Would you trade 2017 Nets pick for Okafor?

[green_bballers13]

This blog needs trolling. Otherwise, we're just a bunch of Celtics fans agreeing with each other. We need a 76ers fan to keep us entertained.

[celticsclay]

I agree with that. These threads are certainly entertaining as evidenced by their length. I wonder if Okafor is a polarizing figure for every fan base or just our own. Ironically, our fan base is more split on him than Philly fans. If you look at their fan blog about 75% of the fans are tired of him and hope he gets traded for anything halfway decent.

[fantankerous]

How is clay the emotional one in this scenario? He made the point that one person reported it, and everyone else picked it up.

Brian Scalabrine just came up with a rumor re: Klay Thompson, and the whole country picked that rumor up too. It got a ton of publicity.

I'm not here on the Celtics blog trying to convince everyone that Klay Thompson was going to get traded here. Why are you so interested in supporting the claim that Okafor was coming to Boston?

Thank you for this and TP. I also don't get why we must accept the trade rumor deadline but insist on shooting down the more recent draft day rumors. Also, even if the trade deadline was true, the Nets pick was thought to probably end up 5th or 6th at that time (obviously with a very small chance of being a top 2 pick). What is so remarkable about us offering a 5th or 6th pick for Okafor in a weak draft? Sorry to ruffle your feathers.

the interesting thing is that the Brooklyn pick was more valuable at the deadline when we offered it in a package for okafor because it still had a chance of ending up 1st. Once the pick ended up 3rd in a 2 player draft it was significantly less valuable than the pick Philly turned down in February. And while chad ford had his own speculation as to what okafor was worth on draft night, there were no concrete reports that Philly was willing to move okafor for any of the speculated picks. In fact, I've read more reports that suggested Philly was leaning towards moving Noel and wasn't actively shopping okafor on draft night - because they couldn't get rid of a star prospect center until they were supremely confidently that Embiid would play.  It's why even this week it was reported that Philly is unlikely to move okafor right now.  They still need to see what they have with Embiid.

LB sorry I got to call you out with something that is blatantly false here. At the time of the trade deadline the Nets were 16-42.

The Suns had a worse record and were 14-44
The Twolves were 18-46 slightly better than the Nets.
The Pelicans were ahead by 6 with 22 wins.
The Knicks had 24 wins.
The Kings had 24 wins.
The Nuggets had 23 wins.

We have seen the saying, including by you many times, that the Nets were a competitive team with no reason to tank. At the trade deadline how many of those teams was it thought they could pass down the stretch? At best case scenario it seemed like they would stay behind the suns and get passed by the Twolves. There was certainly a fear that the Pelicans would shut down Davis (which they later did) or the Knicks would shut down Melo and the Nets could actually creep past them. Remember there was about 25 games left in the season at this point. So in the 5th slot the pick has an 8% chance of being the top pick. If a few more teams pass them it drops to 4% and then 1.9%. Personally I would rather have my choice of all the second level prospects than having an 8% chance (or worse) of a top pick but extremely likely to be forced to pick a guy that fell to me. Why you think that is good value is a bit beyond me.

This is revisionist history (excuse me, revisionist counterfactual) in the extreme. 

The most likely outcome at the trade deadline was the Nets finishing third worst.  All the more reason that trading the 2016 Nets pick for a garbage player like Okafor would have been a disaster.

[green_bballers13]

Garbage is strong. I think the Celtics would have had a tough decision if Jahlil fell to #6. I'm still not convinced that Danny would have picked him, however, as he and Stevens seem to place a premium on defense (besides Olynyk who is avg at best and Isaiah, who was a steal).

In a league where wing defenders are increasingly important, I prefer Smart over Okafor.

[celticsclay]

How is clay the emotional one in this scenario? He made the point that one person reported it, and everyone else picked it up.

Brian Scalabrine just came up with a rumor re: Klay Thompson, and the whole country picked that rumor up too. It got a ton of publicity.

I'm not here on the Celtics blog trying to convince everyone that Klay Thompson was going to get traded here. Why are you so interested in supporting the claim that Okafor was coming to Boston?

Thank you for this and TP. I also don't get why we must accept the trade rumor deadline but insist on shooting down the more recent draft day rumors. Also, even if the trade deadline was true, the Nets pick was thought to probably end up 5th or 6th at that time (obviously with a very small chance of being a top 2 pick). What is so remarkable about us offering a 5th or 6th pick for Okafor in a weak draft? Sorry to ruffle your feathers.

the interesting thing is that the Brooklyn pick was more valuable at the deadline when we offered it in a package for okafor because it still had a chance of ending up 1st. Once the pick ended up 3rd in a 2 player draft it was significantly less valuable than the pick Philly turned down in February. And while chad ford had his own speculation as to what okafor was worth on draft night, there were no concrete reports that Philly was willing to move okafor for any of the speculated picks. In fact, I've read more reports that suggested Philly was leaning towards moving Noel and wasn't actively shopping okafor on draft night - because they couldn't get rid of a star prospect center until they were supremely confidently that Embiid would play.  It's why even this week it was reported that Philly is unlikely to move okafor right now.  They still need to see what they have with Embiid.

LB sorry I got to call you out with something that is blatantly false here. At the time of the trade deadline the Nets were 16-42.

The Suns had a worse record and were 14-44
The Twolves were 18-46 slightly better than the Nets.
The Pelicans were ahead by 6 with 22 wins.
The Knicks had 24 wins.
The Kings had 24 wins.
The Nuggets had 23 wins.

We have seen the saying, including by you many times, that the Nets were a competitive team with no reason to tank. At the trade deadline how many of those teams was it thought they could pass down the stretch? At best case scenario it seemed like they would stay behind the suns and get passed by the Twolves. There was certainly a fear that the Pelicans would shut down Davis (which they later did) or the Knicks would shut down Melo and the Nets could actually creep past them. Remember there was about 25 games left in the season at this point. So in the 5th slot the pick has an 8% chance of being the top pick. If a few more teams pass them it drops to 4% and then 1.9%. Personally I would rather have my choice of all the second level prospects than having an 8% chance (or worse) of a top pick but extremely likely to be forced to pick a guy that fell to me. Why you think that is good value is a bit beyond me.

This is revisionist history (excuse me, revisionist counterfactual) in the extreme. 

The most likely outcome at the trade deadline was the Nets finishing third worst.  All the more reason that trading the 2016 Nets pick for a garbage player like Okafor would have been a disaster.

Wasn't it actually 4th or 5th? This entire board was resigned, and justifiably so, that the Nets would not outsuck the suns. It also seemed unlikely they would stay behind the Twolves. I can pull up tons of threads from February of everyone saying "we can still get a good player at 6 or 7."

[LarBrd33]

The main reason that pick had value when we tried and failed to trade it for okafor was the tiny chance it ended up Ben Simmons.  Hence it had more trade value than on draft day when it was the 3rd pick in a 2 player draft.  All the guys in the 3-8 range were interchange.  The pick was more valuable when it had a tiny shot at ending up top 2.

[Moranis]

Garbage is strong. I think the Celtics would have had a tough decision if Jahlil fell to #6. I'm still not convinced that Danny would have picked him, however, as he and Stevens seem to place a premium on defense (besides Olynyk who is avg at best and Isaiah, who was a steal).

In a league where wing defenders are increasingly important, I prefer Smart over Okafor.

Okafor wasn't in the Smart draft

[celticsclay]

Garbage is strong. I think the Celtics would have had a tough decision if Jahlil fell to #6. I'm still not convinced that Danny would have picked him, however, as he and Stevens seem to place a premium on defense (besides Olynyk who is avg at best and Isaiah, who was a steal).

In a league where wing defenders are increasingly important, I prefer Smart over Okafor.

Okafor wasn't in the Smart draft

Nobody said he was... Boats work in water. Are we just stating random facts now?

[green_bballers13]

Haha my mistake. Maybe too much turkey.

Smart showed us again today that he impacts the game in so many ways. If he could only hit a couple more shots per game. His shooting stroke doesn't looks broken to me.

[green_bballers13]

The main reason that pick had value when we tried and failed to trade it for okafor was the tiny chance it ended up Ben Simmons.  Hence it had more trade value than on draft day when it was the 3rd pick in a 2 player draft.  All the guys in the 3-8 range were interchange.  The pick was more valuable when it had a tiny shot at ending up top 2.

So are you sticking with Bulpett and "other sources", or did you find something more credible?

[BitterJim]

Garbage is strong. I think the Celtics would have had a tough decision if Jahlil fell to #6. I'm still not convinced that Danny would have picked him, however, as he and Stevens seem to place a premium on defense (besides Olynyk who is avg at best and Isaiah, who was a steal).

In a league where wing defenders are increasingly important, I prefer Smart over Okafor.

Okafor wasn't in the Smart draft

Nobody said he was... Boats work in water. Are we just stating random facts now?

green_bballers13 did in the comment he was replying to...

I think the Celtics would have had a tough decision if Jahlil fell to #6. I'm still not convinced that Danny would have picked him, however,

We had the #6 pick in the Smart draft, it's pretty clear that he confused Embiid and Okafor on that comment

[celticsclay]

Garbage is strong. I think the Celtics would have had a tough decision if Jahlil fell to #6. I'm still not convinced that Danny would have picked him, however, as he and Stevens seem to place a premium on defense (besides Olynyk who is avg at best and Isaiah, who was a steal).

In a league where wing defenders are increasingly important, I prefer Smart over Okafor.

Okafor wasn't in the Smart draft

Nobody said he was... Boats work in water. Are we just stating random facts now?

green_bballers13 did in the comment he was replying to...

I think the Celtics would have had a tough decision if Jahlil fell to #6. I'm still not convinced that Danny would have picked him, however,

We had the #6 pick in the Smart draft, it's pretty clear that he confused Embiid and Okafor on that comment

I guess I got confused because we were talking about what pick we would end up this past draft and stating that there is a good chance it would have came in at 6 at the trade deadline. So I assumed he meant we were trading that pick for Okafor and it would have been tough to not do that trade. Apparently it is not. So apologies to moranis and a TP to him and everyone else for the trouble.

[green_bballers13]

Yeah I was wrong. Okafor was in the Rozier draft. We never had a shot at him.

I'm psyched that we didn't end up trading the picks to Charlotte for Justise. I much prefer Jaylen.

I don't think it is unreasonable to really like Jahlil Okafor from a fantasy perspective. He has developed a low post game at a young age.

As a coach, he would drive me nuts. Lack of lateral speed + lack of effort on defense= Coach killing.

[Eddie20]

Who's being more exposed in this tread, Okafor or LB?

[LarBrd33]

The main reason that pick had value when we tried and failed to trade it for okafor was the tiny chance it ended up Ben Simmons.  Hence it had more trade value than on draft day when it was the 3rd pick in a 2 player draft.  All the guys in the 3-8 range were interchange.  The pick was more valuable when it had a tiny shot at ending up top 2.

So are you sticking with Bulpett and "other sources", or did you find something more credible?

got anything disputing it?  Reach out to Bulpett and ask him about it.