We are too caught up in the number of picks and not considering the value of those picks.
A 1-3
B 4-10
C 11-20
D 21-30
Actual value varies by draft and every once in a while 1 is a generational talent by itself.
Gobert trade was arguably 4 D picks based solely on current expectation. The fact that only the 4th pick has Top 5 protection is the part that makes it weird. If they actually took the last 4 players they drafted 20-30, I don’t think anyone would blink an eye. But it DRuss starts videotaping Gobert talking about his side hustle, those 4 picks lack the protections to make them reasonable. Throw in Walker Kessler as the centerpiece of the trade and you have a lot of little pieces for a DPOY anchor. 8 years from now we will know if this panned out for Ainge, but more picks is better when you are looking for the guy.
Mitchell to the Knicks is different.I’d expect Mitchell to move us up from being a B/C pick to a C/D pick. Most likely C. I’m alright trading 5 C picks for Mitchell and the same reason Ainge isn’t willing to accept 5 C picks. Mitchell is the kind of player that should trade for a solid B pick and a rotation player. Depending on the draft, you probably wouldn’t trade 3 C picks for a B. OKC traded 3 deferred C/Ds for a borderline B/C. The heavy protections make it impossible for those to be better than C/D.
But I started that those A/B/C/D categories are by draft. 2023 on paper looks like
1AA
2-5 A
6-10 B+
11-15 B
16-20 B-
21-30 C
31-60 D
I might be loose in these categories, but the logic is that a 2nd rd pick in 2023 has pro forma value of a 20-30 pick in any other draft. The 21-30 picks in 2023 at Rookie scale should have tremendous value. I’d expect at least 1 and up to 3 of our conditional picks to vest.
If it were me, I’m checking back in at the trade deadline to see where our fortunes lie. We can’t give unconditional picks without knowing Mitchell just solves a problem the way Gobert does for Minnesota. And I probably wouldn’t give up 3 B picks for Mitchell in an ordinary draft.
We will not know those conditional picks values until the end of the season though, so, they could be B-type picks or they could be 2024 picks (too soon to tell).
Happy to revisit a Mitchell trade in a year when he is 26 and our 2023 lotto ticket value has been determined.