Prokorov wrote:We gave up almost nothing for harden.
1) a 3-month rental of jarret allen
2) an overpaid, oft injured, massive negative in levert
3) 6 picks (3 swaps) and 1 of the swaps already has not conveyed.
We have already gotten our return on that trade just from what harden gave us last year. its as cheap as you will ever get a top 10 player. woith KD singed for 4 more years, this trade will age exceptionally well
As usual, you have this way of interpreting almost everything in the service of your POV. It's funny, for someone who makes so many good observations in a vacuum, it can be downright breathtaking sometimes.
Fro was a real asset, and not just some throwaway. $20m/yr is perfectly reasonable for him and less than half Harden's salary. If the Nets had really wanted to they could have found a way to keep him without nuking their cap. Even if they couldn't or didn't want to, he was clearly worth some good assets via S&T or whatever. Not just sweetening the pot for a trade where the other team was the needy one.
As for the six picks and swaps, it's laughable to me (and typical) that you'd just dismiss them out of hand like that. For one thing, that all assumes the Nets manage to stay a top team the entire time, which is never a given. Because picks are a wonderful way of representing insurance against disaster, and now you've given up all that insurance. But they also just represent more opportunities to find a good player, and you can't just count on Marks always being able to grab late firsts somehow. Some years that's probably not going to work out.
I know... "championships" and all that. Taking big gambles for championships and it sometimes working, and all being forgiven. But so far it's not working, doesn't look like it's going to anytime soon, which leaves a thought--
the Nets arguably would have been in vastly better shape not doing the Harden deal.Not just 'hindsight 20/20,' but factoring in the known concerns with Harden, the known wackiness and fragility of Kyrie, and the inherent risks of giving up so much for a couple swings at the fences. Because when that doesn't work out, this is what it looks like, which is exactly why one should expect to hear a bunch of annoyed Nets fans sounding off around now.