The Nets are bad. They may get the #1 pick for the Celtics

[El Turco]

The nets are so bad right now it kinda frustrates me...how do you trade away all of your first round picks for a bunch of washed up guys

irony of cleveland fan asking this..

Well the Cavs didn't trade as many picks as the Nets did and they had to because they were desperate to try to win to keep LeBron...and none of the picks the Cavs traded turned into top 10 picks

you are going to have to go back little farther than lebron era to understand the irony

[Michael Lucky]

After seeing them play last night, i wouldn't at all be shocked if they do get a top 4 pick. The Nets offense was just horrendous to watch. Unfortunately for the Celtics, the bottom teams will likely get purposely worse like they do every year in order to start their own tank. Having said that it will still end up being a good pick for them.

[AJ37]

If I'm the celtics, I'm throwing the games against the Nets. Unprotected picks? Noob move.

[Brandon-Clyde]

The nets are so bad right now it kinda frustrates me...how do you trade away all of your first round picks for a bunch of washed up guys

irony of cleveland fan asking this..

Well the Cavs didn't trade as many picks as the Nets did and they had to because they were desperate to try to win to keep LeBron...and none of the picks the Cavs traded turned into top 10 picks

Stepien rule

The NBA prohibits teams from trading first-round draft picks in successive seasons. The rule was put in place in response to Ted Stepien's disastrous run as owner and de facto general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

During Stepien's reign, the Cavaliers made a practice of trading future draft picks for marginal veteran players. His most notable deal sent a 1982 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Dan Ford and the 22nd overall pick

That 1982 pick wound up being the first overall selection, which the Lakers used to select future hall-of-famer James Worthy.

Some other notable players who were selected with picks Stepien traded away:

Sam Perkins (1984, 4th overall)
Derek Harper (1983, 11th overall)
Roy Tarpley (1986, 7th overall)
Detlef Schrempf (1985, 8th overall)
Dennis Rodman (1986, 27th overall)

http://basketball.about.com/od/collegebasketballglossary/g/ted-stepien-rule.htm

[knicksNOTslick]

It's the curse of being in New York. The Nets didn't know what they were getting themselves into. It happened to the Knicks and they didn't learn from it. They tried the "win now" approach because they thought they had to be better than the Knicks right away to win away fans. Big mistake. Not protecting picks is straight from the Isiah Thomas playbook. At least make sure you have top 3 protection even if you never projected to be that bad for that year.

[FakeScreenName123]

me every time i look at tankathon.com:

[IAmTheBest]

this fuqing sucks

the nets are going to gift a lottery draft pick to the nemesis of the rest of the atlantic division.

even the knicks havent done something this stupid

[Manute Lol]

If I'm the celtics, I'm throwing the games against the Nets. Unprotected picks? Noob move.

Uhh...I'm not sure you have grasped the situation. The Celtics make their pick better by beating the Nets, which I expect them to do quite mercilessly.

Also, teams that expect to be good still trade unprotected picks. The Warriors traded unprotected 1st round picks (2014 and 2017) to the Jazz in order to dump the Biedrins and Jefferson contracts before they signed Iguodala. New Jersey's mistake was in grossly overestimating how good they would be after the deals were made.

[AJ37]

If I'm the celtics, I'm throwing the games against the Nets. Unprotected picks? Noob move.

Uhh...I'm not sure you have grasped the situation. The Celtics make their pick better by beating the Nets, which I expect them to do quite mercilessly.

I have no idea what I was even thinking.. long day.

[Latrell]

this fuqing sucks

the nets are going to gift a lottery draft pick to the nemesis of the rest of the atlantic division.

even the knicks havent done something this stupid

Actually, they have.

[Eyeamok]

irony of cleveland fan asking this..

Well the Cavs didn't trade as many picks as the Nets did and they had to because they were desperate to try to win to keep LeBron...and none of the picks the Cavs traded turned into top 10 picks

Stepien rule

The NBA prohibits teams from trading first-round draft picks in successive seasons. The rule was put in place in response to Ted Stepien's disastrous run as owner and de facto general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

During Stepien's reign, the Cavaliers made a practice of trading future draft picks for marginal veteran players. His most notable deal sent a 1982 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Dan Ford and the 22nd overall pick

That 1982 pick wound up being the first overall selection, which the Lakers used to select future hall-of-famer James Worthy.

Some other notable players who were selected with picks Stepien traded away:

Sam Perkins (1984, 4th overall)
Derek Harper (1983, 11th overall)
Roy Tarpley (1986, 7th overall)
Detlef Schrempf (1985, 8th overall)
Dennis Rodman (1986, 27th overall)

http://basketball.about.com/od/collegebasketballglossary/g/ted-stepien-rule.htm

This was a beautiful post. I wish I could give you more than 1 And 1. Good job sir.

[IAmTheBest]

this fuqing sucks

the nets are going to gift a lottery draft pick to the nemesis of the rest of the atlantic division.

even the knicks havent done something this stupid

Actually, they have.

what have they done?

[Latrell]

this fuqing sucks

the nets are going to gift a lottery draft pick to the nemesis of the rest of the atlantic division.

even the knicks havent done something this stupid

Actually, they have.

what have they done?

I hope you're sitting down.

But the Knicks don't have a pick this year either.

[IAmTheBest]

Actually, they have.

what have they done?

I hope you're sitting down.

But the Knicks don't have a pick this year either.

i dont think you understand the situation. the knicks never gave an unprotected pick to their biggest division rival, let alone 2. The nets potentially gifted the celtics the foundations for a dynasty

you guys have our pick this year, but the nuggets will get the lowest one.

[Latrell]

what have they done?

I hope you're sitting down.

But the Knicks don't have a pick this year either.

i dont think you understand the situation. the knicks never gave an unprotected pick to their biggest division rival, let alone 2. The nets potentially gifted the celtics the foundations for a dynasty

you guys have our pick this year, but the nuggets will get the lowest one.

Yeah, it's obviously not as bad. But still bad.

Because it was Bargnani you traded the pick for. At least the Nets had a few playoff runs and a season or 2 of productive PP and KG.

But yes, it does suck more to be a Nets fan right now. Obviously.

[brackdan70]

If I'm the celtics, I'm throwing the games against the Nets. Unprotected picks? Noob move.

I don't understand this?

[IAmTheBest]

I hope you're sitting down.

But the Knicks don't have a pick this year either.

i dont think you understand the situation. the knicks never gave an unprotected pick to their biggest division rival, let alone 2. The nets potentially gifted the celtics the foundations for a dynasty

you guys have our pick this year, but the nuggets will get the lowest one.

Yeah, it's obviously not as bad. But still bad.

Because it was Bargnani you traded the pick for. At least the Nets had a few playoff runs and a season or 2 of productive PP and KG.

But yes, it does suck more to be a Nets fan right now. Obviously.

"it's obviously not as bad."

then why did you tell me that the knicks have done something as stupid as brooklyn has done? lol

i never said the bargnani trade wasnt stupid. it just wasnt as stupid as what the nets did. and you told me that it was lol

the bargnani trade was actually more worth it than the nets' meaningless playoff run, because it led to phil and porzingis

[nickhx2]

man. i think danny ainge is one of the biggest slimeballs in the NBA but even i have to admire the treasure trove he's collected over the next 3 years.

[TheOUTLAW]

The nets are so bad right now it kinda frustrates me...how do you trade away all of your first round picks for a bunch of washed up guys

irony of cleveland fan asking this..

What washed up guys have we traded firsts for?

[NYawKa11]

what have they done?

I hope you're sitting down.

But the Knicks don't have a pick this year either.

i dont think you understand the situation. the knicks never gave an unprotected pick to their biggest division rival, let alone 2. The nets potentially gifted the celtics the foundations for a dynasty

you guys have our pick this year, but the nuggets will get the lowest one.

I'm pretty sure the Nuggets get the higher of their pick and Knicks' 2016 pick. Part of the Carmelo trade was the 2016 pick can be swapped. So if the Knicks had a higher 2016 pick than Nuggets, Nuggets can swap. The Knicks' pick was traded to the Raptors two years ago for that dumb Bargnani deal. The Nuggets still hold the right to swap that pick. So if the Knicks' pick, owned by Toronto, ends up being higher than Denver's, then Denver will swap that pick and Toronto will get the lower pick.

Hope that made sense.