compete with contending teams in the next years. <--that`s not really smart, but who said that NBA GMs have to be smart?

Teams trade unprotected picks all the time. But not merely as a sweetener to unload 2 years of Nazr Mohammed contract. Besides, why would the Bobcats assume the Celtics would be a contender and them a trouble team in a few years? I mean, that's just nonsensical, it doesn't compute with the trade rationale.

As I said, I was trying to make a general point about trading expirers for Draft Picks. If we´re talking about this trade proposal specifically, I´d agree that it is unlikely to happen. But again, I´ve seen far more nonsensical trades in the NBA.

To summarize: You are right, I was wrong.
I was just trying to think like an incompetent NBA GM, to rationalize such a trade away. Another example would be that the Bobcats (or any other team) don´t like the media`s and fans` response when they trade their pick to another troubled franchise. This, opposed to all the nonsensical trades I´ve seen, rarely happens. <---Again, just one of many possibilities of how the mind of an NBA GM could work.

Yes I do.

Uh oh, I disagree. And I´ve heard that several GMs were allegedly surprised by that trade, too.

However, that's beyond the point I was trying to make: when we're talking about trades whose 1st factor is to cut salaries, the best trading partners are teams bellow the luxury tax threshold - because to them eating that salary is going to be less costly therefore they're willing to make a smaller price.

That "smaller price" is also a Draft Pick, normally. But I get what you mean. I wasn´t even thinking about that.
I was arguing about an abstract situation and was trying to come up with an example of when such a trade "could" happen. My whole point was that there are situations where we could go for a Draft Pick. Granted, the example was pretty bad, but I thought it was obvious what I mean.