VCoug wrote:NardDogNation wrote:VCoug wrote:NardDogNation wrote:blkexec wrote:Knicks1969 wrote:Philly and Boston have multiple picks in this draft. Boston would love to add a big like Okafor to play next to Olynyck. I know for a fact Philly is aiming for Russell. Those two teams might be excellent trade partners
And if Phil is smart....he should already have a trading package for all potential picks that involves Boston, Philly and anybody else with multiple picks. If he's scraping the barrel for D league non drafted talent.....then he should and probably doing the same with draft pick scenarios. Thats the right thing to do.....Explore all options. I don't think we had any GM's that did a good job of that in the past. Phil seems like the type that will explore everything....
If Phil were smart, he would've held out on trading Tyson Chandler for a better package (i.e. for OKC's 21st and 29th picks in 2014). If Phil were smart, he would've started the process of adding non-guaranteed contracts the season before to make a play for Pau Gasol and/or Aaron Afflalo this past offseason. But Phil ain't that smart as a rookie Team President and did none of that. Even these D-League prospects you're touting are probably guys that some no-name in the organization pushed for and Phil obliged. We've been finding the like before Phil even arrived (see Jeremy Lin, Chris Copeland, etc.)
I feel physical pain everytime this is brought up.
I remember being maligned along with you and another poster (I think either smackeddog or Gustavballer) for thinking the same before the draft. Considering that Timofey Mozgov garnered two first round picks and even Omer "butterfinger" Asik netted a first round pick, the 21st and 29th picks should've been a pittance for Tyson. That trade may have been one of the worst we've made post-Eddy Curry. And what's even more depressing is that Mitch McGary (the 21st pick) looks like a player and would have easily been a starter on our team.
Hell, OKC clearly didn't want their second 1st round pick; they used it on Huestis so they could send him to the D-League. He was a borderline 2nd round talent, definitely not 1st round. Worst case scenario, we would have had to include Shumpert. And we wouldn't be paying Calderon $7M/year for another two seasons after this one.
Truth be told, I thought the same thing of Mitch McGary. Were there any mock drafts that projected him any higher than early/mid second round? With Steven Adams injured, he did seem to validate himself as a first round talent but I definitely thought it was a stretch at the time. With Rodney Hood, Kyle Anderson, KJ McDaniels,Shabazz Napier and Spencer Dinwiddie on the board, I definitely would've gone in a different direction. But them picking him where they did says a lot about how much they "valued" the pick.
As for Shumpert, he and that 2nd round pick we got from Dallas should've been parlayed into Aaron Afflalo. The asking price was so ridiculously low that I have to believe this package was superior and that Phil was not doing his homework before the draft. Had it happened as part of a three team trade with Dallas, at least then we could hang our hat on something from the Tyson Chandler deal.
