Post#138 » by Jake0890 » Tue Nov 17, 2020 3:35 pm
Some of these early trades are insane.
OKC is getting a HAUL. The Rockets PAID them to take Chris Paul and the Thunder have managed to flip him for ANOTHER two first round picks. The Schroder trade is less impressive, neither the 28th pick nor Danny Green compare to Schroder at this point. The kid has really turned it around, especially this year. OKC will soon be back and better than ever - what a rebuild from them.
Portland giving up two firsts for RoCo is BONKERS. He's a startable 3&D guy, one of the best in the league at his role, but... really? The core of the Trailblazers is the 3-headed monster of Dame, CJ, and RoCo? That just doesn't do it for me at all. Without some serious moving of pieces (CJ included) I simply don't see how this team contends in the West.
And then we have the Bucks... 3 firsts plus 2 pick swaps for Jrue Holiday. I mean sheesh. I get that keeping Giannis around and convincing him to sign the supermax is worth more than any combination of picks in the 25-30 range ever could be, but I don't know that this really elevates the Bucks to another level.They're going to need big time performances from Jrue, Khris, and Brook Lopez down the stretch to win playoff games against the Celtics, Lakers, other top teams as they'll surely key onto Giannis to prevent him from impacting the game in the half-court offense. It's still an uphill battle for them. And perhaps the scariest thing of all - Jrue is an expiring contract.
I guess my big take away from all of this is.... how many first round picks is James Harden worth? If Jrue is worth 3 + 2 swaps, RoCo is worth 2, and Chris Paul is worth 2... I'd say Harden is worth 10? How could you possibly trade a 35 PPG scorer under contract until 2023 for anything more than the biggest trade haul in NBA history? Draft picks ain't worth what the used to be, apparently.