League Circles wrote:I actually think picking up this scrub's option is the most egregious move AK has made. Not the most damaging, but the most egregious.
Nothing can be more egregious than the Vuc trade.
It showed a complete misunderstanding of so many things:
1: Player evaluation - Drastically overvalued a player that had never been on a team that won more than 42 games in a decade, had below league average efficiency as a one way offensive only player, can't fit into any reasonable defensive scheme without causing significant problems, looked at a three month sample size of shooting out of 10 years and decided that three months was his true skill rather than an anomaly. It was like they were using 1980s level analysis to figure out if he's a good player.
2: Showed a lack of understanding of trade assets - Moved two lottery picks for him, a starting caliber player and took back bad salary. The price paid was obviously too high even if you misevaluated Vuc and thought he was much better.
4: Showed a lack of understanding of how trades work - You can't trade your way from a low 30s team to a good team because especially with a short timeline. That is fundamentally based on the thought that you are screwing over all the other teams in trades and are much smarter than them.
5: Showed a lack of understanding of context - Using all your assets to build a short timeline team makes no sense when your upside looks like 1st round after the moves.
6: Showed a lack of understanding of roster construction - Trying to put a no defense ball dominant center next to your no defense ball dominant guard was setting the stage for a lot of the problems we have today and further moves compounded them
It's hard to imagine making a move that shows just how incompetent you are on so many levels all at once.
In comparison, picking up Dalen Terry's option probably shows the following:
1: Sunk cost mentality - too scared to look bad by declining the option
2: Poor player evaluation - there is 0% chance Dalen Terry is going to come back and haunt you
Ignoring the impact of the moves (Vuc was obviously also much greater), the Vuc move appeased a fan base desperate for a big move, but was a poorly thought out, unmitigated disaster that was obviously going to create a disaster at the moment it was made.