duetta wrote:Should we have called KP's bluff, and hoped to entice him by what we might have been able to get done during the summer?
We really should have, yes.
The cap space thing was strategy, so I don't fault giving that a shot. That isn't my problem with the trade.
Accumulating first round picks, even when they're total unknown entities, is also a sound strategy. Again, they may amount to NOTHING of value, but on each respective draft nights, there's always a guy at ANY point in the First Round that you want to snag. Again, that's not my problem with the trade.
Dennis Smith Jr. is a player I wanted no part of leading into his draft, and that didn't change after his rookie season. He was a bad acquisition. He showed little reason to think he'd be more than a marginal rotation player. He's my FIRST problem with the trade.
My main problem? Even when demanding a trade, even with the rape accusations, even with the ACL, even with Janis, Kristaps was still an incredibly valuable asset. His TRADE value had never been lower, but management should have had the foresight to realize that you don't sell low - you DON'T SELL AT ALL if selling low is your only option.
I love the concept of maintaining a team with guys who are of good character, that's fun to root for. But the more we've learned, the less of a reason we've had to call Kristaps a "low-character" guy. He was just as frustrated about the pieces being put alongside him and wanted out, and that's when good managers (in ANY sport or ANY industry, for that matter) put their management acumen to use to try to fix it. It's probably a tall order, and I hate to oversimplify it, but that's part of the job. You try to keep your star player happy, especially when you literally hold ALL OF THE LEVERAGE.
Bad decision. It's tough to watch Dallas, knowing this, especially when we see such great promise from guys like RJ, Mitch, and Julius. This could have been a winning formula. Finally. But it wasn't.
RIP mags