7th pick = Trade Down

[YogurtProducer]

We have picked top-10 only 11 times since and including the 2000 draft, and only twice since selecting Terrence Ross in the 2012 draft. We've not had a first rounder at all in 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2022.

So we'll see how this goes. Our first-rounders under Masai have been Caboclo at 20, Delon Wright at 20, Poeltl at 9, OG at 23, Flynn at 29, Scottie at 4, Gradey at 13 and Walter at 19. Not too stunning, although OG was pretty solid while healthy, Scottie's lived up to his pre-draft profile and both Gradey and Walter show some kind of promise.

If we can trade down for legit assets, that's one thing, but I think we're probably better off taking a flyer on someone at 7 for the sake of the talent infusion we need. Sometimes, it works out. More regularly than later on in the draft.

Not to stunning?

A lineup of Delon/Dick/Walter/Barnes/Anunoby/Siakam/Poeltl with Bruno/Flynn busts with only 2 top top picks, and 3 lottery picks, is actually **** incredible. Some teams draft lottery for years and don't get a core anywhere near one of Barnes/OG/Siakam/Poeltl

[YogurtProducer]

Nobody is trading you a young big that can play right now for just a move down a few spots, there's a short supply of those.

Only way I see a move down happening is if Masai wants to take someone that's rated much lower than the 7th pick and sees value in trading down and still getting his guy.

DAL is one team who might. Something like 7+Dick for 13+Lively is definitely a possibility IMO.

[tsherkin]

Not to stunning?

A lineup of Delon/Dick/Walter/Barnes/Anunoby/Siakam/Poeltl with Bruno/Flynn busts with only 2 top top picks, and 3 lottery picks, is actually **** incredible. Some teams draft lottery for years and don't get a core anywhere near one of Barnes/OG/Siakam/Poeltl

You're welcome to disagree. Remember, I am penalizing OG for health, but acknowledging that if he was healthy, the utility of that pick would have been different. Also, Poeltl wasn't used meaningfully after he was drafted. He didn't become useful to us until we RE-acquired him a half-decade after we traded him away in the Demar deal. So we didn't even realize the utility of the player until many, many years later.

[DreamTeam09]

Nobody is trading you a young big that can play right now for just a move down a few spots, there's a short supply of those.

Only way I see a move down happening is if Masai wants to take someone that's rated much lower than the 7th pick and sees value in trading down and still getting his guy.

DAL is one team who might. Something like 7+Dick for 13+Lively is definitely a possibility IMO.

No it's not, Dallas traded for AD to form the twin towers & play TWO bigs. They're not gonna trade their C for someone they could've drafted themselves

[Mikistan]

Trade trade all this board wants to do is trade everyone honestly lets just trade everyone for picks ala okc style and bottom out whats the point of having any of these players/assets if they are not going to be given any chance to develop/improve or reach their full potential lets just firesale then

They have been given tons of time,

Scottie rookie of the year and all star?

Time to trade him

[Mikistan]

Not to stunning?

A lineup of Delon/Dick/Walter/Barnes/Anunoby/Siakam/Poeltl with Bruno/Flynn busts with only 2 top top picks, and 3 lottery picks, is actually **** incredible. Some teams draft lottery for years and don't get a core anywhere near one of Barnes/OG/Siakam/Poeltl

You're welcome to disagree. Remember, I am penalizing OG for health, but acknowledging that if he was healthy, the utility of that pick would have been different. Also, Poeltl wasn't used meaningfully after he was drafted. He didn't become useful to us until we RE-acquired him a half-decade after we traded him away in the Demar deal. So we didn't even realize the utility of the player until many, many years later.

The utility was a package worth getting a talent like kawhi, that's quantifiable in my opinion

[tsherkin]

The utility was a package worth getting a talent like kawhi, that's quantifiable in my opinion

I don't think Poeltl the player mattered much in that context, to be honest. Obviously, the pick itself was valuable and the trade was a smashing success, but I doubt much that the Spurs cared that it was Poeltl.

[Son Goku 25]

No person knows the future but if there's an indication of certain skill sets that usually end up being stars id say so far

Flagg
Harper
Queen
Fears

Dark horse (Bailey) ?

Then I'm sure theres gonna be some really good players and then a couple of projects that end up being as good as the top guys listed if not better.

Gotta take our chances tbh this is likely it in terms of the Barnes timeline when wed tank unless we trade for an established star which is always possible.

[PushDaRock]

Nobody is trading you a young big that can play right now for just a move down a few spots, there's a short supply of those.

Only way I see a move down happening is if Masai wants to take someone that's rated much lower than the 7th pick and sees value in trading down and still getting his guy.

DAL is one team who might. Something like 7+Dick for 13+Lively is definitely a possibility IMO.

Not if they employ a single analytics guy on the staff.

Lively +5.8, +6.7 in on court per 100 and +5.5, +9.6 in on/off per 100 in first 2 seasons
Gradey -14.4, -6.6 in on court per 100 and -6.6, -3.7 in on/off per 100 in first 2 seasons

[Clutch0z24]

We have picked top-10 only 11 times since and including the 2000 draft, and only twice since selecting Terrence Ross in the 2012 draft. We've not had a first rounder at all in 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2022.

So we'll see how this goes. Our first-rounders under Masai have been Caboclo at 20, Delon Wright at 20, Poeltl at 9, OG at 23, Flynn at 29, Scottie at 4, Gradey at 13 and Walter at 19. Not too stunning, although OG was pretty solid while healthy, Scottie's lived up to his pre-draft profile and both Gradey and Walter show some kind of promise.

If we can trade down for legit assets, that's one thing, but I think we're probably better off taking a flyer on someone at 7 for the sake of the talent infusion we need. Sometimes, it works out. More regularly than later on in the draft.

Not to stunning?

A lineup of Delon/Dick/Walter/Barnes/Anunoby/Siakam/Poeltl with Bruno/Flynn busts with only 2 top top picks, and 3 lottery picks, is actually **** incredible. Some teams draft lottery for years and don't get a core anywhere near one of Barnes/OG/Siakam/Poeltl

We had them 4 all on a team at once and lost to a pretty bad Bulls team and struggled to keep an above .500 record....That core is pretty mid...

[junot111]

Great idea. We have already have a number of development projecta on the go, we don't need anothetle one.

With the top 5 of quick, RJ, Scottie, Yak and BI, plus all the other second years ahead of them, the rookie is going to get very little time.

We also saw how hard it was to integrate a rookie Scottie in with the vets a few years back, better to avoid that, and get a piece/pieces that can compliment rather than destabilize the rotation.

Rookie scottie helped bring a lottery team to 48 wins and won roty. How was he hard to integrate?

[Mr Funk]

If Masai doesn't take the BPA, as OP suggests, and drafts for need instead, then he needs to be fired. This draft is his chance to redeem himself for the last few years of mismanagement.

Last few years of mismanagement? So drafting Gradey Dick, Ja'Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Ulrich Chomche; signing Jamison Battle and trading scraps for Brandon Ingram is mismanagement and Masai needs to redeem himself?

[Duffman100]

Nobody is trading you a young big that can play right now for just a move down a few spots, there's a short supply of those.

Only way I see a move down happening is if Masai wants to take someone that's rated much lower than the 7th pick and sees value in trading down and still getting his guy.

DAL is one team who might. Something like 7+Dick for 13+Lively is definitely a possibility IMO.

I'd take that and run.

[Broadcaster]

Great idea. We have already have a number of development projecta on the go, we don't need anothetle one.

With the top 5 of quick, RJ, Scottie, Yak and BI, plus all the other second years ahead of them, the rookie is going to get very little time.

We also saw how hard it was to integrate a rookie Scottie in with the vets a few years back, better to avoid that, and get a piece/pieces that can compliment rather than destabilize the rotation.

I think not taking the best player available is usually something you regret eventually.

[tsherkin]

Great idea. We have already have a number of development projecta on the go, we don't need anothetle one.

With the top 5 of quick, RJ, Scottie, Yak and BI, plus all the other second years ahead of them, the rookie is going to get very little time.

Kind of depends on position and tools, I would think. We aren't bursting at the seams with guys who have locked up their spots.

We also saw how hard it was to integrate a rookie Scottie in with the vets a few years back, better to avoid that, and get a piece/pieces that can compliment rather than destabilize the rotation.

Sure, but Scottie wasn't making it easy to put him in the floor... and he still found 34, 35 mpg right from the start. Not really that difficult at all, in the end.

I think not taking the best player available is usually something you regret eventually.

I'm with this plan. Keep the pick or trade up (if possible), and take BPA.

[niQ]

Nobody is trading you a young big that can play right now for just a move down a few spots, there's a short supply of those.

Only way I see a move down happening is if Masai wants to take someone that's rated much lower than the 7th pick and sees value in trading down and still getting his guy.

DAL is one team who might. Something like 7+Dick for 13+Lively is definitely a possibility IMO.

I'd take that and run.

Considering Dallas continues to Dallas, yes, I'd take that and run. Fast.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Great idea. We have already have a number of development projecta on the go, we don't need anothetle one.

With the top 5 of quick, RJ, Scottie, Yak and BI, plus all the other second years ahead of them, the rookie is going to get very little time.

We also saw how hard it was to integrate a rookie Scottie in with the vets a few years back, better to avoid that, and get a piece/pieces that can compliment rather than destabilize the rotation.

Rookie scottie helped bring a lottery team to 48 wins and won roty. How was he hard to integrate?

Positionally it was a nightmare with Pascal, and Chemistry became totally shot eventually as we all know, as he didn't get along with Fred or Pascal. Wasn't a talent issue as the evidence is clearly there that Pascal, Free and OG are all leading/helping to lead in OGs case, top tier teams into the playoffs.

[Raps in 4]

If Masai doesn't take the BPA, as OP suggests, and drafts for need instead, then he needs to be fired. This draft is his chance to redeem himself for the last few years of mismanagement.

Last few years of mismanagement? So drafting Gradey Dick, Ja'Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Ulrich Chomche; signing Jamison Battle and trading scraps for Brandon Ingram is mismanagement and Masai needs to redeem himself?

No, trading the 20th pick for Thad, trading the 8th pick for Poeltl, letting Fred expire and walk instead of trading him, and waiting to the last minute to trade Pascal were all grave errors in judgement.

Drafting a few decent role players over the past few seasons doesn't counteract all the bad decisions he's made in that time. This team has been extremely poorly managed from 2022 onwards.

[DreamTeam09]

If Masai doesn't take the BPA, as OP suggests, and drafts for need instead, then he needs to be fired. This draft is his chance to redeem himself for the last few years of mismanagement.

Last few years of mismanagement? So drafting Gradey Dick, Ja'Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Ulrich Chomche; signing Jamison Battle and trading scraps for Brandon Ingram is mismanagement and Masai needs to redeem himself?

No, trading the 20th pick for Thad and the 8th pick for Poeltl were grave errors. As was letting Fred expire and walk instead of trading him. As was waiting to the last minute to trade Pascal.

Drafting a few decent role players over the past few seasons doesn't counteract all the bad decisions he's made in that time.

I don't think there's a single good player from the 20th pick onward in that draft that we traded down to pick 32.
You can say trading Jak for the 8th pick us a grave error but again it really wasn't. Zach Edey is cool and all, but he's just a younger Jak with less passing and lets not act like Jak is some useless player.
Trading FVV was Grayson Allen isn't some blunder, trading for the sake of trading because you believe in some mythical rule of asset mgmt makes you a great GM,
Again, the rumors for Pascal weren't even better than what we ended up getting for Pascal, again another mythical rule where if you trade a player prior to being an expiring that your automatically gonna get some superior deal

[Raps in 4]

Last few years of mismanagement? So drafting Gradey Dick, Ja'Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Ulrich Chomche; signing Jamison Battle and trading scraps for Brandon Ingram is mismanagement and Masai needs to redeem himself?

No, trading the 20th pick for Thad and the 8th pick for Poeltl were grave errors. As was letting Fred expire and walk instead of trading him. As was waiting to the last minute to trade Pascal.

Drafting a few decent role players over the past few seasons doesn't counteract all the bad decisions he's made in that time.

I don't think there's a single good player from the 20th pick onward in that draft that we traded down to pick 32.
You can say trading Jak for the 8th pick us a grave error but again it really wasn't. Zach Edey is cool and all, but he's just a younger Jak with less passing and lets not act like Jak is some useless player.
Trading FVV was Grayson Allen isn't some blunder, trading for the sake of trading because you believe in some mythical rule of asset mgmt makes you a great GM,
Again, the rumors for Pascal weren't even better than what we ended up getting for Pascal, again another mythical rule where if you trade a player prior to being an expiring that your automatically gonna get some superior deal

The thing is, those picks, at the time, were worth more than an end-of-bench scrub or a top-15 center.

When you trade a pick, teams don't know how good or bad the draft will end up. Rebuilding teams are always willing to trade value for that mystery box. The fact that we couldn't extract more value from some team is a knock on Masai.

You could argue that trading a FRP for an expiring Yak was fine in terms of value, but what wasn't fine was putting almost no protections on the pick, and not being able to foresee the disastrous season that was about to take place due to the poor fit of the players on the roster.