Trade Evaluation

[jay]

Then going forward, yes their own picks wont be that valuable as they start getting better, but it took OKC a couple of years to get good, so their pick wont be bad.  Plus they have the 3 mediocre picks from the trade that will start kicking in.  They may be able to package picks in future drafts to get help.

[bucknersrevenge]

On Philly, my thought is that they have definitely become a more dangerous team no doubt. But it will be interesting to see how that team adapts to now becoming a more halfcourt team than they've been in the past. Holiday and Turner have been all "get the ball and run" for a while now. You had Iggy. You had Young playing the small 4. That team has been running forever. Now they're gonna have to learn to slow down. Execute in the halfcourt. Enter the ball properly to the post and then play off a big man. For a team that's been all open court I wonder how long it will take them to adapt.

And somewhere Paul is breathing a sigh of relief in not having to guard Iggy or be guarded by him anymore. Instead he gets JRich. Philly has a ton of size now to throw at team but Boston now walks into the position of being the smaller quicker team. And now they will have the young guys to press the ballcarrier more since they may not run as often. Philly is definitely better but now we have advantages on them that we can exploit.

[RMO]

Orlando has an extremely young front line going forward with Harkless, Nicholson, and Vucevic.

For at least one year, they have Nelson and Aflallo at guard, and players like Harrington, Hedo, and Davis at forward. 

They will be bad, so for the next two drafts, they will have a shot at getting a premier player. 

In 2014, Harrington and Hedo come off the books or they can be bought out.  If they can land a pair of really good young players (a wing and a pg?) in the next two drafts, they will be a big free agent destination.

Getting superstar players this way has worked out so well for them in the past.

[317]

see i get how Orlando can rebuild, but they should have been able to get a better pick and dump a bad contract. at least get a better young player then they did, what they took in is far to poor. also when is the Lakers pick, 2019? didn't they trade 13, 15 and 17 to Phoenix?

[action781]

Flying under the radar here is that Denver just landed themselves a premier wing defender to matchup on Kobe and Durant and sent out 2 very mediocre-OK players to get him.

[Chris]

Flying under the radar here is that Denver just landed themselves a premier wing defender to matchup on Kobe and Durant and sent out 2 very mediocre-OK players to get him.

While opening up minutes for better players than the guys they sent out.

This deal was just terrific for every team but the Magic.

[dmopower]

Orlando got more for Howard than Cleveland did for James.

[sofutomygaha]

Orlando got more for Howard than Cleveland did for James.

That's a sneaky good point. For a while it looked like they were headed down the same road.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Orlando got more for Howard than Cleveland did for James.

That's a sneaky good point. For a while it looked like they were headed down the same road.

Difference is, they had TIME with Howard and knew he wanted out seasons ago, they had more opportunities to get more than Clev did... Brinda was a free agent... they chose to take garbage while Clev had NO choice...

[Mencius]

Yeah, I truly don't understand this.  There's no real cap relief, as Afflalo is getting paid $31 million over 4 years, and Harrington is guaranteed at least 50% of his salary in the next two years after this one.  They're not getting any high-end prospects, and they're not getting any likely lottery picks.

So Orlando got a decent player on a long-term contract, a below-average player coming off of surgery, a couple of mediocre prospects, and some late draft picks.  For the best center in the world.  In a trade also involving the second best center in the world.

I don't get it.

They must really, really regard Bynum as NOT the kind of guy you build a team around, in spite of him being the 2nd best center in the world and only 24.  I can understand that.  I think Bynum is a real beta, but he's going to get paid like an alpha, and they'll expect alpha performance (and perhaps leadership).  He's got all the physical tools, although his injury history could give pause, but I don't think he's tough mentally.  I definitely don't regard this as a slam dunk for Philly, and kind of see why Orlando didn't want to build around him.  Still, the package they did receive is pathetic. 

I read a funny tweet from someone who said, and I'm paraphrasing, that Denver got a way better deal for Melo than Orlando got for Howard, but Denver also got a better deal for Howard than Orlando did.  That's just sad for Orlando, and makes me regard Denver's GM as a pretty shrewd guy.  He offloaded their two worst contracts on Orlando.

[Mencius]

Orlando has proven to be a destination in the past.

In two years, they will be young, have cap space, warm weather, and no state income tax.

If their roster is Harkless, Nicholson, Vucevic, Shabazz Muhammed, and Jabari Parker or something close to that:

Who wouldnt sign there?

Well, that's clearly their thinking.  They'll need some luck in the lottery to get the likes of Parker and Muhammed.  I kind of like this strategy better than going with Bynum. Honestly, without a Kobe and Fisher to try to keep that guy's head straight and focused, I'm just not sure how he'll turn out, and I wouldn't want to give him a max contract (if I were Orlando) in the hope that he'll get it mentally.

Still, though, if you were Orlando, and your strategy was to dump salary and get picks, you'd have hoped for better than lottery protected picks.  Late first rounders don't make for a quick rebuild.  Now, their own firsts will be plenty good if they are pathetic for a couple of years, and I kind of suspect they will be, seeing as that seems to be their plan.