Dominater wrote:LloydFree wrote:Dominater wrote:The picks are protected 1 thru 4. Those are the ones that matter. Otherwise we'll be surrendering another Markkanen, coby White, or Wendell Carter type. Meh.
And if these picks were so valuable, then how come there was no market for them the last few drafts. We've had the last 3 years 7, 7, 4. Nobody was down for trading established players for any of them ala Ray Allen to Boston for #5
Just because GarPax didn't know how to draft, and wound up with Markkanen, Carter and White instead of Donovan Mitchell, Michael Porter Jr and Tyler Herro, doesn't mean mid-high lottery picks aren't valuable and should be wasted on non-difference making Veterans.
Unfortunately our new regime took Patrick Williams at #4 when Haliburton went #12. So our new regime can't draft either. Our franchise hasn't hit on a pick in 10 years. The only way we're hitting is if it's an obvious one in the top 3 that nobody misses.
Teams like the Wolves, Kings, Pistons have had high picks for many many years now. And they all still suck.
Both the Kings and Pistons in recent years have lost picks because they traded them to try to and get the 8th seed. The Kings traded multiple pick swaps (one of which caused them to drop from 3rd to 5th in 2017 and luckily ended up working out for them when they landed Fox) and their 2019 1st (which ended up 14th) so that they could free cap space sign Rondo, Koufos, and Belinelli. The Pistons traded their 2018 1st (which ended up 12th) in the Blake Griffin trade.
You literally gave examples of teams that paid the price for doing exactly what the Bulls are doing now. Both of those teams were so desperate to make the playoffs that they sacrificed their future to try and make the 8th seed, and both teams failed in that pursuit, setting themselves back. The Bulls look to be on the same path.