jezzerinho wrote:If Miami contends it will have nothing to do with Clayton. Rookies are almost always negatives in the first year. Even top 15 players like Durant.
After years and years of Orlando drafting high, you'd have thought people would notice this fact. Rookies are terrible. The only archetype that really provides anything of use at all are the very occasional upperclassman shooters with some defence, who can come in and provide some bench firepower on a contending roster.
In general though, rookies suck and they dont help at all. They're development projects for future seasons.
Rookies are indeed terrible. That is objective. (it is very, VERY rare for a rookie to be a PER=15 player, meaning 98%+ of all rookies are below league average).
To the Bane trade, I think the draft-pick loss of four assets who will become the-next-Anthony/da Silva/Howard - type players is that such players are a dime a dozen on the free agent market.
My point: Orlando will be able to replace the rookies the team does not acquire with positive-value veterans. In general, vets are not terrible. After all.
...
Let's look at this year. Pick #16 will be for a player like Derik Queen. Well: a player like Jericho Sims is better to be had at basically the same salary line.
If the Magic is playing on adding a wing, we are talking about Sam Merrill as a FA over Nique Clifford as a rookie. And on and on.
Rookies suck. Low-end Vets do not always suck.