I'd much prefer to trade #31 and #35 combined for a lottery protected first next year.
I agree it would be good to space things out. However, I think there are some CBA reasons to keep #16 and #23.
Firstly, it wouldn't surprise me to see #31 get more money than #23. 2nd rounders have no slotted contracts, unlike first rounders who are slotted. In some years, this has benefitted teams, who've handed out contracts at or just above the minimum. Last year, however, Jordan Mickey got more at pick #33 in years 1-3 than RJ did at #28. With the cap increasing by such a huge amount, I expect that trend to continue, and our pick at #31 could easily demand, and receive, the money given to picks in the early 20s.
Secondly, the CBA will likely be renegotiated this winter. The cap will have doubled since the CBA was signed. However, rookie slot deals will have increased only 19% during the same period. While I don't expect slot deals to double, I do expect that they will increase pretty substantially, so pick #23 next year could take up a good deal more salary space than this year, and probably take up as much, or more, than pick #16 this year.
We have too many picks, I agree. But I think 16 and 23 are really good picks, and I'd rather not play kick the can with them.