Hell no. People need to stop making posts with their [dang] emotions and think practically about this deal
We have.
KILL THE DEAL.
Explain to me what's practical about keeping and injured aging ball hogging point guard, a role player, both of whom will stunt our young development, a bench big and a pick that may or may not pan out as opposed to a young all star point guard? I'll wait
I have - please go search some of my posts.
I understand why the deal was made. But let's not gloss over things, shall we?
Irving and IT were, on the court, essentially the same player last year. On the floor they're both shooters who play zero defense with decent but not great passing skills. IT is currently injured and is older. We don't know how the injury impacts him long term. We do know his contract is coming up and I've repeatedly said that resigning IT was a massive risk. I don't expect his game to age particularly well. That's the attraction of getting Irving. But If you want to put all the risk on IT's age, you also have to consider the risk that Kyrie was made better by playing with the greatest player of this generation, has said some very stupid things and caused a locker room problem in the playoffs last year. Straight up I'd take Kyrie of course.
But this isn't straight up, is it?
Crowder is decent player with a very, very good contract. Whether or not you think he'll hinder the development of the youth on our roster isn't really relevant. He has value around the league and that's what has to be considered. If I were Danny I'd have planned on keeping him until the ASB to give Tatum a bit more time to develop and then moving him for another asset - a rebounding big or even just another decent pick.
You have no idea what Zizic will be. He was widely considered to be worthy of a (late) lottery pick this draft. You can't dismiss him as a "bench big". He has the value of a top 20 pick and that's again what you value him as in this trade.
And then you really go off the deep end. A pick that "may or may not turn out"? Seriously? You make it sound like a protected 2nd rounder. That pick is quite likely to be a top 5 pick in what appears to be a very good draft. That's the kind of asset that could have brought guys similar in talent to Irving to this team. Again, it's the value of the pick that counts when evaluating the trade at this junction. If used, that player may not pan out. It also may turn out the be the next Larry Bird or Michael Jordan. Breaking it down simply, a top 3 pick has over a 50% chance of making an All-Star game - more so in what appears to be a decent draft. It's not something to be hand-waived away.
As I said, I get the Irving trade. A core of Hayward, Irving, Tatum, Brown should be competitive for years. I just think it was an overpay to begin with. I'm not an Irving fan and there's an abundance of decent PGs in the league right now. I think we could do better for cheaper and thus...KILL THE DEAL.