It's worth going the lotto route if you end up with a really special player, like Shaq, Tim Duncan, Penny Hardaway, etc. If the Jazz have a lotto pick this year, they've got every reason to swing for the fence again -- go for upside.
It's worth going the lotto route if you end up with a really special player, like Shaq, Tim Duncan, Penny Hardaway, etc. If the Jazz have a lotto pick this year, they've got every reason to swing for the fence again -- go for upside.
vslice02
Well-Known Member
Oops, surprised no one caught this but it was actually "our own 2005 1st-rounder, John Amaechi, the absorbtion of Glenn Rice's contract, and Carlos Arroyo" which eventually turned into Deron Williams (actually even more impressive if you ask me).
John Amaechi to Houston for Glenn Rice's contract "begat" the Pavel Podkolzine pick which begat a future Mavericks 1st-rounder we packaged to get Deron.
And FWIW, Keon Clark, Ben Handlogten and the absorbtion of Tom Gugliotta's contract/corpse begat the NY pick (which turned into Gordan Hayward).
Two of those #1's were all created by Utah having an abundance of cap space in 2003-04 - similar to how OKC was able to acquire 2 first-rounders from Phoenix in exchange for Kurt Thomas a few years back.
Acquiring draft picks and maximizing return on your assets ain't no joke. Draft picks are the closest commodity on the NBA trade market to liquid, to cash. Despite that there are almost always steals later in the draft, throwing picks onto a deal doesn't involve direct $ and doesn't involve hurting anyone's feelings. Having 1st round picks just laying around means either more chances to roll the dice in the draft or potentially superfluous assets to to parlay into almost anything.
billyshelby
Well-Known Member
Sure they do. They grow on the trees of every single draft. The mistake is in thinking that what happened to OKC is WHAT happens when you consistently have high draft picks.
They got Durant at 2 (when they would have taken Oden.) They got Westbrook at 4 (Beasley and Mayo before them.) They got Harden at 3 (Thabeet directly before that.) So OKC makes it look like what they did was basic -- lose, draft superstars, win. But they're the rare exception. Nearly all teams drafting high year after year fare much worse. Because there are only 20 (maybe) elite players in the league spread out over 10 drafts. And OKC, by luck or skill, might have gotten 3 in 3 years.
What truly boggles the mind isn't that the Jazz moved mountains to get Deron, but that he actually turned into an elite player. Marvin Williams and Andrew Bogut went ahead of him. After Paul at 4, Felton, Webster, Frye, Diogu went before Bynum. After that, murderer's row went: Vasquez, Korolev, May, Wright, and Graham before Granger. And this isn't different from most drafts.
Lesson: just play to win. Hoping to win Lotto only worked for OKC. Memphis, on the other hand, has squandered most of its high draft picks. But they got supremely lucky with Marc Gasol, acquired Zach when nobody wanted him, picked up Allen who nobody thought was worth anything, and nearly got to the Finals last year without Gay, their only legit star high draft pick. There's no formula for this. Just win games.
freakazoid
Well-Known Member
Multiple lottery picks + very strong draft = Situation that DOESN'T happen every single draft.
Yeah, pure luck. We probably would have done just as well with Webster, Jack, Kleiza, or whoever.
I don't really care about OKC, and I think the comparison gets old. All I care about is Utah's situation going forward. Jazz fans have been spoiled by being in the playoffs every year, and therefore have unrealistic expectations when it comes to rebuilding, IMO. Last time around, we missed one season of playoffs, so everybody expects the same this time. I pretty much feel the same, except I expect to miss two seasons, and not because we're losing on purpose. We'll find out soon enough who is right.
Absolutely. I really don't know why people automatically turn "might be good to get a pick" into "you guys think we should lose on purpose". It's not the same, otherwise I'd be advocating dumping big Al for a pick and/or cap space.
Honestly, Utah needs to come out hell bent for leather, so they can figure out who is going to be sticking around, and who will be getting swapped for other pieces. If people want to continually misinterpret my admission that an extra pick in this draft would be good, I don't care. I'm calling it like I see it.
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The way I strike the balance between the joy of winning and the joy of better draft picks is the joy part. At the outset, I'm pretty happy-go-lucky. If the Jazz are great, then great. If they aren't, great.
The ONLY thing I'm concerned with is veterans playing too much. In this endeavor, I do feel like the young kids deserve minimum commitment in terms of minutes (especially Kanter). Unless they're terrible (unless it's Kanter, he's not going to get better practicing, that's all he's done for the better part of two years).
The ONLY thing I'm concerned with is veterans playing too much. In this endeavor, I do feel like the young kids deserve minimum commitment in terms of minutes (especially Kanter). Unless they're terrible (unless it's Kanter, he's not going to get better practicing, that's all he's done for the better part of two years).