Tripod wrote:It really is crazy how much we under rate our own guys in favour of the mystery boxes
There are good reasons for it though.
- Mystery boxes can sometimes turn into stars out of nowhere, there are a number of times this has happened, we pretty much know at this point that our prospects aren't going to suddenly become stars because we've seen them play. Sometimes teams get really lucky like when we drafted Pascal at 27, I doubt anyone expected him to be a multi-time All-NBA level player but it happened.
- Picks are easier to trade than players due to the salary cap rules. Basically draft picks are the currency of the league and every team covets them for this reason, even if they're not using them to add players to their own roster they can be exchanged easily in other deals. It's much harder to make favourable deals where you trade a worse player for a better one without picks to throw in as a sweetener.
- Players are limited time assets that have to be paid properly eventually. Players on rookie contracts are valuable, but even a player like Gradey Dick who is only two years in and still developing will have to be paid soon so there is only a couple of more years before put up or shut up time.
- Picks have a flexibility that a player doesn't, a pick could be a player at any position depending on team need and players available at that pick, a player is exactly what they are, Gradey Dick can't suddenly turn into a defensive rebounding C or stretch PF.
