http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--sources--kevin-garnett--doc-rivers-trade-may-come-down-to-clippers-surrendering-two-first-round-draft-picks-to-celtics-030159443.html
So now according to Woj Danny has backed off of his demand they take Terry or Lee and instead is pushing for 2 firsts in addition to Jordan.
NO. Just no. That is a terrible return. People were talking about getting at least 1 first for Doc alone, so the rest of the deal would be DJ and a first for KG? Thats highway robbery.
The salary cap flexibility we could get by moving one or two of Terry/Lee/Bass would be far more useful for us as a club going down the line than a late first rounder in the 20-30 range.
I'd rather have the first-round pick than dumping Terry or Lee. I want there to be some second-round picks thrown in, as well. Jordan, two firsts, and two seconds sounds reasonable to me for what has a good chance of being a one-year rental.
I prefer an extra first rounder to dumping Terry/Lee as well.
The picks are nice, but realistically unless we get pretty lucky with either the Clippers sucking (not likely if the get Paul back since after KG goes they can sign another big name) or we manage to find a steal at the back end (they exist, but its hit or miss), then we are better off moving some of our worse contracts so that we can bring in younger talent that fits better with our rebuild.
Now if Danny is confident he can move Bass/Terry/Lee on their own for expiring deals (nothing else, just to get them off the books) then fine take the picks. But barring that the flexibility is more valuable to us.
Rebuilding is about collecting assets and having flexibility. The late first are nice, but not exactly the assets that we are going to be able to use as leverage in a future deal (they are more like trade kickers).
Do you know the best way to bring in younger talent? Draft them. I think some people seriously undervalue late first-round picks.
Given a choice between Jordan, Bledsoe, and no draft picks or Jordan and two firsts, I would find the picks to be the more attractive package, although I would want some second round picks as well.
I too think people are undervaluing late draft picks.
KG was originally brought in for a combination of mid-to-late first rounders, a package built around Big Al (15th) with Ryan Gomes (50th), Gerald Green (18th), Telfair (13th), along with a draft pick and an expiring contract.
Then you have dark horse contenders like the Indiana Pacers and Memphis Grizzlies who are built mostly around non-lottery picks. David West (18th), Granger (18th), Hibbert (17th), Stephenson (40th), Gasol (48th), Tony Allen (25th), Randolph (19th), Tayshaun Prince (23rd).
James Harden was traded for Lamb (13th) and Kevin Martin (26th) along with future picks.
Celtics moved up to get the 13th pick in 2003, by swapping picks 16 and 20 for picks 13 and 27.
Houston moved up to the 7th pick in 2001, by trading away picks 13, 18, and 23 in that same draft.
So you can even use a collection of later picks to move up and grab a Paul George (10th), Steph Curry (7th), Joakim Noah (9th), Andrew Bynum (10th), or one of the many non-top 5 lottery picks that turned into players you could build a franchise around.
And while the success rate of landing a quality piece when drafting in that range is much lower, if you have multiple picks it gets a lot easier to nab a quality player (though it's still possible to completely whiff).
So I think a collection of mid-to-late first round picks could be very valuable.
Topic: The Celtic-Clipper trade talk (merged) - Clippers back out. (Read 132537 times)