doclinkin wrote:payitforward wrote:The problem was that we didn't trade those assets right away & begin to rebuild based on youth, a new generation. Tommy's mistake was in thinking that a tear-down was a rebuild -- all in that one move (plus signing Spencer Dinwiddie).
I imagine it was that thought which moved him to trade for Aaron Holiday as a backup, defense-oriented PG. That's where we actually lost a R1 pick. The one that came in the Westbrook for 3 lakers trade.
Dinwiddie was not a sure thing. It required that unbelievably complex 5-team trade to make room for him, and could not even be finalized until a week later when Free Agency opened up. Anything could have gone wrong in that stretch. The Kings were hunting Kuzma, and if it weren't for LeBJ pulling for Westbrook, it wouldn't have happened. Once it was a possibility the Nets knew we didn't have a PG without Russ, and could have extorted a less advantageous deal. Landing Holiday on a trade back was part of the cost of that trade. Leverage. The Wiz front office stat nerds liked him because they fetishize Defensive +/- stats. He figured to be a competent stop gap at the position. That gave Tommy the stones to pull off the rest of the risky maneuver.
Truth is the trade back would not have been bad if they had taken Ayo Dosunmu, who was my highest ranked guy at that point...
I remind you that the Knicks traded their #32 to OKC for the #34 & #36. Obviously, if OKC is ok w/ that, then they're also ok w/ the #31 instead.
In which case, we could have gotten Ayo Dusunmu AND...
doclinkin wrote:...Was looking at Neemias Queta in round 2. ...This guy has no place in the league?
...
in which cast, as you point out...
doclinkin wrote:...Tommy would have looked creative for the maneuver....
"Maneuver" is just the right word. When it comes to trades, you can watch Tommy's mind working, you can see the pathway of his thought & intention, the overall cleverness stands out.
OTOH, when it comes to the draft there's nothing of that kind going on. It just seems like "pick a guy" & nothing else.
Like you, I find it unfathomable.