Philadelphia 76ers Find Los Angeles Lakers 2017 First Round Pick Growing In Value

Desperate Team And Picks Soon Part Ways

There is a trick when landing a protected lottery pick.  The trick is to have enough patience required to cash it in.  Many teams accept the pick willingly, but are quick to lose patience .

For example, here is the explanation of Phoenix general manager Ryan McDonough explaining why he traded the pick to SB Nation’s Bright Side of the Sun Bryan Gibberman:

"“With a pick like that our analysis was that we probably weren’t going to receive the pick this year. That pushes the pick into next year, the protection drops to three, but I think analyzing the Lakers situation there’s pretty high variance there as to what the pick could be. If you ask me how the Lakers are going to be a year from now I have no idea. Obviously, they’ve struggled some recently, but they’re going to have a lot of salary cap space this summer and they’re in a market that’s traditionally been one of the top draws for free agents. “We know the risks. The pick next year could be the fourth pick in the draft, it could be the 14th pick in the draft, it could be the 30th pick in the draft. We felt it was the right time to cash it in.”"

He’s Testing us

For several years,  Philadelphia 76ers fans have had patience tested and taunted by this Lakers’ pick. Michael Carter-Williams played point guard as a rookie for the Philadelphia 76ers and was the rookie of the year. He found himself traded the following year. The point guard position remains a difficult position to fill since that trade. But MCW was a semi-precious stone. That Lakers pick became a diamond in the hands of Philadelphia 76ers president Sam Hinkie