Andrew McCeltic wrote:At this point, though, those BKN picks - even just one - have more value to us where we are in team-building than Butler - so if we're giving one away to add him, we'd need more value than Butler coming back in return.
Huh?
Where do you think we are in team building?
We have a 30 year old Center on a 3+1 deal
We have a 27 year old PG on a 2 year deal well below market.
We have a 26 year old SG on a 2 year deal well below market
We have a 26 year old SF on a 4 year deal below market
We have a PG on the 2nd to last year of his rookie deal.
That is our current 5 best players. Now probably 1 maybe 2 of them would go out in a Butler deal, but that is the core of the team right now. And all of them will be less valuable (and more expensive) by the time the 2018 Nets pick is ready to continue.
If you want to argue that the core is the 2 Nets picks and Brown, that's fine, but it isn't really reasonable, it's aiming to be good in 2021 or something and just burning the entirety of the Horford/Bradley/IT window with nothing to show for it. This roster is pretty clearly built with the intention of at least starting a major move for contention in the next 2 years.
My personal thought is you pick 1 of Bradley/IT and move him now for a star locked up more than 2 years probably with the Brooklyn 18 (and maybe Crowder or Brown).
My preference is IT (I think his defense is hard to build around, and his physical profile is one that doesn't usually survive past 30 so I wouldn't want to pay him what he'll get in FA, also I think he gets the most back) but it could be Bradley. This lets you improve NOW, and still have the '18 pick and maybe Brown to extend the window beyond Horford's last year.
edit- as I posted this you posted the IT+ for Wall, so I think we're generally on the same page, you just aren't sold on Butler (I think he's better than Wall for example and better to build around).