Scoot McGroot wrote:
Also, they got to keep Ilyasova too, instead of having to pay a pick to dump him elsewhere. I mean, their whole fiscal offseason was very different and they still spent the same money. 2 years, 4 years, whatever. Good players cost money.
Arranging a S&T very quickly, and super early in the process, allowed less teams to enter the negotiations (it allowed no other teams to enter the negotiations) and got Brogdon to agree to a deal with a team that he allegedly had a history with (he's talked often about the Pacers having been open with their appreciation during the draft process). We agreed to a deal when other teams tried to enter the process, and he and his agent stood firm on their agreed upon offer.
Thus, using the picks quickly to enter the process likely saved us from having to try and bid in a wide open bidding situation.
2 years versus 4 years is a giant difference. They already committed $66.5 mil to Middleton, Bledsoe, and Lopez in 21/22 and knew they would be offering Giannis the max. If they added in Brogdon they would likely have exceeded the cap for 5 players. It's pretty apparent to me that they chose Bledsoe early on and knew Brogdon was gone unless he would sign for well under market. The comments by ownership indicate that they didn't feel Brogdon necessary to winning a title and wasn't worth the luxury payments.
As for the sign and trade, that's the point, I don't think a sign and trade was necessary at all outside of Simon's stupid rule about not chasing RFAs. But that's a self imposed hindrance.