I still can't believe that Ainge got hung up on Crowder in a Jimmy Butler deal. You don't pass on these opportunities for stars because they don't come around often, especially two way stars. He would have fit so perfectly into this offense!! It just sucks seeing Crowder struggle and thinking that IT could have had Butler help guide them to the 2nd round. Let's say the Brooklyn pick falls at 3 this summer. Now not only are you in the same position you were at the deadline, but you have a Jae Crowder who has clearly declined in value after this playoffs, injury or not. People think that Crowder has been struggling with injuries, which he most likely is, but Atlanta has exposed his flaws immensely. They've forced him left and not allowed him to get a head of steam. Without these Crowder has struggled really bad because those are huge parts of his game. Now we have a pick that has significantly depreciated because I'm sure the Bulls believed that it had a chance at the 1st overall pick. Now we actually have a better chance to get the 4th or 5th pick. So now even if we were to trade for him we would probably have to trade more because of all our assets have depreciated.
It's good to bet on yourself like Jimmy, but sometimes the market doesn't always reward you. Too many factors.
I'm sure Danny will lowball the Bulls for Jimmy. The chemistry issues they have probably make the Bulls all the more desperate to make a move, so I could see Danny remaining by his offers, whatever they were.
That's true, but you also have to look at it from this angle. There is a huge market for a player like Jimmy. For example, if a team like Philly suddenly becomes aggressive to reverse their rebuild with their assets of Okafor, Noel, Saric, Embiid, and picks then we can easily be outbidded on pretty much any player on the market. Would Chicago rather take a packaged centered around Crowder, or a package centered around Okafor or Noel and picks?? Think about this. Philly lands 1 and grabs Ben Simmons. They send over Saric, Covington, Embiid, and a pick for Butler. They can clearly send over Okafor and other players. Here's a quick rebuild though. They send Okafor for our pick 3, Avery Bradley, and Rozier. They take Kris Dunn with 3.
So here's their starting lineup:
PG: Kris Dunn
SG: Avery Bradley
SF: Jimmy Butler
PF: Ben Simmons
C: Nerlens Noel
Now tell me that wouldn't be a dangerous team in the East. The scary part is that they could easily do that.
Sorry guys it's just interesting to think about how to build some of these teams.