July 2017 – present. How do you like me now?
Which brings us to today. Actually several days after the trade which sends Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas PLUS a 2019 second round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for power forward Trevor Booker. Two expiring rookie contracts plus a second round pick for an expiring veteran contract.
Some tout the playoff readiness of Booker as a win. Others tout the expulsion of Okafor at any cost as a win. But the reality is that two bench players with little playing time (76ers option) traded for a bench player with some playing time for this year only. I am happy for both Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas and truly believe both with earn a significantly greater role with the Nets.
Colangelo does not value second round picks
But lets get back to the trade where we “chipped in” a second round pick. That layer rests atop the decision to sell two second round picks in the 2017 NBA Draft. In previous trades, the return has been second round picks. Those picks have “potential” which is realized at the moment the pick is used to select a player.
Call me spoiled, but a second round pick can be used in multiple ways:
I – Used to select a player coveted by another team and converted into future picks
II- Traded outright to another team for future picks
III- Packaged to move into the first round
IV – Exchanged for multiple second round picks in current year.
V – When all else fails, use the pick to select a player for draft-and stash or Two-Way Contract option
But cashing out the picks seems like squandering. Tossing second round picks into a trade which has enough on it’s own merits to occur seems like squandering. If second round picks are valued so little, why accept so many in previously deals authored by the current front office? Previous reports of Colangelo at both Phoenix and Toronto concluded that Bryan Colanagelo loved “The Deal” more than “The Draft”